Friday, May 1
443 villagers test positive in rapid tests; village quarantined until confirmation swab tests can be run + Plenty of food on the island, but planting in Tabanan delayed due to lack of rain + more!
Good morning! Welcome to the COVID-19 Update for Bali for Friday, May 1. (Happy Labor Day!) If you find this information useful, please subscribe and share it with others in the foreigner community on the island. Also, if you can contribute US$5/month to help me keep the lights on, that would be awesome.
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Status Update
Country-wide Numbers:
Source:
Indonesia National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB Indonesia): @BNPB_Indonesia
Official updates are available from the Indonesian Government here.
Bali Numbers:
Confirmed Cases Distribution:
Key: Red = Infected | Green = Recovered | Black = Died
Bali 30-Day Trends:
Sources:
Infographic comes from Bali Provincial Government COVID-19 Task Force (link).
The geographic breakdown comes from the Bali Provincial Government's data collection department (link).
Charts have been compiled using their data.
More details on the locations of positive cases within each Regency, as well as the number of suspected cases ("ODP") and people under observation ("PDP"), can be found in charts & infographics on the official websites of each Regency's COVID-19 Task Force:
Badung | Bangli | Buleleng | Denpasar City | Gianyar | Jembrana | Karangasem | Klungkung | Tabanan
The Big News
"443 Positive Results from Rapid Tests In Single Bangli Village, Residents Isolated" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): The findings of the mass rapid test results in Abuan Village, Banjar Serokadan, Bangli were truly shocking. Of the 1,210 residents who were given the rapid test on Thursday, there were 443 people who showed to be reactive with the Covid-19 virus... The Chairperson of the Covid-19 Bali Province Coordination Task Force, Dewa Made Indra, said that secondary testing will be carried out immediately. "For the results (rapid test), then proceed again to take the swab. Of course the swab results will be the final result," he replied. In addition, he ordered that the village be quarantined. "With the regent's permission, we are isolating the people and closing off access. Tomorrow we will make a public kitchen for the needs of the residents there," he said.
"Covid-19 Pandemic Increases Crime Rates Across Country, Central and Regional Governments Asked to Give Special Attention" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian): The Covid-19 crisis is contributing to an increase in crime rates across Indonesia, with many crimes committed because of economic pressure, forcing people to commit crimes just to survive... "We urge the central government and regional governments to make crime a special concern that must be addressed immediately, such as by distributing social assistance to economically affected community groups equally, so that they do not take reckless actions by committing crimes to survive," said Chairman of the MPR RI, Bambabg Soesatyo, in Jakarta.
"Farmers Delay Planting, Tabanan Fertilizer Subsidy Uptake Does Not Meet Target" from The IDN Times (Indonesian): Tabanan is the largest food producer in Bali, with 20,256 hectares of rice fields. Tabanan Regent Ni Putu Eka Wiryastuti is pushing the Tabanan agriculture sector to meet the island's food needs. "We are currently thinking about food security. How should Tabanan be ready to face the COVID-19 pandemic until the end of the year. Therefore we encourage agriculture," he said... One effort to keep agriculture in Tabanan stretching is the fulfillment of subsidized fertilizers. Currently for Tabanan agriculture itself, the absorption of subsidized fertilizer has not met the target because many farmers have delayed planting because of lack of rainfall.
Other Headlines
"38 People Fail to Appear for Rapid Test In Klungkung, Regent Considers Forced Pickup" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): Of the 118 Klungkung residents who were scheduled to undergo a rapid test at GOR Swecapura on Wednesday, there were only 80 people who showed up... "We will write back through the village. If they don't attend again, we will pick them up forcibly,” said I Nyoman Suwirta, Chairman of the Task Force for the Acceleration of Covid-19 Klungkung Regency.
"COVID-19 Patient Escapes from Lombok Hospital, Walks 10 km to Reach Home" from Coconuts: A 50-year-old patient who tested positive for the coronavirus escaped from the Praya General Hospital in Lombok earlier this week. He reportedly walked 10 kilometers to reach his home and even stopped at a local mosque to perform the dawn prayer, before finally being taken back to the hospital yesterday morning... CCTV footage from the hospital showed that the patient, identified by his initials SL, escaped through a window from his isolation room on Tuesday evening.
"Badung Moves to Ensure Food Security During Covid-19 Pandemic" from Bali Express (Indonesian): Head of the Agriculture and Food Service Office of Badung Regency, I Wayan Wijana, has rolled out several strategies to encourage the agricultural sector. "Our strategy is for agricultural activities to continue. We continue to maintain programs related to fertilizer subsidies, superior seed assistance, agricultural insurance, and assistance from extension agents, because food production cannot stop," he said... "We focus first on maintaining rice production, but we encourage the community to maintain food security by using their own plots of land. The community can plant commodities such as chili, tomatoes, eggplants, tubers and vegetables using the tabulapot model (planting fruit in pots)," he stressed.
"Rice Stocks In Bali Reach 8,000 Tons" from The Bali Post: Leaders from the he Bali Regional House of Representatives (Bali DPRD) have carried out an inspection of Bulog Warehouse directly in Sempidi, Badung, and verified that rice stocks are sufficient... Deputy Chairperson of Bali DPRD, I Nyoman Sugawa Korry, said, "We want to make sure the rice is sufficient in stock to anticipate, especially the needs of traditional villages and offices in the context of assistance programs for people affected by COVID-19 in villages."
"Minimarket In Kuta Robbed By Man Carrying Firearm" from Kumparan (Indonesian): A minimarket in the Sunset Road area, Seminyak, was patronized by a gunman who carried out a mugging of employees. The incident occurred on Wednesday (4/29) around 7:25pm; the Denpasar Police Office is investigating and chasing the perpetrators. (Note: Video of incident can be found on Detik here.)
The View from Outside
"Bali Resorts Offer Steep Discounts to the Few Tourists Who Didn't Want to Leave" from The Sydney Morning Herald: While shops and bars are working to restricted hours or are closed, life hasn't completely shut down in Bali and local businesses are still competing for the patronage of the few tourists who have remained behind... Luh Putu Rena Widyarti, the general manager of the four-star Aveda Boutique Hotel in Kuta said the hotel's occupancy rate was currently 9.2 per cent and that while rooms usually cost $60-$70 per night, it was now offering a monthly rate of $625. "The company decided to offer the package not with profit in mind. It was just to keep the hotel running, keeping our staff earning some income," he said.
"AMAZING Business Class Fares To Bali!" from One Mile At A Time: Obviously no one should be traveling right now for fun, though this fare is available through the end of the schedule (until next spring), so some may want to jump on this. I’ll add the usual caution about us not knowing what the future will look like:
For ~US$840D you can fly roundtrip business class from Vancouver to Bali on Japan Airlines, via Tokyo and Jakarta
For ~US$1,055 you can fly roundtrip business class from Toronto to Bali on American, via Dallas and Hong Kong
For ~US$1,295 you can fly roundtrip business class from Cancun to Bali on American, via Dallas and Hong Kong
For ~US$1,350 you can fly roundtrip business class from Mexico City to Bali on American, via Dallas or Los Angeles and Hong Kong
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 some 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 Travel Information Manual Automatic (Timatic) database feeds into airlines' reservation systems, so it is the most reliable list of flight restrictions around.
Revolver Maps' Travel Restrictions Database - This list pulls directly from IATA's Timatic database and arranges the countries in lists that are easier to navigate and creates share-able links for every country. NOTE: This is a third-party service and they warn that the updates to their system can be delayed by several hours for certain countries.
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.
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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We only include news items from established media sources
We do not share rumors.
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For all stories marked "Indonesian" I have used Google Translate to convert it from Bahasa. In most cases I will polish the excerpt and/or write a short summary in proper English to help clarify the details.
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