August 11, 2021
Central Covid task force's expert team monitors case handling in Denpasar + Daily Covid death toll passes 2,000 for second time + Bali draws investor interest to build film studios + more
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Weather & Tides
Today’s Weather for Southern Bali
Today’s Tides
Meteorology, Climatology & Geophysics Council (Link)
Tide table from Tide-forecast.com.
Local Covid Numbers
*Note: Yesterday was the fifth day in the last 3 weeks that Bali has reported cases above 1,400. Among yesterday’s 1,411 cases were 10 returned overseas travelers and 221 domestic travelers, which is just over 16%. Yesterday’s 36 deaths brought this month's total fatalities to 366.
Click here to see the national numbers infographic and a Regency-by-Regency breakdown of yesterday’s local numbers.
The Big News
"Central Task Force Monitors Handling of Covid-19 in Denpasar" from Antara Bali (Indonesian): The Central Covid-19 Task Force Expert Team made a visit to monitor the handling of Covid-19 in Denpasar. An expert from the Central Task Force, led by I Nyoman Gde Agus Asrama, said, "Monitoring in Denpasar is very important to find out the extent of the strategic steps take in dealing with the pandemic. Moreover, Denpasar City has a fairly dense population." On this occasion, Agus Asrama appreciated the responsive and collaborative handling of Covid-19 carried out by the Denpasar City Government. "There needs to be good collaboration between the center, regions, and local posts so that case handling can be faster and more accurate. It is our duty to go directly to the field inviting all elements together in dealing with the pandemic."
"Daily Covid Death Toll Tops 2,000 for 2nd Time" from The Jakarta Globe: Indonesia recorded 2,048 coronavirus-related deaths on Tuesday, the second time that the daily death toll has topped the 2,000 mark since the pandemic began. The latest figures bring the country’s overall death toll in the Covid-19 pandemic to 110,619. The highest daily death toll was 2,069 recorded on July 27. “Many patients with positive cases have opted to self-isolate at homes. Their symptoms rapidly deteriorated and only by that time did they visit hospitals,” Health Ministry spokeswoman Siti Nadia Tarmizi said. “It should be health professionals who determine where a patient is isolated.” West Java reported the highest daily death toll of the day with 491 Covid deaths, followed by Central Java with 490 and East Java with 329. Overall, East Java has recorded the highest fatality toll with 23,621 deaths as of Tuesday, followed closely by Central Java (23,497). Jakarta has the third-highest number of Covid deaths with a total of 12,852 while West Java is ranked fourth with 10,988 deaths. There have been 32,081 new cases in the past 24 hours to take Indonesia’s total to 3,718,821. The daily tally represents a sharp increase after seeing the lowest number in over a month on Monday.
"Indonesia's Bali Draws Investor Interest to Build Film Studios" from Nikkei Asia: With undeniably dreamy backdrops and colorful local culture, the Indonesian island of Bali has lured foreign filmmakers for nearly as long as there has been film. Now, a group of local and foreign investors want to bridge the gap between Hollywood's cinematic universe and Indonesian creatives by building movie-grade film studios on the island. Unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival last month by local group United Media Asia and Creative Artists Agency in the U.S., the venture promises economic diversification for Bali's tourism-dependent economy, which shrank 9.3% year-on-year in 2020, according to Indonesia's National Statistics Agency. "Through their productions, UMA will employ thousands of local talent[s] to bolster the Bali economy, which has been severely impacted by the global pandemic," Missy Davy, spokesperson for Creative Artists Agency, said. "Bali is the ideal location to create a production destination."
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Other Headlines
"Govt Excludes Death Tally From PPKM Assessment" from The Jakarta Post (Metered Paywall): The government says it has excluded the daily death toll from the group of indicators it uses to establish the severity levels of its multi-tiered public activity restrictions (PKPM), claiming that the COVID-19 death figures have “distorted” its assessments. The change was announced on Monday in conjunction with the extension of PPKM until Aug. 16 on Java and Bali, and until Aug. 23 in the rest of the country. Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Ministry spokesman Jodi Mahardi said delays in reporting COVID-19 deaths were responsible for the distortion and had created assessment difficulties. He added that the government would begin considering the indicator again after it had redressed the data discrepancies. Luhut said the government would establish a special team charged with bringing down the fatality rate in regions that had experienced surges of deaths over the past few weeks, such as Yogyakarta.
Vaccination Update
Nation: "Over 101.63 Million Vaccines Distributed to Indonesia's 34 Provinces" from Antara
Nation: "Jakarta Vaccinator Arrested for Allegedly Injecting Boy With Empty Syringe" from Coconuts Jakarta
Badung: "Vaccination at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Air Base Now Enters the Second Dose" from Tribun Bali (Indonesian)
Jembrana: "Negara Police Accompany Officers to Carry Out Door-to-door Vaccination" from Antara Bali (Indonesian)
Klungkung: "Klungkung Regent: 82% of Nusa Penida Residents Have Been Vaccinated" from Republika (Indonesian)
Health Protocols (Prokes) & Health Services
"Positive Cases of Covid-19 Rise in Bali, Most in Independent Isolation" from Tribun Bali (Indonesian): Head of the Bali Health Office, Dr. Ketut Suarjaya, said that there were no Covid-19 patients on the Island of the Gods who died while undergoing independent isolation. As of Monday, August 9, 2021, there were 12,937 active cases or people being treated at referral hospitals, centralized isolation managed by the Bali Provincial Government, and undergoing independent isolation. Of the 12,937 cases, most or 8,313 people or 64.26% were isolating independently. A total of 2,184 people or 16.88% were treated at Covid-19 referral hospitals. A total of 2,440 people or 18.86% were treated in centralized isolation areas. Suarjaya also said that currently the bed occupancy rate (BOR) in Bali is still high. The average non-ICU BOR of Covid-19 referral hospitals in 9 regencies/city in Bali Province is 71.40%. Meanwhile, the ICU BOR is at 72.62%. The highest BOR of a referral hospital is in Buleleng Regency: the non-ICU BOR is 92.25% and ICU BOR is 100%.
More...
Nation: "5 Important Facts About Extension of PPKM Level 4" from Suara Bali (Indonesian)
Nation: "PPKM Extension Declared for Fortnight Outside Java-Bali From Aug 10" from Antara
Nation: "Fake Rapid Test Letter Maker From Banyuwangi Threatened with 6 Years in Prison" from Radar Bali (Indonesian)
Province: "Bali Governor's Steps to Accelerate Decline of New Covid-19 Cases" from Suara Bali (Indonesian)
Province: "Governor Koster Involves Medical Students as Tracers and Testing Officers" from iNews Bali (Indonesian)
Province: "Tightening of Panca Yadnya in Bali, People Required to Undergo Swab Test Before Carrying Out Ceremony" from Tribun Bali (Indonesian)
Badung: "Badung Regency Government Plans to Build Oxygen Factory" from Bali Express (Indonesian)
Badung: "PPKM Level 4, Residents Still Found Ignoring Prokes" from Bali Post (Indonesian)
Gianyar: "Blahbatuh Police Gives Prokes Appeal at Yadnya Market" from Bali Express (Indonesian)
Economy & Infrastructure
"PEN Realization in Bali Reaches Rp2.87 trillion, Healthcare Incentives Haven't Been Disbursed" from Bisnis Bali (Indonesian): The realization of the distribution of funds for the national economic recovery program (PEN) in Bali reached Rp. 2.87 trillion as of June 25, 2021. However, PEN funds for incentives for health workers have not yet been realized. The realization of PEN funds is dominated by social protection programs, which reached Rp1.162 trillion. The social protection cluster includes pre-employment cards, cash social assistance, basic food programs, internet subsidies, village fund BLT, family hope programs, to assistance for micro-enterprises (BPUM). Next, the second largest distribution of PEN funds is channeled to the health sector. The realization of PEN in the health sector was channeled to claims from hospitals with a value of Rp704.7 billion. The hospital's claim was received by 10,226 patients treated at 157 hospitals. However, although the PEN program is also distributed to the health sector, the incentives for health workers have not been realized.
More...
Nation: "SOE Ministry Urged to Help Save Garuda Indonesia: Labor Union" from Antara
Nation: "BRGM Aims to Restore 1.2 Million Hectares of Peatland in Seven Provinces" from Antara
Nation: "Sharia Economy Progressing Well, Growing Promisingly: VP Amin" from Antara
Nation: "When Indonesia Stole the Mega-funding Spotlight From Singapore" from Tech in Asia (Metered Paywall)
Nation: "Grab Sees Sudden Spurt of Indonesian Investors, But Why?" from Tech in Asia (Metered Paywall)
Nation: "Skincare Brand Utama Spice Doubles Sales During PPKM Through Online Sales" from The Jakarta Post
Badung: "Angkasa Pura 1 Ignored Recommendations on Parking Fees, Bali DPRD Inflamed" from Bali Express (Indonesian)
Buleleng: "Three Bridge Projects in Buleleng Estimated to Be Completed by End of the Year" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian)
"Air Passengers in Java-Bali Now Allowed to Use Antigen, But Two Doses of Covid-19 Vaccine Required" from Kompas (Indonesian): The government has again extended PPKM Level 4 in Java and Bali from August 10 to 16, 2021. During the extension period, the government made adjustments, especially for people who had received two doses of Covid-19 vaccination. The change this time is that people no longer need to show negative results for Covid-19 using a PCR test as a condition for boarding a plane, but only with negative results for the Covid-19 antigen in the last 24 hours. However, for people who have just received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccination, they must still show a negative result of the Covid-19 PCR test, carried out a maximum of 2 days before departure.
"Covid-19 Data Update in Klungkung Doesn't Match Real Conditions" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): The Commander of the 1610 Klungkung Kodim (Dandim) Lieutenant Colonel Infantry Suhendar Suryaningrat revealed that there had been an error in inputting Covid-19 data in Klungkung Regency. This, he added, was known because his party also supervised the handling of Covid-19 in the field. According to observations, mid-level TNI officers found a difference between the Covid-19 data released by the Klungkung Regency Government and real data on the ground on the same day. "We, the TNI, Polri, and the Puskesmas did the swab, but only one data set came in," he said. He also reminded the Klungkung Regency Covid-19 data entry officers to be careful when entering data because it greatly influences the policies that will be taken by the government.
"BI Working With Counterparts to Reduce Use of Dollar" from The Jakarta Post (Metered Paywall): Bank Indonesia (BI) has strengthened a local-currency settlement framework with authorities in Japan and Malaysia to reduce the dominance of the United States dollar and make the rupiah less volatile to global financial shocks. Within the framework, BI and Bank Negara Malaysia expanded earlier this month the types of transactions covered in the framework to include not only trade but also direct investment and remittances. The US dollar is still used for most of Indonesia’s trade with other countries, according to Doddy Zulverdi, executive director of BI’s international department. But local-currency trade settlements are on the rise. Last year, local currency settlements accounted for 4.1% of the trade between Indonesia and Malaysia. While that is only a small share of the total, it marks a nearly threefold increase from 2018, when the two countries implemented the framework.
"Sendok Kreatif: Empowering Balinese Culinary Entrepreneurs During the Pandemic" from The Jakarta Post: Sendok Kreatif (Creative Spoon) was born as a movement and charity catering to those who started their home-cooking business during the pandemic. Providing skills, knowledge, and confidence transfers for free. Sendok Kreatif ’s mission is to supply home-based culinary micro-entrepreneurs with adequate resources to develop their businesses in an eco-responsible and sustainable manner. Sendok Kreatif provides personalized one-on-one training sessions on effective procedures, management coaching, and marketing knowledge along with cooking and packaging tools. "The only way out of this challenging time is simply to create a new future. Where there is crisis, there is also opportunity," said Landriati Pramoedji, restaurant and hotel consultant and CEO of Dine & Wine Bali, and founder of Sendok Kreatif.
Of Interest
"AMAN Presses for Strong Public Pressure to Return Indigenous Territory" from Antara
"Officials Going Haute Couture? Tangerang City Council Under Fire Over ‘Louis Vuitton’ Uniform" from Coconuts Jakarta
"PHDI Bali Requests HK Sampradaya Books for Elementary and Junior High School Students Be Withdrawn" from Radar Bali (Indonesian)
"Caught in Current at Pering Beach, Farmers From Gianyar Have Not Been Found" from IDN Times Bali (Indonesian)
"Appearance of White Monkey at Uluwatu Temple, Residents Believe Covid Pandemic Will Soon Pass" from iNews Bali (Indonesian)
"Meaning of Black Clothes in Death Processions in Bali" from Tribun Bali (Indonesian)
"Still Pandemic and PPKM, Climbing Advised to be Temporarily Stopped" from Bali Post (Indonesian)
"Tanzanian Foreigner in Bali With 5-month Baby Runs Out of Money" from Kompas (Indonesian)
"Anger as Nigerian Diplomat Manhandled in Indonesia" from BBC News
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 with Bali Solidarity. If you know of an effort and would like to have them listed, please send their information to TheBaliBeat@outlanders.global.
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