January 5, 2022
Child sex trafficking booming on Bali, says activists + 86.6% of population already have COVID-19 antibodies + Hotel occupancy up 65% during holiday, but national air traffic plunges + more
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Weather & Tides
Today’s Weather for Southern Bali
Today’s Tides
Meteorology, Climatology & Geophysics Council (Link)
Tide table from Tide-forecast.com.
Daily Covid Update
National Figures
Local Figures
The Big News
“Covid-19 Has Worsened Child Sex Trafficking in Indonesia” from The South China Morning Post: With just under half of Bali’s 328,000 tourism workers losing their jobs due to the pandemic, there has been a rise in people using instant messaging apps like MiChat to engage in online prostitution as a means of earning a living, said Ibnu Dwi Cahyo, a researcher at Indonesia’s Communication and Information System Security Research Centre. Between 2019 and 2021, the KPPPA recorded five trafficking cases in Bali, an island of four million, involving 10 victims, some of them children. Yet only three cases made it to court. However, Nilawati said her foundation had actually helped 17 trafficking victims in Bali between 2016-2018 and that was “the tip of the iceberg.”
“Survey: 86.6% of Indonesia's Population Already Have COVID-19 Antibodies” from Detik (Indonesian): The COVID-19 control task force revealed the results of a serosurvey conducted in 100 districts and cities in Indonesia. As a result, most of the population surveyed already had antibodies. "86.6% of the population in the area surveyed already has SARS-CoV-2 antibodies either because they have been infected previously or because of vaccination," said the spokesman for the COVID-19 Task Force, Prof. Wiku Adisasmito, on Tuesday. "And 73.2% of the population from the surveyed area turned out to have antibodies even though they had never been detected positive or vaccinated against COVID-19," said Prof Wiku. The survey period was taken between November to December 2021.
“Lapor COVID-19 Receives 71 Reports on Alleged Covid-19 Vaccination Misconduct” from Tempo: Independent data group Lapor COVID-19 received 71 reports on allegations of misconduct and misuse of the COVID-19 vaccination program in 2021. The group’s representative Firdaus Ferdiansyah said there were various types of misconduct, including illegal levies, rampant distribution of fake or illegal vaccine certificates, and the sale of vaccine boosters in marketplaces. The public reports had been forwarded to the ministry without response. “The proliferation of these practices is due to weak supervision, negligence of citizen reports, and the lack of transparency in the vaccine distribution,” said Firdaus on Tuesday. Moreover, 27 of the reports were suspected of involving officers, state officials, or regional heads who owned direct access to vaccine distribution.
“Year-end Air Traffic Down 13% as Govt Bans Extra Flights” from Tempo: State airport operator Angkasa Pura II recorderd a 13% decline in air traffic during the Christmas and New Year week after the Transportation Ministry issued a ban on extra flights during the holidays. The ban put to ground over 3,000 units of aircraft from mid-December to early 2022. From December 17 to January 3, only 21,853 aircraft served in 20 Angkasa Pura-run airports, down from the previous year when 25,240 were operating. "This is because airlines cut down the number of planes in operation, and made aircraft replacements that focus on optimizing the use of wide-body jets," Angkasa Pura II president director, Muhammad Awaluddin, said on Tuesday.
Context: This follows on from news yesterday of domestic passenger loads for November being up 19%.
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Other Headlines
“Ogoh-Ogoh Parade Allowed, Craftsmen Await Arrival of Yowana” from Nusa Bali (Indonesian): With the ogoh-ogoh procession allowed to welcome the Holy Day of Silence, Saka New Year 1944 in March, artists and mask craftsmen in Banjar Puaya are starting to wait for orders for the completeness of the ogoh-ogoh. Ni Ketut Rambug, one of the sellers of tapel and various equipment needed for ogoh-ogoh expressed his longing for the presence of the Balinese people to buy all the ogoh-ogoh needs before the holy day of Nyepi. "Hopefully, in 2022, the ogoh-ogoh will actually be implemented because before the holy day of Nyepi is a source of seasonal income for us craftsmen here," he said on Tuesday. Ni Ketut Rambug added that in almost the last two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he was unable to take advantage of the ogoh-ogoh moment as a source of seasonal livelihood.
“Travelers Account for Most of Jakarta's Covid-19 Cases” from Tempo: The Jakarta Health Office recorded 704 active cases of Covid-19 in the capital and the office's head of disease prevention and control, Dwi Oktavia Handayani, said that 515 of those cases are found among travelers."The number of travelers that tested positive is quite high, making the number of active cases increase," Dwi said on Tuesday. Dwi said that mobility of travelers who tested positive varied, such as traveling abroad, business trips, and others. The spike in active cases also includes travelers who underwent isolations Jakarta. According to Dwi, the active cases in Jakarta include a number of variants, "including Omicron."
Context: Jakarta is by far the most popular entry point to Indonesia for air passengers planning on traveling elsewhere in the archipelago.
Vaccination Update
Nation: “Full Vaccination Coverage Reaches 114.5 Million” from Antara
Nation: “Indonesia Receives 3.5 Million Astrazeneca Vaccines” from Antara
Nation: “70% Jakartan Health Workers Receive Booster Vaccine” from Antara
Nation: “No AEFI Indication During Booster Vaccination Trial” from Antara
Nation: “House Speaker Calls for Free Booster Vaccines” from Antara
Tabanan: “Thousands of Tabanan Children 6-11 Years Remain Unvaccinated” from Bali Post (Indonesian)
Health Protocols (Prokes) & Health Services
“Indonesia Reports 92 New Omicron Cases” from The Jakarta Globe: Indonesia on Tuesday reported an additional 92 cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 254. Of that figure, 15 are locally-transmitted cases. Health Ministry spokesman Siti Nadia Tarmizi said those Omicron patients experienced symptoms of a common cold. “The majority of cases are related to international travels,” Siti Nadia Tarmizi said. The country has added 299 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the highest daily tally since December 3.
More...
Nation: “Tax Hike Not Enough to Secure Smoke-free Indonesia” from The Jakarta Post (Metered Paywall)
Nation: “Tracing Conducted After 9 Airport Officers Contract Covid-19” from Antara
Nation: “PPKM Status in Jakarta Raised to Level Two” from Antara
Province: “Many Beaches Not Equipped With PeduliLindungi App” from Nusa Bali (Indonesian)
Economy & Infrastructure
Nation: “NTB Targets Planting 15,000 Hectares of Eucalyptus” from Bali Bisnis (Indonesian)
Education
“Universities Prepared to Conduct Face-to-face Learning” from Antara: Universities are prepared to implement limited face-to-face learning, acting director general of higher education, research, and technology at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Nizam, said on Tuesday. According to Nizam, there are a number of universities that have started to implement limited face-to-face learning. Limited face-to-face learning is being carried out in medical and engineering faculties, he said. So far, no COVID-19 infection cluster has emerged in universities that have carried out face-to-face learning, he said.
More...
Nation: “School's Readiness Considered for Full Capacity Face-to-face Learning” from Antara
Nation: “Jakarta Implementing 100% PTM Despite Rise in PPKM Level” from Antara
Bali Reopening
“Hotel Occupancy in Bali Increases by 65% During Holidays” from CNN Indonesia (Indonesian): The Regional Board of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association Bali stated that the hotel occupancy rate on Bali jumped 65% during the holiday period. I Gusti Ngurah Rai Suryawijaya, Deputy Head of Environmental Culture and Public Relations at PHRI Bali, said the increase occurred three days before the new year. "Yes, there is an increase. It starts on December 29, 28 and 31. That's from 55% to 60 to 65%," said Suryawijaya on Monday. Despite the increase, he said the hotel occupancy rate has not met the expectations of hoteliers. His party had predicted that domestic tourists could reach 15,000 to 20,000 people per day, however only about 13,000 per day arrived.
More...
“Pandawa Beach Overrun by Visitors” from Nusa Bali (Indonesian)
Of Interest
“Indonesia Home to Seven New Plant Species” from Indonesia Expat
“Indonesian Forces Gun Down Suspected Pro-IS Militant in Sulawesi” from Benar News
“Instant Noodle Wraps Found in Turtle Manure in Bali” from Kumparan (Indonesian)
“Robbery of Foreign Nationals of Up to Billions of Rupiah Being Investigated” from Tribun Bali (Indonesian)
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