Friday, January 29
New daily death record set + Badung Police Chief says 99% of locals wear masks but foreigners do not, promises crackdown + Imigrasi head says Kristen Gray not deported because of viral post + more!
Good morning! Welcome to The Bali Beat for Friday, January 29. If you’re not a subscriber, sign up here to get this update delivered directly to your Inbox every Monday-Friday 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 island community 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: Yesterday saw a downshift in new case numbers in Bali from the last couple of days. However, there needs to be a much larger decline before anyone can breathe a sigh of relief. At this point last month, the island was in what was then record-setting territory with 172 cases and a 7-day average of 118. Today, the 7-day average stands at 356. Also, recoveries aren't keeping pace with new infections, so the stressed health system is now handling over 3,500 cases. Nationwide, new case numbers remained near peak levels (11,948) and a new record for deaths was set for the fifth rime this month (387).
Click here to see the national numbers infographic and a Regency-by-Regency breakdown of yesterday’s local numbers.
The Big News
"Ideally, Tourists Are Not Burdened With PCR Swab Fees Visit Bali" from Bali Express (Indonesian): The proposal submitted by the Chairman of the Gianyar DPRD, Wayan Tagel Winarta to carry out a lockdown to anticipate the increasing spread of Covid-19, seems difficult to materialize if there is no agreement from all parties. Therefore, it is hoped that the government can provide free PCR swabs for tourists planning to Bali. Pande Mahayana Adityawarman said, to increase domestic tourist visits (wisdom) to Bali, tourism industry players in Gianyar hope that the free PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) swab discourse from the central government for tourists planning to Bali is expected to be realized. "We hope the government can provide free PCR swabs for tourists planning to go to Bali," he said.
"Immigration Deportation of Foreigners Due to Being Viral in Social Media? This Is What the Head of the Regional Office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights in Bali Said" from The Bali Tribune (Indonesian): "So far, we have been working, seen from the statistics we have done, that there were 157 foreigners here (Bali) during 2020, who were deported," he said. And at the beginning of 2021, 24 people have been deported, but only two are viral, namely Kristen Gray and Sergei Kosenko. In 2020, a viral foreigner, Barakeh Wissam, was deported because he gathered a large number of people to do yoga training. "Among the 157 in 2020, only one is viral. Supervision of foreigners does not always have to be open," he explained.
Hospital Capacity Update
"Klungkung Hospital Receives a Number of Covid-19 Patients for Referrals to Other Areas" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): Until now, there have been dozens of people being treated at Klungkung Hospital because of Covid-19. This is because not all Covid-19 patients treated there are Klungkung residents. Because there are a number of Covid-19 patients who are referral patients from hospitals in the Denpasar area and even Tabanan. Director of Klungkung Hospital, Dr. Nyoman Kesuma revealed that until yesterday afternoon there were 7 Covid-19 patients being treated in the VIP isolation room, 9 Covid-19 patients in Kedondong isolation, 7 Covid-19 patients in the Covid-19 ICU and one baby in infant isolation. "Until now, the availability of beds for Covid-19 patients is still adequate. This includes ICU isolation, which still has 7 beds,” he said.
More...
Bali: "Increasing Covid-19 Cases, Bali Police Hospital Prepares" from The Bali Post (Indonesian)
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Other Headlines
"Bali Covid-19 Case Spikes Due to Increased Tracing, Health Official Says" from Coconuts: Bali Health Agency Chief Ketut Suarjaya said that the province has increased tracing and testing recently, citing it as one of the reasons for the daily case spikes in the past couple of days. On Tuesday, the province reported its highest number of daily COVID-19 cases yet at 542, followed by another 540 cases just yesterday. “That’s because we have increased the intensity for tracing, which had been lacking all this while,” Suarjaya said. “Previously we only [traced] nine people after one positive COVID-19 case, we are expanding it to 15 people now.”
Yesterday’s Prokes Patrols
“[Foreigners Receive] Special Attention from the Prokes Yustisi Team” from The Bali Post (Indonesain): The results of the evaluation and analysis in the field, the team is currently specifically targeting foreign nationals who stubbornly ignore, traditional ceremonial prokes and clusters. "Prokes violations mostly occur in tourist objects. therefore, our target and the team focus there," said Head of Badung Police, Kompol Wayan Suana. Based on intelligence investigations and operations, said Kompol Suana, foreign guests often violated prokes. 99% of the local residents have complied. "The guest (foreigner) took it lightly; he brought it but it was not used. When he was warned, he just took out his mask, but we still acted on it. The point is that masks must be worn."
More...
Badung: "Badung Improves Health Protocol Enforcement" from Antara
Badung: "Badung Obliges Businesses to Limit Visitors" from Antara (Indonesian)
Badung: "Playing to the Beach Without Masks, Two Youths Are Blocked by Officers" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian)
Bangli: "Bangli Experiencing an Increase in Coid-19 Cases, Traditional Villages Are Asked to Activate the Gotong Royong Task Force" from The Bali Post (Indonesian)
Denpasar: "Joint Team Holds Raids, 18 People Cited at Puputan I Gusti Ngurah Made Agung Field" from Bali Puspa news (Indonesian)
"Sandiaga Uno Studies the FCC to Bring Foreign Tourists to Bali" from Antara (Indonesian): The Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, said he would study the concept of a Free COVID-19 Corridor (FCC) to be implemented in Bali as an effort to bring in foreign tourists. "I got the idea of ??the FCC from friends, namely there is a program that is already running in our brothers, namely in Morowali, Southeast Sulawesi," Sandiaga Uno said. He stated the concept of the FCC in Morowali, namely that every month there are 5,000 foreign workers who have been vaccinated into the local area. "We will study the same pattern, is it possible to apply it to Bali in connection with the concept of the Free COVID-19 Corridor? The plan is to enter Bali, which has already received a vaccine from its home country, and a rapid antigen is carried out here," he said.
Vaccination Update
"Receiving the Second Vaccine, Governor Koster Hopes That Covid-19 Will Be Resolved Soon" from Bali Express (Indonesian): Coinciding with Purnama Kaulu, Wraspati Wage Watugunung, Thursday (28/1) morning, Koster was injected with the vaccine at Wantilan Kertha Sabha, Jayasabha, Denpasar. Previously, Wayan Koster received the first injection of the Covid-19 vaccine on Thursday (14/1). "Astungkara (with God's permission) the second injection of the COVID-19 vaccine is going well and I hope that with this vaccination, the COVID-19 pandemic can be overcome," said Koster after receiving the second dose of vaccination. Previously, the Governor of Bali received the first injection of the COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday (14/1) at the Bali Mandara Hospital (RSBM) Denpasar City. Apart from Governor Koster, there were also 12 other officials who underwent a second injection of the COVID-19 vaccine at Wantilan Kertha Sabha, Jayasabha, Denpasar.
More...
Bali: "Dozens of Health Workers in Bali Participated in the First Covid-19 Vaccination" from Antara (Indonesian)
Bangli: "After the Covid-19 Vaccine, the Regent of Bangli Strictly No Vaccine Debate" from Radar Bali (Indonesian)
Klungkung: "The Regent Becomes the First Vaccine Recipient in Klungkung Bali" from Republika (Indonesian)
"Denpasar Court Sentenced to 7.5 Years in Prison for the Child Who Committed the Murder" from Antara (Indonesian): The Denpasar District Court, Bali sentenced a teenager with the initials PAHP (14) to seven years and six months for being involved in a violent theft case that killed an employee of a state-owned bank named Ni Putu Widiastiti.Denpasar District Court spokesman I Made Pasek said that the trial was held virtually, but the defendant was still accompanied by his parents, Denpasar Bapas and related parties.
"Propose Bali Tourism Recovery Fund of IDR 9.9 Trillion, Sandi: Hopefully Realization" from iNews Bali (Indonesian): Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (Menparekraf) Sandiaga Uno applied for a soft loan of IDR 9.9 trillion to restore tourism in Bali. The proposal has been submitted to the Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani. He hopes that the soft loan proposal is approved. "And it has been accepted. Just pray, hopefully it can be realized," Sandi said. Sandi revealed, Bali has so far supported 55 percent of the tourism sector and the creative economy nationally. So it must get special attention. "We want to focus on helping or trying to survive in Bali (survival), and helping prepare for a revival," Sandi said.
Of Interest
"8,000 Homes Destroyed in West Sulawesi's 6.2-magnitude Quake" from Antara
"Sandiaga Uno Invites Entrepreneurs and Professionals to Work from Bali" [Video] from iNews Bali (Indonesian)
"Losing IDR 116 Trillion, Bali Pushes for Subsidized Transportation Vouchers" from Antara (Indonesian)
"Swiss-Belhotel Segara Nusa Dua Bali Bankrupt, Curator Takes Over" from The Bali Tribune (Indoensian)
"In Surabaya, Employees Without a Mask Are Fined Rp. 250,000" from Antara (Indonesian)
"Kapolda Threatens to Remove Police Chief Who Cannot Control Covid" from Republika (Indonesian)
"Bali Provincial Government Starts Construction of the Badung MDA Building, Targeted for Completion in May 2021" from The Bali Tribune (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 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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