Friday, October 23
National govt touts testing capacity gains while hospitals & local heath departments decry inefficiencies + Denpasar protests peaceful amid massive police presence + more!
Good morning! Welcome to The Bali Beat for Friday, October 23. 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.
I happily put this daily newsletter together as a public service, and it will be free so long as the current emergency lasts. *A paid subscription is NOT required to access this content.* However, if you would like to support my work, please consider making a donation of US$5/month by becoming a contributing subscriber at the link above.
Weather & Waves
Today’s Weather for Southern Bali
Today’s Tides
Surf Outlook
*NOTE: The Center for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BBMKG) Region III Denpasar predicts that waves in the waters of Southern Bali will be categorized as dangerous until Saturday, especially in the areas of Nusa Dua, Pecatu, Ungasan and the Southern waters of Nusa Penida, with waves reaching a height of 3 meters.
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, trend charts, and a Regency-by-Regency breakdown of yesterday’s local numbers in our evening update.
The Big News
"BNPB Prepares Antigen-Based Covid-19 Test Kit for Tourists to Bali" from Berita Bali (Indonesian): Ahead of the holiday at the end of October, the Bali Police will provide security at a number of tourist attractions by implementing strict health protocols. Bali Police Chief Inspector General Peter Reinhard "Kapolda" Golose said, "Of course we will continue to do security, especially for recreation areas, if later domestic tourists come because international ones are not yet allowed." Kapolda continued that BNPB [the National Disaster Management Agency], per the Covid-19 Task Force, will provide antigen-based testing for tourists to Bali.
(Ed. Note: All tourists visiting Bali are required to provide proof of a negative rapid test before boarding a ferry or an airplane.)
"Indonesia's COVID-19 Testing Capability Sees 'Tremendous' Increase" from Antara: The standard for COVID-19 examinations set by the World Health Organization (WHO) for a country with a population of 267 million, such as Indonesia, is 267,000 people per week. Currently, Indonesia has upped its testing capacity with laboratories, on average, examining samples obtained from around 33,000 people a day, or 231,000 people per week... “This is a tremendous increase. At the beginning of our laboratory examination, our capability was probably only at under 20% of the standards set by the WHO, and now, it is at 82.51%. A figure that we must admit is quite encouraging," said Doni Monardo, head of the COVID-19 Handling Task Force.
"Indonesia's Lab Problems Persist, Testing Rate Remains Below 1%" from The Jakarta Post: Indonesia’s low testing rate has persisted seven months into the COVID-19 pandemic, as laboratories throughout the archipelago face problems ranging from limited testing kits to delays in reported results. Lab managers and doctors from eight regions in Indonesia told The Jakarta Post that government procurement of reagents, the chemicals used to detect the presence of the coronavirus in samples, had improved. But they said there was more to testing than reagents. “Sometimes we run out of consumables [...] such as methanol, which can’t be transported by plane because it is flammable, and filter [pipette] tips," said Hessyani Raranta, who is in charge of Dr. Kandou General Hospital’s laboratory in Manado, North Sulawesi.
>> Classifieds <<
NO BALLOT YET, American? Vote using the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot (FWAB) -- go to www.votefromabroad.org/fwab/. For other voting questions in this MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION OF OUR LIFETIMES, go to www.Am-In.org/vote/. Free help: votingHelp@Am-In.org.
Want to share your message with the most engaged members of the foreigner community in Bali? Click here to learn how to place a classified ad.
Other Headlines
"Mass in Action Rejects Omnibus Law Accusing Koster of Covering Eyes and Ears" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): Despite being harassed the day before through provocative posters and chain messages asking parents to prohibit their children from participating in demonstrations, and the closure of the Udayana University campus, it did not work. As proof, the protesters against the Omnibus Law finally continued to hold an action in front of the Udayana University campus bus stop, Jalan Sudirman, Thursday... During the action, the protesters held speeches in turn. "Once again we emphasize that the Omnibus Law for us workers will eliminate guarantees for employment. Why is that, the contract work system will be even more massive. Likewise with outsourcing," said "Rai" one of the representatives of the massed workers.
(Ed. Note: The local demonstration yesterday was peaceful, with no violence or arrests reported. Pecalang, or Balinese traditional security officers, assisted police in Denpasar yesterday. In Jakarta, at least 10,000 demonstrators took to the streets amid an overwhelming show of force from the police, which included 100 officers from Bali who were sent to support the crowd control efforts. Meanwhile, a new draft of the labor law - the 5th one so far - was leaked yesterday. At almost 1,200 pages, it is 400 pages longer than the “final” draft that was published last week )
"Badung Will Get Additional PCR Tool" from Berita Bali (Indonesian): The Badung Regency Government in the near future will receive a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tool to examine swab samples from the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB). It is targeted to be able to examine up to 3,000 swab samples in a day. Regional Secretary Adi Arnawa conveyed that with the PCR tool, which was provided by BNPB , it was hoped that it could accelerate the examination of swab samples. So that it can immediately break the chain of spreading Covid-19 because the results are quickly known.
[Ed. Note: It is not clear from the translation whether the new machine being provided will have a 3,000 samples-per-day capacity, or if the addition of this machine to the island’s roster will increase the overall capacity for testing to 3,000 samples per day. Even if the latter is the correct translation, this figure would put Bali in close range of the WHO’s advisory capacity of being able to test 1% of the local population per week. With an estimated population of 4.5 million, the goal is 45,000 tests per week.)
"Pratama Giri Emas Hospital Still Functioning As A Covid-19 Isolation Place" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian): Giri Emas Pratama Hospital in Giri Emas Village, Sawan District, Buleleng has been returned to First Level Health Facility (FKTP) status for general patient services. However, this hospital is also still being used by the Buleleng Regency Government to isolate Covid-19 patients in a special and limited number. These special patients include, among others, Covid-19 patients from police custody and a limited number of residents in Singaraja Prison. The isolation place at the Giri Emas Pratama Hospital is being used because it required security from the apparatus concerned... According to Secretary of the Buleleng Covid-19 Covid-19 Task Force, I Gede Suyasa, the isolation of Covid-19 patients at the Giri Emas Pratama Hospital did not interfere with public services. "Moreover, the number of Covid-19 patients being treated here is limited," he said.
"Many Abandoned Ships, This Is The Condition of the South of Bali's Benoa Harbor" from The IDN Times (Indonesian): Four wrecks of an ex-foreign fishing boat in the Benoa Harbor area, Denpasar were swept away about a mile away last Friday night. As a result, 15 seaweed cultivation areas owned by farmers were swept away by the wreck. Damaged ships are often found in the southern waters of Benoa Harbor. As far as IDN Times has observed... There are many ex-foreign fishing vessel wrecks in the southern area of ??Benoa Harbor due to a policy issued by the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries in 2014. "This is what causes foreign ships in Benoa Harbor to not be able to carry out fishing activities, so that these ex-foreign ships become damaged and become shipwrecks," explained Head of the Sub Division (Kasubag) Public Relations Office of the Benoa Airport and Port Authority (KSOP) Class II, Putu Didik Permanan Putra.
"Feasibility Study Phase, Bali Will Immediately Have Rail-Based Mass Transportation" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): the government through the Bali Provincial Perusda in collaboration with the Korea National Railway (KNR) designed a plan to build mass transportation based on modern railways, namely the LRT (Light Rapit Transit). "For the first stage we will build LRT route for Ngurah Rai Airport - Kuta Parking Center," said the Director of Development and Marketing of PT Nindya Karya, Muharmein Zein Chaniago. The first stage of the LRT is planned to be built starting in 2021 with a target of completion in 2023.
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.
Our standards
We only include news items from established media sources
We do not share rumors.
We do not include opinion pieces or forecasts.
For all stories marked "Indonesian" I have used Google Translate to convert it from Bahasa. In most cases I try to polish the excerpt and/or write a short summary in proper English to help clarify the details.
For any questions, comments or tips, please contact us at newsletter@migrationmedia.net.