Friday, April 3
Good evening! Welcome to the COVID-19 Update for Bali for Friday, April 3. If you find this information useful, please subscribe and share it with others in the foreigner community on the island.
If you've got a tip on a story that should be included, please contact us at newsletter@migrationmedia.net.
Status Update
The latest official infection numbers for Indonesia:
Sources:
Charts are from Worldometers and are current as of 00:00 GMT today.
Official updates are available from the Indonesian Government here.
Resources
Important information for foreigners who are staying on the island, such as designated COVID-19 hospitals and emergency contact numbers, can be found by following this link.
The government has cancelled its visa-on-arrival process and rolled out enhanced entry requirements for people traveling to Indonesia; they have also granted automatic extensions to most foreigners who are still in the country on temporary stay visas. You can see a (translated) list of all of the relevant regulations on the Directorate General of Immigration & Ministry of Law and Human Rights' website here.
If you are trying to plan travel anywhere, here are two of the best up-to-date resources that can help you:
IATA Travel Center Update - The International Air Transport Association is the global lobbying body for the aviation industry. Their alerts feed into airlines' reservation systems, so it is the most reliable database of flight restrictions around.
Al Jazeera Travel Restriction & Border Shutdown Tracker - A companion list that includes less technical summaries of each country's travel restrictions, beyond just flights and airport access.
The Big News
"Indonesia Sets Sights On Netflix, Zoom Digital Tax to Boost Economy Amid COVID-19 Pandemic" from Coconuts: Your Netflix subscription is about to get a little pricier as the government has set its sights on taxing digital companies and services that may or may not have a legal entity in Indonesia... On March 31, President Joko Widodo issued a Perppu (government regulation in lieu of law) aimed at stabilizing the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the articles in the Perppu mandates that the government will collect tax from foreign digital companies that have a significant economic presence in Indonesia.
"For Foreign Tourists, Only 4 International Flights" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian): After the enactment of the ban on foreign tourists entering Bali, Angkasa Pura I, manager of I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, noted that there were only 4 flights that entered on Thursday... The four flights were carrying Indonesian Migrant Workers. For domestic routes, there are currently as many as 43 flights that arrived at Ngurah Rai Airport. While departing as many as 39 flights. So that the total is still served as many as 82 flights.
"Blood Stocks At PMI Klungkung Thinning, OPD to TNI Requested by Donors" from The IDN Times (Indonesian): As a result of the government's physical distancing policy, supplies in the Blood Transfusion Unit (UTD) of the Klungkung Regional Hospital is running low. The amount of available blood type A is even just one bag. For this reason, the Indonesian Red Cross has asked the Organization of Regional Apparatus, the Police and the Indonesian National Armed Forces to come to UTD to donate blood, but not in groups.
"Exposed to Corona Outbreak, Food Stock In Bali Confirmed Safe" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): Based on the interim report of the Head of Agriculture and Food Security for Bali Covid-19 Task Force, logistics are currently in a safe position. Similar conditions occur in the market. Prices are also relatively stable. There is no increase in price that exceeds the unnatural price... The Head of the Bali Bulog also reported that the rice supply was sufficient to anticipate the effects of the spread of co-19. In general, the Bulog Bali rice reserves are sufficient, the production and availability of food on the market is sufficient, with prices controlled.
Other Headlines
"Aussies Urged to Leave Bali Right Away As COVID-19 Travel Restrictions Increase" from Coconuts: The Australian Consulate General in Bali is urging Aussies to leave the island right away, warning of the possibility of being stuck here for months and highlighting concerns over Indonesia’s under pressure healthcare system... Anthea Griffin, Australia’s Consul General in Bali, took to Twitter today to appeal to Australians to consider returning down under. In a 90-second video, staff of the mission laid out several concerns including flight suspensions from major airlines and the potential internal restrictions within the country that may limit access to roads, transport and food supply in the near future.
"Impact of Covid-19 On Sanur Sepi Beach Tourism Area" from Nusa Bali (Inonesian): The impact of Social distancing, as suggested by the government, seems to be truly effective in various places in Denpasar. One of them is Sanur Beach tourism area. The legendary beach area, as one of the markers of the tourism pulse of Bali, looks quiet and quiet... Almost no activity. Restaurants and art shops are almost all closed. There are only one or two stalls that try to open, as seen in Sindu Beach Sanur. "Hopefully it will end soon (Covid-19)," said a shop owner on Thursday. He said the threat of Corona virus transmission was spreading, followed by the government's call to avoid the crowd, Sanur Beach area became quiet. "Normally, if there is no end to tourists, it's normal because there are many hotels here," he said.
"Those Who Stay: For Some tourists, Bali Is A Safe Haven from the Pandemic" from Coconuts: With many uncertainties surrounding COVID-19, be it doubts over the effectiveness of government response and the many unknowns about this viral disease, some who were in Bali as the COVID-19 crisis escalated around the globe have now chosen to remain on the island... These tourists were drawn to the Island of the Gods for a myriad of reasons, and ended up staying for varied rationale, too. Some told Coconuts Bali that they visited Bali as part of their healing journey, while others have been forced to change plans with the increasing travel restrictions worldwide and landed in Bali as a result.
"Indonesia Feels 965 Earthquakes In March 2020" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian): The Center for Meteorology of Climatology and Geophysics BBMKG in Denpasar noted that during March 2020, 965 earthquakes occurred in Indonesia, with 144 occurring in Bali... For seismic strength less than 5.0 SR as much as 142 times. Meanwhile, above 5.0 SR 2 times. The earthquakes occurred south of Nusa Dua, South Kuta District, Badung. Even though it happened hundreds of times, there was only 5 seismicity felt. "So Bali is the third largest contributor in 8 regions that have frequent earthquakes in Indonesia in the March 2020 period," said Iman Fatchurochman, Head of Data and Information Division of BBMKG Denpasar.
The View from Outside
"Indonesia Records Second Highest COVID-19 Death Toll in Asia" from Benar News: Indonesia, with 170 fatalities, surpassed South Korea on Thursday as the Asian country with the second highest death toll from COVID-19 as Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said his government would not prevent people from traveling to their hometowns to celebrate Eid al-Fitr amid the pandemic... The number of confirmed deaths in Indonesia is the highest in Asia outside China. South Korea has recorded 169 fatalities so far, according to the latest data compiled by disease experts at Johns Hopkins University in the United States.
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 list news items from established media sources
We do not share rumors.
We do not include opinion pieces or forecasts.
For all stories marked "Indonesian" we have used Google Translate to convert it from Bahasa. When possible, we will provide a short summary in proper English to help get the details of the piece across more efficiently, and we will polish the excerpt to help clarify the details.
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