February 7, 2022
Bali sees 1000s of Covid-cases over weekend, deaths rise + National Govt asks elderly to stay at home + Foreign tourists can travel throughout country & 273 tourist visas issued since Oct. + more
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Tides
Today’s Tides
Tide table from Tide-forecast.com.
Daily Covid Update
National Figures
Local Figures
Note: Bali reported 2,038 new positive Covid-19 cases on Saturday, the highest number ever recorded for the island. As of yesterday, there were a reported 9,887 cases in treatment, still below the previous peak of 13,803 on August 5 last year. Bali’s daily deaths peaked at 73 on 20 August 2021, while the seven reported deaths yesterday was the highest daily figure since October 10 last year.
The Big News
“Bali Sees Thousands of New Covid-19 Cases, Deaths Increasing” from Bali Post (Indonesian): On Sunday, Bali's additional COVID-19 cases fell from the previous day which was 2,038 people. The bad news is that deaths show an increasing trend. According to data from the Bali COVID-19 Handling Task Force, the number of new cases reported was 1,918 people. Additional cases were reported by nine districts/cities. Denpasar reported the most additions reaching 588 people, followed by Badung with 492 people. Death increased by 7 people from 4 districts. The recovered patients increased by 196 people from 8 districts/cities and the number of active cases is 9,887. Bali has a centralized isolation capacity of 2,607 beds.
Context: Saturday’s caseload of 2,038 was the highest ever number of new cases on the island. In related news, Karangasem is adding Isoter beds (Indonesian), as is Gianyar (Indonesian), 30 villages in Denpasar have been declared red zones (Indonesian), Buleleng, where Isoters are filling up (Indonesian), is converting a high school dormitory to an Isoter facility (Indonesian). Also in Denpasar, all public parks have been closed (Indonesian) and the streets are again being sprayed with disinfectant (Indonesian). The Task Force has described the tracing efforts as being “massive” (Indonesian)
“Gov't Asks Elderly Not to Leave Homes as Omicron Peak Looms” from The Jakarta Globe: The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, has asked Indonesians aged 60 years and above not to leave the house for the next month to avoid Covid-19 severe sickness or death caused by the Omicron variant, which is spreading at a breakneck pace and is expected to peak in three or four weeks. Data from the Ministry of Health showed more than 5.7 million people aged 60 years have yet to receive any dose of vaccine by Saturday. There is about 21.5 million elderly in the country. Of that amount, only 15.6 million, or 73% of people aged 60 years or above, have received at least one dose of vaccine.
Context: To emphasize, this statement by Minister Luhut is a request—not an official instruction—for the elderly to stay at home. The number of schools in Bali that are reverting to distance learning continues to increase, see the Education section below for the details.
“Foreign Tourists Can Travel Throughout Country (After Quarantine), 273 Tourist Visas Issued Since Oct.” from Antara: Foreign tourists having B211A visas and entering through Bali or Riau are allowed to visit other areas and return to their respective countries from areas outside Bali and Riau. "Foreigners using tourist visas do not have to exit the country through Bali, they can leave through other areas, for example, if they also want to visit Labuan Bajo," Amran Aris, the Immigration Traffic Director of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights' Immigration Directorate General, said on Saturday. During the 15 October 2021 – 28 January 2022 period, Indonesia issued a total of 273 electronic visas for tourist visits to Bali and the Riau Islands.
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Other Headlines
“Ministry Issues Covid-19 Prevention Directive for MotoGP at Mandalika” from Antara: Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian has issued a ministerial instruction to regulate COVID-19 prevention measures during the MotoGP, a ministry's official stated. The ministry's Director General of Regional Administration Development, Safrizal ZA, said on Saturday "at most 100,000 spectators will be allowed, with occupancy rate at the festival class being restricted to 10% of the total capacity." He also said the ministry's directive instructed regional governments to expedite their vaccination efforts to achieve 80% coverage for the first and second vaccine doses and continue offering booster vaccine doses by a week at the latest before the MotoGP competition's date.
Context: The fully vaccinated rate in Central Lombok is currently 65%. In other news, the NTB Governor has requested free tickets for local residents (Indonesian) and Isoter facilities are being reopened in the regency following the detection of Covid-19 cases there (Indonesian).
Vaccination Update
Nation: “Booster Vaccine Needed to Boost People's Health” from Antara
Health Protocols (Prokes) & Health Services
“DKI-Bali Will Soon Surpass Delta Wave’s Peak” from Detik (Indonesian): Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin revealed data on Corona cases which continue to increase. The provinces of DKI Jakarta and Bali are predicted to experience the peak of Corona beyond the delta variant wave. Budi predicts an increase in cases in DKI and Bali will happen soon, however, the number of patients being treated is under control. Budi said the increase in Corona cases would still occur in the next two to three weeks. "The graph below shows that hospitalization is still in the 30s of the delta peak. People remain calm but alert to the increase in cases, which will definitely be high in the next 2-3 weeks," said Budi.
Context: In daily new Covid-19 cases, Bali surpassed Delta’s peak the day before the Minister made the above statement. Deaths lag considerably. The data the Minister refers to above can be seen here.
More...
Nation: “Jakarta's Covid-19 Recovery Percentage Reaches 92.8%” from Antara
Nation: “Indonesia Adds 32,211 Covid-19 Cases in One Day” from Antara
Karangasem: “Karangasem Prepares Fund of IDR 50 Million for Isoter” from Radar Bali (Indonesian)
Economy & Infrastructure
“Lake Ecosystem Disturbed by Predators, Govt Promises to Spread Fish” from Radar Bali (Indonesian): The ecosystems of Lake Buyan and Lake Tamblingan are disturbed because predatory fish species now live in the lake. The fish prey on the larvae of fish endemic to the lake, as a result, the bendegas who rely on the lake for a living are no longer productive. The predatory fish species is the zebrafish (Danio rerio). Head of the Buleleng Food and Fisheries Security Service (DKPP), I Gede Putra Aryana, admitted that currently the balance of the ecosystem in the two lakes is being disturbed.
Education
“106 Students and Teachers Exposed in Denpasar, PTM Suspended” from Radar Bali (Indonesian): The elimination of face-to-face learning (PTM) in Denpasar was carried out because positive cases are increasing. "It was only decided yesterday. Yesterday afternoon the meeting, now it is done directly by distance learning (PJJ). Yes, the reason is because we see the development of Covid-19 cases which is increasing and many are found from school clusters," said Denpasar City Covid-19 Task Force Spokesperson, I Dewa Gede Rai on Friday. Dewa Rai also confirmed that there were 106 both teachers and students who were positive for Covid 19 in Denpasar.
Context: Face to face classes have also been suspended in Tabanan (Indonesian), Badung (Indonesian), and Bangli (Indonesian). Buleleng suspended classes last week (Indonesian).
Bali Reopening
“More Bubble Hotels for Bali’s Warm up Vacation Program” from Tribun Bali (Indonesian): The Deputy for Marketing at the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, Nia Niscaya, explained that the Bali warm up vacation package is different from the quarantine package. "One of the differences is that PPLN can continue to enjoy facilities in hotel areas that apply a bubble system or not quarantine in rooms," Nia Niscaya said on Sunday. Currently, the total quarantine hotels recommended by the COVID-19 task force as of February 2 are 66 hotels, and five have been allowed to apply for the bubble system. The number of hotels that facilitate this warm up vacation program will grow, there are 19 other hotels that have applied to become bubble system hotels, though their readiness is yet to be verified.
Context: One aspect of the Warm Up Vacation quarantine system which is yet to be clarified is, if quarantining guests are sharing facilities such as a swimming pool, gym or dining room, what happens with regard to contact tracing and extended quarantine should one of the guests test positive?
More...
“PHRI Bali Says Hotel Occupancy Only Around 6%” from Kontan (Indonesian)
Of Interest
“Victims of the Bali Bombings’ Agonizing Path to Finding Peace” from The Jakarta Post (Metered Paywall)
“Bali Police After Two Foreigners Involved in Beating” from Antara Bali (Indonesian)
“Mount Anak Krakatau Erupts Nine Times in a Day” from Antara
“Ogoh-ogoh Parade Abandoned, Buleleng Youth Disappointed” from Radar Bali (Indonesian)
“German Citizens Arrested” from Radar Bali (Indonesian)
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How You Can Help Bali
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