August 31, 2021
PPKM extended to September 6; Bali remains under Level 4 + Decline in Covid cases signals possible Bali reopening says tourism minister + Jokowi wants to intervene in Bali Covid handling + 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: Monday and Tuesday saw Bali’s lowest case totals since the end of June. Deaths remained high, however, with 44 and 50 respectively, bringing August’s fatalities so far to 1,310, which is 37.49% of all Covid deaths throughout the pandemic. The fatality rate is now 4.52%, the highest since the end of May.
Click here to see the national numbers infographic and a Regency-by-Regency breakdown of yesterday’s local numbers.
The Big News
“PPKM Extended to 6th September” from Indonesia Expat: President Joko Widodo has announced that PPKM both in and outside Java and Bali is extended from 31st August to 6th September 2021. “Thank God for the hard work of all parties in the past week. There has been an improving trend of COVID-19 in the country,” said the president on Monday. Based on data from the last seven days, Jokowi said the COVID-19 positivity rate has continued to decline and the bed occupancy rates are getting better with numbers presenting around 27%. The president claimed that areas in and outside of Java and Bali are showing good developments. Jokowi stated that areas in Java and Bali in level 4 is down from 51 districts and cities to 25 districts and cities, level 3 has gone from covering 67 districts and cities to covering 76 districts and cities, and level 2 did apply to 10 districts and cities and now applies to 27 districts and cities. “Nevertheless, we all must remain cautious in responding to this trend of improvement,” said Jokowi.
Context: While some areas in Java such as Malang and Solo have dropped to Level 3 restrictions, Bali and Yogyakarta remain under Level 4 restrictions.
“Decline in Covid-19 Cases Signals Opening of Bali Tourism” from Antara Bali (Indonesian): Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno said that the decline in COVID-19 cases in Bali was an indication that tourism would reopen on the Island of the Gods after the Java-Bali Community Activity Restrictions were enforced. Sandiaga said that the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy would prepare pre-conditions for the opening of Bali tourism, including the Indonesian Tourism Development Corporation, which manages The Nusa Dua area which is designated as a green zone, to then review the extent of its readiness. "End to end Cleanliness, Health, Safety, and Environment as well as the implementation of the PeduliLindungi application as well as coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries regarding opening to and from the foreign tourists market for Bali," said Sandiaga. This, he said, was done because the handling of COVID-19 must be coordinated in order to immediately determine the readiness for the opening of Bali.
“Luhut: Jokowi Wants Intervention for Handling Covid-19 in Bali” from Kompas (Indonesian): Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said President Joko Widodo wanted special interventions in handling Covid-19 in Bali. In addition, the President also requested that there be direct field checks. "Especially for the Bali area, in the President's direction, he asked for special advice to immediately check and intervene in the field," Luhut said on Monday. "For this reason, we will return to the field to revisit the obstacles faced so that the improvement trend can be accelerated," he said. "So we hope that in the next one week this number will definitely improve," said Luhut. On that occasion he also admitted that Bali and DIY are currently still at level 4 implementing PPKM.
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Other Headlines
"Endemic Covid-19 Plan Gets Lackluster Response" from The Jakarta Post (Metered Paywall): Over the past few weeks, the government has teased out a plan to change its approach to handling the COVID-19 pandemic; instead of a zero-sum fight against a disease that has infected over 4 million people and killed more than 130,000 across the country, authorities are now exploring the idea of living with COVID-19 in the long term. Experts have warned that there is a lot to prepare before the government can start easing people into the situation where COVID-19 is simply regarded as an endemic disease. Masdalina Pane of the Indonesian Epidemiologists Association (PAEI) said that to control the pandemic, the government had to set up a roadmap and strengthen its pandemic preparedness and response. In order to build up self-reliance on outbreak control, Indonesia would have to start producing its own test kits, vaccines and personal protective equipment. It would also be necessary to set up a dedicated monitoring agency, akin to the role played by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States.
Context: In line with Masdalina Pane’s suggestion of setting up a dedicated monitoring agency, Dr Pandu Riono, an epidemiologist at the University of Indonesia has urged the government to establish a public health and disease control agency that is directly accountable to the president and part of the government.
Vaccination Update
“Indonesia Nears 100 Million Covid-19 Vaccine Doses” from The Jakarta Globe: Indonesia is set to join a group of only a few countries that have administered more than 100 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine in coming days, a government official said on Monday. The country has been averaging around 1 million doses since the first day of August but the more ambitious target of ramping up vaccination to 2 million doses per day was hindered by low supplies and distribution issues. "Vaccination drive in Indonesia has reached 96.5 million doses and the health minister promised that the figure would top 100 million this week," Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said.
More...
Denpasar: “Government Accelerates Second Stage of Covid-19 Vaccinations” from Republika (Indonesian)
NTB: “Vaccination Participation of Pregnant Women in Mataram is Low” from Republika (Indonesian)
Health Protocols (Prokes) & Health Services
“Healthcare Reform Key to Tackle Pandemic” from Antara: Reforming the healthcare system is one of the key requirements for Indonesia to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has said. "Our task is to carry out a major transformation in Indonesia's healthcare system. The President told me, this global crisis now begins with the health system. So, this is the best time for us to carry out a major transformation and reform of health services," Minister of Health Budi said on Monday. Such a transformation needs to include the reform of primary health services, followed by secondary health services, he said. In terms of health service resilience, it is important for Indonesia to have its own production facilities, Sadikin said. "We realize that as the fourth most populous country in the world, during this pandemic, we cannot allow production facilities to not exist in our country. Because we see that during a pandemic like this, with restrictions and lockdowns, of course, it will be challenging for the health system if we don't have our own production facilities," he explained.
More...
Nation: “Jokowi Warns of Possible Covid-19 Surge Despite Improving Trends” from Tempo
Nation: “Regent Rewards Himself IDR 100k for Every Covid-19 Funeral, Then Returns Money Out of Shame” from Coconuts Jakarta
Nation: “NTT Officials Chided for Alleged Beach Party Amid Covid-19 Restrictions” from Coconuts Bali
Nation: “Indonesia Under-18s Death Rate More Than Three Times World Average” from Sky News
Jembrana: “Covid-19 Isolation Patient Hanged Self in Hospital Bathroom” from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian)
Jembrana: “Police Arrest 22 Fake Vaccine Certificate Makers and Users in Bali” from Detik (Indonesian)
Tabanan: “Tabanan Police Still Screening Riders” from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian)
Economy & Infrastructure
“Pandemic-induced Challenges an Opportunity to Boost Tourism” from Antara: Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno believes that challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic should be viewed as opportunities to drive the tourism and creative economy sectors. "Pandemic-induced challenges must be viewed as prospects to fundamentally invigorate the tourism and creative economy sector," Uno remarked on Monday. Uno noted that the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry was currently working to realize the quality and sustainability of the tourism and creative economy sectors through three pillars of recovery: innovation, adaptation, and collaboration.
More...
Province: “Researchers Say Halal Tourism is a Futuristic Tourism Concept” from Bali Express (Indonesian)
Province: “From Covid-19 Pandemic to the Bali Bombings, How Severe is the Impact on Tourism?” from Bisnis Bali (Indonesian)
Province: “18 Months into the Pandemic, 48 Hotels in Bali Listed for Sale” from Bisnis Bali (Indonesian)
Badung: “Fish Prices Skyrocket” from Radar Bali (Indonesian)
“Sandiaga Uno: Bali Has Potential as a Health Tourism Destination” from Tribun Bali (Indonesian): Related to the potential of Bali as a destination for health and medical tourism, Sandiaga Uno said medical tourism is one of the programs that will be executed by the Ministry. "Indonesia has started to move towards good quality and will soon be able to compete with hospitals abroad. The thing that needs to be improved from the hospital is the service aspect. Jakarta, Medan and Bali are planned to be promoted as health tourism destinations," he said on Monday. He added that the promotion of health tourism will be carried out first by targeting domestic tourists, especially those who have often been doing treatment or medical check-ups abroad.
“Indonesia to Be Asia-Pacific’s Fastest-Growing IT Market” from The Jakarta Post (Metered Paywall): Indonesia is expected to lead the Asia-Pacific in IT spending over the next four years, driven by a strong shift toward cloud-related services as the COVID-19 pandemic prompts local enterprises to digitalize their operations. The country’s IT spending is expected to experience a 13% compound annual growth rate over the next few years, bringing the value of the sector to US$6 billion by 2024, according to a report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and technology company Cisco published on Tuesday. “Indonesia is the fastest-growing IT market in Asia Pacific, Japan and China,” said Cisco ASEAN president Naveen Menon on Tuesday.
Of Interest
“Authorities Visit Three Foreign-Owned Properties in Ubud, Find No Violations” from Bali Post
”Geospatial Agency Records 17,000 Islands in Indonesia“ from Antara
“Nigerian Who Extorted and Assaulted Woman in Bali Thought to Have Entered Indonesia Illegally” from iNews Bali (Indonesian)
“Tambora Asked to Catch Up With Rinjani” from Republika (Indonesian)
“Depressed Russian Arrested” from Nusa 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 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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