Monday, April 6
Good evening! Welcome to the COVID-19 Update for Bali for Monday, April 6. If you find this information useful, please subscribe and share it with others in the foreigner community on the island.
If you've got a tip on a story that should be included, please contact us at newsletter@migrationmedia.net.
Status Update
The latest official infection numbers for Indonesia:
Sources:
Charts are from Worldometers and are current as of 00:00 GMT today.
Official updates are available from the Indonesian Government here.
Source: Bali Provincial Government COVID-19 Task Force (Link)
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 two 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 alerts feed into airlines' reservation systems, so it is the most reliable database of flight restrictions around.
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.
The Big News
"Police Threaten to Bring Legal Action Against People Who Gather In Crowds" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): To prevent the wider spread of Covid-19, the Denpasar Police will disperse people whenever there is a crowd in the jurisdiction, such as in public places where young people hang out, like in cafes. "Yes, (including cafes and stalls), we immediately disperse if there are those gathered in large numbers," said Kabagops Denpasar Police Kompol, I Nyoman Gatra... He explained that in principle the police put forward preventive measures. But if there are still people hanging out in large numbers, the police will take decisive action through legal channels. "If they don't want to, then we will take legal action. We always appeal, educate the public in accordance with government policy to conduct phsyical distancing. We always do it regularly," he said.
"Blood Stock at Sanglah Hospital Denpasar Thinning Due to COVID-19" from The IDN Times (Indonesian): The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) of Bali Province is one of the parties affected by this virus. As the directives limit activities outside the home, the availability of blood stock from voluntary blood donors drops to 50%... This is because many are delaying blood donor activities. The blood stock in PMI Bali's Blood Transfusion Unit (UTD) is currently running low. So also have to rely on blood donor donors from the patient's family.
"6,073 Employees at Badung Departed, 198 Employees at PHK" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): A total of 198 employees in Badung Regency were laid off from their company yesterday. While 6,073 total employees have been laid off so far. All of these employees predominantly work in the tourism sector such as hotels and restaurants... Head of the Industry and Labor Office of Badung Regency, Ida Bagus Oka Dirga, did not deny that there were a number of employees who were laid off and also at home. "Our records up to April 4, 2020, there are a total of 198 employees who were laid off from their place of work. The data in us there are about 52 thousand employees in Badung, from various sectors. And now as many as 6,073 have been laid off," he explained.
Other Headlines
"Harvesting In the Midst Of the Covid-19 Threat, Grain Production In Badung Confirmed Safe, Farmers Asked to Turn on Sekaa Manyi" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian): This April's rice harvest season has begun on schedule. Conditions are very favorable in regards to securing food production and stocks, especially grain, amid the threat of the spread of the Coronavirus; however, social distancing policies are feared to become obstacles in the process of harvesting this year... Head of the Agriculture and Food Service Office of Badung Regency, I Wayan Wijana, did not dismiss these problems. According to him, there is a concern that the harvest process could experience a few obstacles, especially related to the availability of labor because of increasingly stringent social restrictions where the possibility of harvest workers from outside the area would be very rare. Therefore, his party has anticipated assigning field instructors to coordinate with the pekaseh and farmer groups to utilize local labor by reviving Sekaa Manyi (traditional bands of rice harvest workers) which is actually quite a lot and has been assisted by the government with various equipment for harvesting.
"BHA Denies That Dozens of Hotels Are For Sale" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian): Chairman of the Bali Hotel Association (BHA) I Made Ricky Darmika Putra said incorrect information circulating through a number of social media said dozens of star-rated hotels on the island would be sold because of the Covid-19 pandemic... "Regarding the information on hotels in Bali that will be sold, it has been widely denied by the hotel, so that information is not true," said Ricky. BHA, he added, is a general manager association of 4- and 5-star hotels throughout Bali and has 168 hotel members with 32,000 rooms and 46,000 employees. Ricky does not deny that at present the average hotel on the Island of the Gods is temporarily closed because it prioritizes the government's call for primary safety and staying safe.
"Availability of Garlic In Bali from March to May to be 1,807 Tons Below Need" from The Bali Tribune (Indonesian): Data from the Department of Agriculture and Food Security of the Province of Bali on Monday shows that the island's garlic supply through May will outpace its need by up to 1,807 tons... Its availability is currently only reaching 1,445 tons, whereas the amount of consumption up to May is estimated to reach 3,252 tons.
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 list news items from established media sources
We do not share rumors.
We do not include opinion pieces or forecasts.
For all stories marked "Indonesian" we have used Google Translate to convert it from Bahasa. When possible, we will provide a short summary in proper English to help get the details of the piece across more efficiently, and we will polish the excerpt to help clarify the details.
For any questions, comments or tips, please contact us at newsletter@migrationmedia.net.