Friday, January 8
Swab tests now required to access island via all routes, including ferries + Hospitals & isolation hotels 100% full in Jembrana & Tabanan + Sinovac vaccine inches closer to final approval + more!
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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: Indonesia set another record for new cases in a day yesterday - 9,321 - smashing the previous record of 8,854 that had been set just one day prior. Click here to see the national numbers infographic and a Regency-by-Regency breakdown of yesterday’s local numbers.
The Big News
"Bali Has Updated Its Test Requirements for Incoming Domestic Travelers. Here’s What You Should Know" from Coconuts: Bali has extended testing requirements for incoming domestic visitors, with the new update now mandating all travelers to present either a negative PCR or antigen rapid test result from Jan. 9 onwards. Bali Governor Wayan Koster announced the extension in a circular yesterday, which specifies that those traveling by air, road, or sea must obtain the negative test result within seven days of entering Bali. Air travelers are additionally required to electronically fill in the Health Alert Card (eHAC) and children below 12 years of age are not required to present any test results.
Context: Yesterday, the Governor also formally ordered Badung and Denpasar’s governments to implement the enhanced semi-lockdown regulations laid out by the central government on Wednesday.
"Jembrana is Preparing An Isolation Hotel for COVID-19 Patients" from Antara (Indonesian): "The State Hospital is overwhelmed to accommodate Covid-19 patients; we are preparing a hotel as a place of isolation," said Jembrana I Nengah Ledang, Acting Secretary. He said one of the hotels prepared was the Jimbarwana Hotel which belonged to the Jembrana Regency Government, which if it was unable to accommodate another hotel. "Together we must prevent the transmission of Covid-19. On January 6, 55 new sufferers were found in Jembrana. That is the highest number in one day," he said. For violators of health protocols, they will get firm action, unlike before, where officers still take a persuasive approach.
Context: Over the last week, including the 55 discovered on Wednesday, Jembrana has logged 82 new cases, a 9% jump from the previous 7-day span.
"A Second Chinese Coronavirus Vaccine Is Said to Be Effective" from The New York Times: Officials in the state of São Paulo, where a prominent medical research institute carried out a large study of the vaccine made by the Beijing-based Sinovac, said the inoculation had an efficacy rate of 78%. The vaccine prevented all participants from developing serious and mild complications from the virus, officials said, calling it a highly effective preventive tool.
Context: Even though shipments of it have been sent and plans are in place to start injecting people next week, Indonesia’s food and drug regulator, BPOM, has yet to issue an Emergency Use Authorization for Sinovac’s vaccine. Yesterday, Minister of SOEs Erick Thohir assured people that all doses delivered so far have been verified by the World Health Organization as legitimate and that the EUA would be issued soon. BPOM officials have said that they’ve been waiting for this release of data from the Brazil study before doing so. To date, all doses in the country have come via delivery from Sinovac, but yesterday BPOM granted a permit for state-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma to begin mass production of doses domestically. They will start producing 100 million doses upon receipt of raw materials from Sinovac, and will have to re-apply for a production permit before making any more.
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Other Headlines
"20,000 Vaccines Return to Bali, Bomb Squaders and Armored Standby" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): Bali has received another shipment of the Covid-19 vaccine from the center. The vaccine entered Bali via I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, Thursday. Upon arrival at the airport, they were immediately guarded by the police when they were sent to the Bali Provincial Health Office. The number of vaccines arriving reached 20,000.
Context: The first 31,000 doses of the vaccine arrived on Monday and the vaccination program is scheduled to begin 24-48 hours after President Widodo receives his injection on Jan. 13. As announced yesterday, the government has laid out plans to distribute 29.55 million doses of the vaccine by March, with Bali among the top priorities. The Tourism Minister Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno has said that his goal is to get 70% of the island’s population - 2.7 million people - inoculated ASAP in order to facilitate the establishment of travel bubbles with countries such as China, Australia, and New Zealand so as to restart international tourism.
"Isolation Room in Hotels for Covid-19 Tabanan Patients is Full" from Berita Bali (Indonesian): The Task Force for Handling Covid-19 in Tabanan Regency will prepare human resources and infrastructure related to the possibility of additional hotels for the isolation of positive Covid-19 patients without symptoms. The report on the number of patients on Tuesday (5/1) night was reported if the capacity of the isolation rooms in the hotel used previously was full. "The provincial and regional task forces have been in direct contact with this matter, so if it goes up, Tabanan has prepared an alternative hotel for isolating positive patients without symptoms," said the Head of the Tabanan Health Service, Dr. I Nyoman Suratmika.
"Schools Reckless to Open, 4 Students in Bali Are Positive for Covid-19" from iNews Bali (Indonesian): Four students who are still one family in Bangli Regency , Bali are positive for Covid-19 . They had attended face-to-face learning at school. Public Relations of the Bangli Regency Covid-19 Task Force, I Wayan Dirgayusa, said the four students went to school in Kintamani. The four students were confirmed positive for Covid-19 without symptoms. Now they are undergoing independent isolation under the close supervision of health workers. In order to cut the spread of the virus, the school of the four students decided to stop face-to-face learning. Contact tracing is done to ensure that there are other children who are also exposed.
"Cases of Sexual Harassment of Individual Lecturers Against Students, This is the Attitude of the Unud Chancellor" from Berita Bali (Indonesian): Udayana University Chancellor Prof. AA Raka Sudewi is addressing the alleged case of sexual harassment against one of the female students by an unscrupulous lecturer in 2016. First, the Chancellor asked the Dean, Koorprodi, and the Counseling Team to follow up by facilitating the student concerned to complete his education properly. Second, with regard to lecturers who are suspected of having violated ethics, the Chancellor wrote to the Ethics Honor Council to conduct an examination of the alleged harassment that occurred. "Through the Ethical Honorary Council, Udayana University hopes that the Council can provide the fairest assessment and recommendations for sanctions," as quoted from the official statement from the Udayana University, dated January 7, 2021.
Context: The university has yet to release a statement in regards to a report issued in November by the Indonesian Women’s Union stating that 22 female students had been the victims of sexual assault while on campus.
"Covid-19 Vaccination Phase Two in Karangasem Will Last Until 2022" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian): The second phase of Covid-19 vaccine injection in Karangasem Regency is planned to take place from Arpil 2021 to March 2022. The targets in the second phase of vaccination are the vulnerable people of Karangasem Regency aged 18 to 59 years. However, many are asking, what kind of mechanism will be for the vaccination process, explained the Head of the Karangasem District Health Office, dr. I Gusti Bagus Putra Pertama stated that for citizens who are candidates for vaccination, they will be recorded through the registered electronic Nik. "Citizens who will receive the vaccine are recorded through the electronic NIK. Logically, if they already have an E-KTP, they will be recorded," he said to this media.
"DHF Cases Increase in Tabanan" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian): Data from the Tabanan Health Office, in 2020 dengue cases reached 340 cases. This increase is increasing compared to 2019 which only 172 cases. The increase in cases occurred, one of the factors because the community began to slacken in eradicating mosquito nests (PSN). Head of the Tabanan Health Office, Dr. Nyoman Suratmika, appealed to the public to continue doing PSN, especially in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Don't forget to do PSN in the form of 3M plus, which is to drain the water reservoir regularly at least once a week. Close tightly the water reservoir. Bury or make use of trash that can hold water such as cans, plastic bottles and plastic cups.
"New COVID-19 Restrictions in Java and Bali Called PPKM, Not PSBB: Government" from Coconuts: Yesterday, the central government said it will tighten restrictions throughout Java and Bali from Jan. 11 to at least Jan. 25. There were a lot of overlaps with the region-specific Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) protocol already in effect, begging the question if the central government’s new restrictions were just an updated version of PSBB. Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto, who heads the COVID-19 Handling and Economic Recovery Committee, today clarified that the new set restrictions, which was prepared in its entirety by the central government, is called Pemberlakuan Pembatasan Kegiatan Masyarakat (Enforcement of Restrictions on Public Activities), or PPKM for short.
The View from Outside
"Coronavirus: China’s Sinovac Shots Readied for Mass Roll-out In Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand" from The South China Morning Post: Covid-19 vaccines produced by the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac are poised to be rolled out in several Southeast Asian countries, as a company official said interim efficacy data would be ready soon. Indonesia said it would start a mass vaccination programme with the CoronaVac made by Sinovac on January 13, with President Joko Widodo first in line to receive the jab. Indonesia is planning to vaccinate 181.5 million people, or roughly 67% of its population, to reach herd immunity, according to its health minister, Budi Gunadi Sadikin. The country has also placed orders to buy 50 million vaccine doses from Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca respectively.
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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