July 30, 2021
Vice president encourages Bali to achieve herd immunity for tourism + Indonesia anticipates vaccine passports to become global norm + A third of country's Covid deaths occurred in July + 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.
Local Covid Numbers
*Note: Thankfully there was a drop in cases recorded yesterday, down to 1119 from the previous day’s record total of 1452, and 20 deaths, down from the previous day’s record of 44. Among yesterday’s news cases there were 7 returned overseas travelers and 170 domestic travellers.
Click here to see the national numbers infographic and a Regency-by-Regency breakdown of yesterday’s local numbers.
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The Big News
"Vice President Encourages Bali to Achieve 'Herd Immunity' for Tourism" from Antara Bali (Indonesian): Vice President Ma'ruf Amin has urged the Bali Provincial Government to speed up vaccination of local communities, so that communal immunity or herd immunity in tourist areas can be established immediately. With the achievement of communal immunity, the tourism industry will immediately rise because it provides a sense of security and comfort for tourists to visit Bali," said the Vice President while chairing a meeting with Bali Governor Wayan Koster and the Bali Province Covid-19 Handling Task Force. "In addition to protecting the Balinese themselves, meeting the vaccination target will help convince tourists that Bali has become an area that is not only beautiful but also safe." The Vice President also encouraged the Bali Provincial Government to increase testing, tracking, and treatment. Although the testing in Bali has met World Health Organization standards, he said the number of active Covid-19 cases in the area is still far above WHO standards.
"Indonesia Anticipates Vaccine Passports to Become Global Norm" from The Jakarta Globe: The Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry predicts that the world is moving toward a new norm in which vaccine passports will become a globally accepted solution to reopening of global travels, primarily in the tourism sector. “[Vaccine passports] remain a controversial issue and the World Health Organization is yet to give a nod,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Mahendra Siregar. However, in the Americas and Europe, domestic tourists are asked to show proof of vaccination when traveling, Mahendra added. “Vaccination numbers are very high in the United States and gaining pace in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina. It appears that vaccine and vaccine passports will continue to become a global need in the future,” Mahendra said. "Tourist destinations here must follow this trend, otherwise there will be a massive gap,” Mahendra said. He noted that the resort island of Bali has the best vaccination rate in Indonesia with the entire adult population already receiving the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine and nearly 30% of the population fully vaccinated so far.
Context: Bali's vaccination data mentioned here is incorrect. The entire adult population is not vaccinated, but as of yesterday, just over 100% of the target population of around 3 million has received the first dose, and 27.55% the second dose.
"A Third of Indonesia’s Covid-19 Deaths Occurred in July" from The Jakarta Globe: Indonesia has been enduring its worst period yet of the Covid-19 pandemic with the highest monthly death toll and steepest rise in new cases attributed to the Delta variant throughout July. During the last four weeks, Indonesia has recorded 30,168 Covid-related deaths, representing a third of the overall tally, National Covid-19 Task Force spokesman Wiku Adisasmito said. “By comparison, the previous highest monthly death toll was 7,913 recorded in June, so the current figures are extremely high.” The daily death toll has topped 1,000 since July 16, including a record 2,069 deaths on Tuesday. There is little sign that the extended lockdown helps reduce Covid-19 infections as the country again reported among the world’s highest rise in new cases and deaths on Thursday. The country of 272 million has recorded 43,479 cases in the past 24 hours to take its total to 3.3 million.
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Other Headlines
"Why Aren’t Bali’s Viral Accounts Posting About the Escalating Covid Crisis?" from Coconuts Bali: Balinese social media is filled with community aggregator accounts, who on so many different occasions have amplified breaking news and recent happenings across different issues. The timeliness of their posts have made them extremely popular in the community, and it’s no secret that people would often seek them out for the latest updates. Curiously, as hospitals in Bali begin to fill up amid an alarming rise of COVID-19 cases and even with a brief oxygen crisis just last week, these accounts have largely been silent on the issue, almost as if nothing of the sort is taking place on the island. Accounts such as @punapibali, @denpasarnow, and @infobadung, who boast around 450,000 followers each, feature feeds practically barren of posts about COVID-19 issues. Bali-based citizen journalism portal BaleBengong, arguably one of the more reliable community news sources in the province, said that the lack of attention for issues such as the oxygen crisis may have stemmed from ignorance. Since they mostly rely on information shared by their own followers as opposed to original reporting, they may have not been aware of what’s been transpiring on the ground.
Vaccination Update
Nation: "Government Asked to Optimize the Provision of Booster Vaccines for Healthcare Workers" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian)
Province: "Almost 30,000 Doses of Moderna Vaccine Arrive in Bali" from Bali Post (Indonesian)
Health Protocols (Prokes) & Health Services
"Govt Pushes PeduliLindungi App for Monitoring Covid Cases" from Antara: The Indonesian government is encouraging the use of PeduliLindungi app for digital tracing of COVID-19 infections and controlling transmission, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto has said. "Tracing results through PeduliLindungi application will facilitate the public in obtaining treatment, if necessary. This treatment can certainly help break the COVID-19 transmission chain," the minister explained. Digital tracing will make it easier for the government to identify and detect patients through the use of location tracking data and digital information, he informed. The PeduliLindungi application has been integrated with the database of the Health Ministry, therefore, through QR Codes, the ministry can track data on vaccinated people and results of PCR and swab antigen tests, Hartarto said. Once it is downloaded from the App Store or Google Play onto a mobile phone and the location data on the phone is enabled, the PeduliLindungi app can identify the user's location from time to time and provide information on high-risk locations and transmission zones, he informed.
More...
Nation: "A Third of Indonesia’s Covid-19 Deaths Occurred in July" from The Jakarta Globe
Nation: "Increase Covid-19 Command Posts in Villages, Regions Urged" from Antara
Nation: "PCR Test Laboratories Should Be Available Across Districts: Minister" from Antara
Nation: "Indonesia Devises Technology to Recycle Covid-19 Medical Waste" from Antara
Nation: "Living With Autoimmune Disease During Covid-19 Pandemic" from The Jakarta Post
Province: "Delta Variant Enters 7 Provinces, Most in Jakarta, in Bali There Are 8 Cases" from Suara Bali (Indonesian)
Province: "Oxygen Demand Increases, Suarjaya Hopes Bali Can Produce Own Oxygen" from Tribun Bali (Indonesian)
Buleleng: "Buleleng Residents Ambushed by Authorities for Refusing to Undergo Rapid Tests" from Radar Bali (Indonesian)
Denpasar: "Denpasar Prepares 7 Central Isolation Places for Covid-19" from Bisnis Bali (Indonesian)
Denpasar: "Denpasar City Government Inaugurates Centralized Isolation Based on Traditional Villages" from Republika (Indonesian)
Denpasar: "Denpasar Covid-19 Team Evaluates Behavior of Sanur Community During PPKM" from Antara Bali (Indonesian)
Gianyar: "Covid Cases Increase, Some Health Workers Infected, Sanjiwani Hospital Overwhelmed" from Radar Bali (Indonesian)
Economy & Infrastructure
"Progress of National Strategic Projects in Bali is Positive" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian): A total of 13 national strategic projects in Bali have shown positive progress. As of July 24, 2021, the average realization is 54.33%. This was conveyed by the Head of Regional Office of the Directorate General of Treasury, Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia, Bali Province, Tri Budhianto. "If we look at the average reaching above 50%, including roads, bridges, ports, reservoirs, and others, all of them show very good progress." Tri Budhianto reminded the Provincial Government and Regency/City Governments throughout Bali to pay attention to the performance of the Physical Special Allocation Fund (DAK). Acceleration of realization needs to be done with the remaining time, namely August 31. "If by the time specified the contract cannot be completed, the allocation of Physical DAK is returned to the state treasury." As of July 23, 2021, the realization of the contract is at Rp.439.47 billion and the realization of distribution is Rp.160.7 billion or 17.79% of the available ceiling. Of the 10 recipients of Physical DAK, namely the Provincial Government and 9 districts/cities in Bali, the highest realization of Physical DAK was achieved by Klungkung, which was 19.29%.
More...
Nation: "Indonesia's Fish Barn Targeted to Contribute Rp3.71 Trillion Annually" from Antara
Province: "Bali Governor Says 76% of Social Assistance Distribution Has Been Realized" from Merdeka (Indonesian)
Province: "Bali DPRD Confirms it Will Delay Room Renovation and Divert Budget to Health & Education Sector" from Tribun Bali (Indonesian)
Jembrana: "Dozens of Hectares of Rice Fields in Jembrana Experiencing Drought" from Radar Bali (Indonesian)
Lombok: "Indonesia: Residents Seek Compensation for ‘New Bali’ Project in Lombok" from Benar News
"Bali Becomes Pilot Project for 2030 Disaster Resilient City" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian): Bali was chosen as a pilot project to participate as a "Resilient Regency/City Facing Disasters" in the Making Cities Resilient (MCR) 2030 program, initiated by United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR). This was conveyed by the Regional Secretary of the Province of Bali, Dewa Made Indra. This program is fundamental because Indonesia, and the island of Bali, is located in an area that has a fairly high risk of natural disasters. Bali is also in the eyes of the world an international tourism destination and must give confidence to the international community that it has developed a disaster risk reduction strategy. "I am very grateful for the choice of Bali in this outreach, I hope all regencies/cities can listen carefully and will continuously coordinate so that this activity can run in a sustainable manner," concluded Dewa Indra.
"Need to Learn to Live With Covid-19: Task Force" from Antara: Indonesians will have to learn to live with COVID-19, head of the tracing subdivision of the healthcare handling division of the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, Koesmedi Priharto, has said. "Until now, no one could predict when the COVID-19 pandemic would end. Several countries already in their reopening process have suddenly enforced another lockdown period. Therefore, it would be appropriate for us to prepare ourselves to coexist with the virus." To be able to coexist with the coronavirus and stop its transmission, society will need to adapt to the new normal, Priharto said. "If we cannot prevent the virus spread, we will see another spike in the infection rate. The public needs to understand this as the government needs their support (to stop the virus spread) as well," he added. "The rise and decline in the positive rate depends on our behavior because if we conduct our health protocol properly, the positive rate will decline. This is what we need to prepare from now," Priharto said.
"Epidemiologist Predicts Indonesia the Last Country to Be Covid-free" from Indonesia Expat: An epidemiologist from Australia’s Griffith University, Dicky Budiman, has predicted that Indonesia will be the last country to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic compared to other countries in the world. “Why do I predict that Indonesia will be the last to come out of the pandemic? Because if we look at several factors from geography and its 3T (testing, tracing, and treatment) control,” said Dicky. He explained two factors that indicated Indonesia’s difficulty to “escape” from the COVID-19 pandemic. First, Indonesia is an archipelagic country. Dicky said with these conditions it was very easy to create a ping-pong phenomenon of COVID-19 cases, which he said had been occurring already. Dicky continued that the second reason is that the government’s testing, tracing, and treatment (3T) strategy is still not aggressive and wide enough, despite the pandemic having plagued Indonesia for the last 16 months. “Our strategy is not to focus on health from the start, so we are left behind. If we run races, we are already behind the virus, so to catch up is difficult,” he said.
"Man in Bali Sentenced to Wearing Hazmat Suit for 2 Hours and Fined Rp.1 Million, This is the Cause" from Kompas (Indonesian): A man in Sukasada District, Buleleng, with the initials KBA (53) was sentenced to wear a hazmat shirt for two hours. KBA's arrest began when officers from the Buleleng Regency Civil Service Police Unit (Satpol PP) dispersed a cockfighting or tajen activity in Buana Sari Hamlet, Kayuputih Village, Sukasada District, on Wednesday. KBA is suspected of being the organizer. Bali is still implementing Level 4 Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM). "Activities like that (cockfighting) will definitely cause a crowd, when we arrived at the location, it did happen (a crowd)," said Head of the Buleleng Regency Satpol PP Putu Artawan. The officer then took KBA to the Sukasada Police Headquarters to undergo examination. He was brought along with a number of pieces of evidence related to the tajen, including 9 chicken baskets and 2 fighting cocks.
Of Interest
"Human Rights Concerns Cast Shadow on Papua's History, Legal Standing" from The Jakarta Post (Metered Paywall)
"Polda Metro Jaya Increases Jerinx Threat Case to Investigation" from Bali Express (Indonesian)
"Behind the Glamor: the Lows of Jakarta’s High-end Fashion Industry" from Coconuts Jakarta
"Russian Foreigner Sentenced to 6 Years in Prison for Marijuana Possession" from Bali Post (Indonesian)
Weekend Reads
"‘Fake News’ Laws Are Failing to Stem Covid-19 Misinformation in Southeast Asia" from Rest of World
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 with Bali Solidarity. If you know of an effort and would like to have them listed, please send their information to TheBaliBeat@outlanders.global.
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