Friday, December 4
Country smashes daily case record, official blames delayed reporting as Widodo warns local leaders to "make it stop" + Tabanan school outbreak raging, only 69 of 311 students test negative + more!
Good morning! Welcome to The Bali Beat for Friday, December 4. If you’re not a subscriber, sign up here to get this update delivered directly to your Inbox every Monday-Saturday morning, along with each evening’s Covid-19 update. If you are already a subscriber, thank you! Please be sure to share it with others in the foreigner community on the island by clicking the button below.
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Weather & Waves
Today’s Weather for Southern Bali
Today’s Tides
Surf Outlook
Weather forecast from Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology & Geophysics Council (Link)
Tide table from Tide-forecast.com.
Surf outlook via Windy.com.
Local Covid Numbers
*NOTE: Click here to see the national numbers infographic and a Regency-by-Regency breakdown of yesterday’s local numbers.
A LITTLE VACCINATION CONTEXT: With the UK becoming the first country to authorize a vaccine for distribution, and local officials saying that they’re ready to roll one out here once it’s approved in Indonesia, it’s helpful to understand what’s going to happen - and what’s already happening - in order to get the vaccines from the labs into our bodies. Here’s a great podcast explaining all of the monumental lifts that are being undertaken across various different industries all around the world in order to make that happen. It’s a really great listen. Click on the photo to check it out:
The Big News
"238 Bali Poltrada Students are Positive for COVID-19" from The IDN Times (Indonesian): As of Thursday (3/12/2020), of the 311 students who were said to have conducted face-to-face learning on 7 November 2020, 238 of them tested positive for COVID-19 after the second swab examination. Where did the virus come from, can it infect students? Director of Poltrada Bali, Bambang Wijonarko, admitted he was not sure. Because while on campus and dormitories, students have strictly carried out health protocols (Prokes). Even before coming to campus, the students tested negative for COVID-19 from the results of the swab examination.
(Ed. Note: Click on the headline above to get a great breakdown of how the outbreak has unfolded on the campus so far. It’s some really great reporting. Elsewhere, government officials continue to say that the surge in cases that is happening all across the island is coming as a result of a ramped up testing and contact tracing capacity. I Gede Susila, Regional Secretary of Tabanan Regency, said, "In the past, we only did 3T for symptomatic people, but now it will be done on symptomatic or not." Secretary of Bali's Covid-19 Task Force, Made Rentin, said, "Positive cases of Covid-19 are increasing because we are indeed intensifying tracing. This aims to detect early and prevent transmission of Covid-19.")
"Indonesia Adds 8,300 New Covid Cases, 33% Higher than Previous Record" from The Jakarta Globe: Indonesia set a new record in daily number of coronavirus cases on Thursday amid a dramatic single-day surge in West Java and Papua. The country has recorded 8,369 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, 33.54% higher than the previous high of 6,267 cases reported just four days ago. The new one-day high brings the total number of confirmed cases to 557,877... The National Covid-19 Task Force blamed today’s record-breaking number on poor coordination between central and provincial governments in real time statistical updates. Task force spokesman Wiku Adisasmito said that in some cases, the latest updates were actually an accumulation of previous numbers not recorded earlier. “For example, Papua reported 1,755 cases today, which actually are the accumulation of its daily counts since November 17,” Wiku said. The similar problem has occurred in Central and West Java, he added.
(Ed. Note: Acknowledging the surges that are happing across the country, President Widodo issued a "stern warning" to regional leaders. “In certain cities and regencies, we’ve seen increases. Make it stop.” This is in sharp contrast to remarks that he gave just two days ago where he called the country’s response so far “fruitful.”)
"Discipline Faded, Pol PP Badung Deployed 1,969 Linmas Sidak Prokes" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): To enforce the discipline of health protocol (prokes) in Badung Regency, the Badung Civil Service Police Unit (Satpol PP) deployed members of the Community Protection (Linmas). There are 1,969 Linmas that will help Satpol PP Badung to inspect prokes targeting six districts in Badung. The involvement of community organizations in these prokes inspections is actually to welcome the readiness of the rise of tourism in Badung which is always disciplined in the health program... Each member of the Linmas received an allowance of Rp 100 thousand per day. So, all Linmas are obliged to participate in helping Satpol PP in implementing and monitoring prokes, so that the implementation of prokes up to the village area can be covered. "So they get pocket money for 40 days or from 23 November 2020 to 31 December 2020. Except for the election, they have one day off," said Kasatpol PP Badung, IGK Suryanegara.
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Other Headlines
"Ex-convict Arrested for Alleged Sexual Assault, Rape Attempts On 4 Women in Bali" from Coconuts: Pupuan Sector Police said the incidents occurred in the early hours of Monday on the main road of Pupuan district between 3:45am and 4:30am. “Based on statements from the victims, they said the suspect stalked them while they were on their motorbikes and proceeded to edge their bikes closer so that the victim would fall, with the intention to rape them,” the police said in a statement. The suspect, identified as IPAP, also groped their breasts and forced their clothes off, police added. The four victims, identified as NWADS (27), NWS (46), NKWS (32), and NMS (38), were assaulted on separate occasions during the 45 minute timeframe.
"Govt Forms national team for Red, White COVID-19 Vaccine development" from Antara: The Research and Technology Ministry has formed a National Team for Development of the Red and White COVID-19 Vaccine to support the country's self-reliance in producing the COVID-19 vaccine. "Indonesia, with a population of 270 million, needs vaccine in large quantities. Moreover, re-vaccination or vaccine booster would be required. Hence, cooperation with other countries is direly needed for the development of a domestic vaccine to support self-reliance in vaccine production," Research and Technology Minister Bambang P. S. Brodjonegoro affirmed. "The initial stage covers pre-clinical trials of the vaccine seed and vaccine test on animals. We must go through phases I, II, and III to see the efficacy and security of the vaccine," he noted.
"Domestic Flights In October 2020 in Bali Recorded An Increase of 18.41% from the Previous Month" from The Bali Tribune (Indonesian): In October 2020, the number of domestic flights in Bali was recorded at 1,473 flights, an increase of 18.41% month to month. The number of departing passengers was recorded at 99,545, an increase of 22.80% month to month. Head of the Bali Province BPS, Hanif Yahya said that for the Jakarta / Soekarno-Hatta destination there were 45,151 passengers and Surabaya as many as 14,691 passengers were recorded as dominating domestic flight destinations. "Departures of passengers for Jakarta Soekarno Hatta dominate domestic flights in October 2020 with a share of nearly 50% or 45.36% of total passenger departures," he said.
"Visits of Foreign Tourists to Bali In October 2020 Recorded 58 People, Down -30.12% Compared to the Previous Month" from The Bali Tribune (Indonesian): There are only 58 foreign tourists who come directly to Bali Province in October 2020. Ten tourists who came through I Gusti Ngurah Rai airport and 48 sea ports visited. According to the Head of the Bali Province Central Statistics Agency (BPS), Hanif Yahya, the number of foreign tourists to Bali Province in October 2020 has decreased by -30.12%, when compared to the record in September 2020 on a month-to-month basis. And when compared to October 2019 on a year-on-year basis, the number of foreign tourists to Bali has decreased by almost 100% (-99.99%).
"Indonesian House of Representatives Studying Dual Citizenship Law" from Indonesia Expat: Deputy Chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR), M. Azis Syamsuddin, has stated that regulation to grant dual citizenship to certain foreigners for the sake of Indonesia’s national interests is currently being drafted. However, it is still being studied from the perspective of security and defense, primarily the country’s intelligence interests. “Academic manuscripts are still being prepared. A bill has been drafted to discuss in the legislative body, the leadership meeting, and then determined at the plenary meeting," he said. In principle, the Dual Citizenship Law could be revised according to the needs of the community. However, changing a law requires a mature legal study in the form of an academic paper that will examine various aspects such as defense, security, sociology, culture, and the readiness of state administrators.
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 newsletter@migrationmedia.net.
About This Newsletter
This newsletter is a product of Migration Media, the hub for stories from and about the international migrant experience.
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