April 19, 2021
20% of Balinese citizens vaccinated, the highest in Indonesia + Bali airport tightens passenger screenings during mudik ban + Australia in "no hurry" to open border says prime minister + more!
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Weather & Waves
Today’s Weather for Southern Bali
Today’s Tides
Meteorology, Climatology & Geophysics Council (Link)
Tide table from Tide-forecast.com.
Local Covid Numbers
*Note: There was another slight increase in new cases in Bali yesterday (172) after Saturday’s 169, bringing the 7-day average to 149. Fatalities rose too, with 10 deaths. These increases were recorded despite the "Weekend Effect," where reduced testing capacity may result in reduced reporting of cases.
Click here to see the national numbers infographic and a Regency-by-Regency breakdown of yesterday’s local numbers, which includes a look back at last week’s overall totals.
The Big News
"20% of Balinese Citizens Have Been Vaccinated, the Highest in Indonesia" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): The number of Balinese people who have received the first phase of Covid-19 vaccination has reached 600,000. Of these, 200,000 have received the second phase vaccine. This means that 20% of Balinese citizens out of the 3 million targeted population have been vaccinated. Deputy Governor Cok Ace said from a population of 4.32 million people, Bali was recorded as the Indonesian province with the highest achievement in the Covid-19 vaccination program.
"Supporting the 2021 Homecoming Ban, Bali's Ngurah Rai Airport Will Tighten Passenger Screenings" from Tribun Bali (Indonesian): Stakeholder Relations Manager of PT Angkasa Pura I (Persero) International Airport Branch at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Bali, Taufan Yudhistira, said, “When a passenger is traveling through I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport, in addition to the ticket and health documents, we will check the permit to leave or enter Bali. Assignment letters to carry out an official trip from the office where the passenger works and other certificates that are included in the exemption will also be checked," said Taufan. If a passenger is unable to show a travel permit or an exit/entry permit (SIKM) then they are not allowed to travel by plane from I Gusti Ngurah Rai Bali Airport.
"Australia in 'No Hurry' to Open Border" from CNN Travel: As one of the countries to have performed better in the pandemic, with fewer than 30,000 reported cases and 910 deaths, Australia's borders are still closed. Swift border closures and restrictions following sporadic regional rises in cases have so far brought numbers down. "I will not be putting at risk the way we are living in this country which is so different to the rest of the world today," said Prime Minister Scott Morrison. However, there is hope that visitors may be allowed to trickle in by the end of 2021. Morrison suggested that the priority would be to allow vaccinated Australians to fly in and out of the country.
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Other Headlines
"The Bali-Bintan-Batam 'Travel Bubble' is Targeted to Start in June 2021" from CNN Indonesia (Indonesian): Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (Menparekraf) Sandiaga Uno said the travel bubble discussion in the 3B areas is entering the finalization stage. "We are also seeing the readiness of the tourism countries starting from Singapore, as well as several countries we talked to," said Sandi. Apart from 3B, Sandi admitted that he had received input from other regions to become candidates for the next travel bubble. Among them are Belitung, Yogyakarta and Lake Toba. "Like Labuan Bajo, it is simpler because (these areas) are separated from the others, but for other areas we have to make sure we can create a green zone."
Context: Previously the Bintan-Batam travel bubble was scheduled to open on April 21, and was then delayed to a tentative May 7. Sandiaga’s statement is the first report we’ve seen about the Bintan-Batam travel bubble opening in June.
Some Covid Context
In this occasional section, we share interesting or insightful stories from around the world that inform issues we’re facing here. Today, it’s a video about the logistics of shutting down the cruise industry, which provides a glimpse of how things will be worldwide in the travel industry:
The video does a great job of breaking down how the cruise industry shut itself down, how it's keeping itself on hold, and how it will start itself back up again. It includes details on how companies transported their workers back to their home countries - including information on the repatriation of Indonesian workers. It also makes clear that the cruise industry is going to re-start itself by only allowing vaccinated passengers onboard in the future.
Note: If you’ve watched a video or heard a podcast that you think can inform issues that we are facing here in Bali, let us know at TheBaliBeat@outlanders.global.
Vaccination Update
Nation: "Indonesia Reaches 10.8 Million Covid-19 Vaccinations" from Antara
Nation: "Indonesia Adds Pace to Covid Vaccination after Fresh Sinovac Shipment" from The Jakarta Globe
Nation: "Former Vice President, Experts, and Hundreds of Figures Supporting BPOM Related to Nusantara Vaccine" from Antara Bali (Indonesian)
Buleleng: "Focus to Complete Vaccination of the Elderly, Task Force: They are Vulnerable to Exposure" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian)
Jembrana: "Vaccination Festival Stage II, Focusing on Economic Recovery" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian)
Jembrana: "Public Servant Vaccination in Jembrana is 100% Completed" from Radar Bali (Indonesian)
Health Protocols (Prokes) & Patrols
Island: "Ahead of the Opening of Bali Tourism, the Covid-19 Prokes Violators Hunting Team Monitored Activities in 3 Regions" from Tribun Bali (Indonesian)
Economy
"Bali's Wine Business is Shaken by the Pandemic" from Bisnis Bali (Indonesian)
"Pulau Plastik Film Premieres in Bali" from Bisnis (Indonesian): The film Pulau Plastik by Visinema Pictures, in collaboration with Kopernik, Akarumput, and WatchdoC, invites all stakeholders to be part of the solution to reduce single-use plastic waste. The screenings start from 22-25 April in Bali and will continue to other parts of Indonesia. Producer, Lakota Moira, said the film started from Bali because there were many negative impacts seen from the rapid growth of the tourism industry that often sacrificed the environment. "But through Bali, which is considered an international window for Indonesia, we want to show the world that many Indonesians care about environmental issues and have moved with their respective local policies." Kopernik Chief Operating Officer, Ewa Wojkowska, said the film aims to build community awareness about the problem of plastic waste.
"Indonesian Hackers Arrested Over $60 Million Us Covid-19 Scam" from Agence France-Press: Two hackers were arrested over an international scam in which $60 million was stolen from an aid program helping Americans left jobless by the pandemic. Text messages were sent to 20 million Americans directing them to more than a dozen fake US government websites. Thousands of victims supplied personal information, including social security numbers, to the fake sites in the hopes of securing $2,000 offered under a real assistance programme for the unemployed. But their data was instead used by scammers to steal millions of dollars from the programme. The pair could face up to nine years in prison under Indonesia's electronic information law.
Of Interest
"Make Yourself at Home: Top Tips for Homesick Expats in Indonesia" from Indonesia Expat
"Elected District Head Disqualified, Court Says He’s an American Citizen" from The Jakarta Globe
"Payment for 4-wheeled Vehicle Parking Becomes Cashless at Ngurah Rai Airport" from Bali Express (Indonesian)
"Mengwi Terminal Provides Free GeNose Tests Until 11 May 2021" from Bali Prawara (Indonesian)
"New Fleet for Padangbai-Nusa Penida Route Canceled" from Radar Bali (Indonesian)
"Klungkung Regency Government Working on Seafood Cultivation Development in Nusa Penida" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian)
"Kesiman Traditional Village Closes Krishna Balaram Ashram Activities" from Bali Express (Indonesian)
"The Bali Provincial Government is Holding a Census of the Cultural Wealth and Local Wisdom of Traditional Villages" from Antara Bali (Indonesian)
"Ubud Writers & Readers Festival 2021 Will be Held October 8-17" from Bisnis Bali (Indonesian)
"Australian Citizen Found Dead in Hotel in Sanur" from Suara Bali (Indonesian)
"Ternate Woman Abused, Swedish Foreigner Arrested, Police Confiscated Airsoft Gun" from Radar Bali (Indonesian)
How You Can Help
In response to the collapse of the tourism sector in Bali and the resulting economic crisis, dozens of individuals and organizations have sprung into action, raising funds and distributing badly needed food and everyday essentials to the innumerable families who have suddenly found themselves without any source of income. We've been making an effort to document and raise awareness of these efforts. We will add information on projects in this space as we are able to confirm them. If you'd like to see a list of the efforts that we've featured so far and contribute to them with either time or money, visit our complete list here. You can also see a list of projects that have registered themselves at BaliSolidarity.org. If you know of an effort and would like to have them listed, please send their information to TheBaliBeat@outlanders.global.
About This Newsletter
This newsletter is a product of Migration Media, the hub for stories from and about the international migrant experience.
Our standards
We only include news items from established media sources
We do not share rumors.
We do not include opinion pieces or forecasts.
For all stories marked "Indonesian" I have used Google Translate to convert it from Bahasa Indonesia. In most cases I try to polish the excerpt and/or write a short summary to help clarify the details.
For any questions, comments or tips, please contact us at TheBaliBeat@outlanders.global.