Monday, December 21
Vaccination schedule officially pushed back to Jan + Health patrols focusing on North Kuta + Hospitals, heath centers & testing labs ordered to open 24/7 through holiday + more!
Good morning! Welcome to The Bali Beat for Monday, December 21. 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.
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PUBLICATION REMINDER: There will be no Saturday issues of the newsletter going forward, as I’m shifting to a Monday-Friday schedule. Also, I’m taking the last week of the month off for a holiday, so after Friday’s issue, the next publication date will be Monday, January 4.
Weather & Waves
Today’s Weather for Southern Bali
Today’s Tides
Surf Outlook
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: Yesterday, Indonesia broke it’s all-time record for Covid-19 deaths in a single day, with 221. Click here to see the national numbers infographic and a Regency-by-Regency breakdown of yesterday’s local numbers, which includes a look back at last week’s overall totals
The Big News
"Jokowi Hopes Vaccinations Will Start in January" from The Jakarta Post: President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo hopes the national COVID-19 vaccination program will begin in January 2021. “Insya Allah [God willing], we will start the shots in January. In our prediction, we may return to normal next year. Let us all pray together so that we will return to normal quickly,” said Jokowi while handing out presidential aid at the Bogor Presidential Palace in West Java on Friday, as reported by kompas.id. He went on to say that the vaccination program aimed to reach 70% of the Indonesian population – or around 182 million people. The vaccination of that proportion of the population would, it is believed, ensure herd immunity.
(Ed. Note: This is a change for President Widodo. In the past, he had said that vaccinations could have begun in November. Then his administration announced a schedule that was to have started by the third week in December. To be fair, even when making his most optimistic projections, Widodo has been careful to say that the government “shouldn’t rush” and that vaccinations may not begin until January. As recently as December 14, Indonesia’s Drug and Food Control Agency (BPOM) reiterated that they were ready to begin the approval process for Sinovac’s Covid-19 vaccine, but were waiting for the final tranche of data from their Phase 3 trials. Vaccinations can not begin until regulators have a chance to review the data, which will take about three weeks. While the data could be provided “any day,” there has not been any word on its arrival yet.)
"COVID-19 Antigen Test Price Cap Set At Rp 250,000 In Java" from The Jakarta Post: The government has set the price ceiling for individually requested COVID-19 antigen tests at Rp 250,000 (US$17.73) in Java and Rp 275,000 outside Java amid plans to require travelers to have negative antigen test results. The price ceiling was determined on Friday based on an analysis by the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP) and the Health Ministry, as concerns grow over providers charging "varying prices" for a test, BPKP defense and security director Faisal told a virtual press briefing.
(Ed. Note: Local Authorities have declared that the antigen tests that all ferry passengers must take before disembarking at Gilimanuk Port will be free for logistics drivers.)
"Jakarta Cancels Holiday Season amid Record-Breaking Covid Cases" from The Jakarta Globe: Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has issued a circular calling city departments and municipally-owned businesses to shorten year-end holidays and prevent their employees from travelling as newly coronavirus cases are spiking dramatically. The circular was issued on Saturday when the capital city reported the highest single-day rise of cases since the outbreak began. It limits working hours in shopping malls and theaters to 07.00 p.m. on Dec. 24 - 27 and on Dec. 31 - Jan. 3 and imposes a cap on the number of visitors at 50% of capacity.
(Ed. Note: Jakarta has been the largest source of domestic tourists since international arrivals were banned back in April. There has not yet been any word of additional cancellations of flights into Bali, nor another wave of mass hotel booking cancellations, as a result of this order. However, as of 12:00pm yesterday, passenger volume was well below levels that had been predicted prior to the new PCR testing requirements. Locally, Denpasar has said that all bars and entertainment venues must close by 23:00 on January 31; and already on Friday, 20 travel agents cancelled trips that would have brought 1,000 people to Ulun Danu Beratan Temple.)
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Other Headlines
"Prokes Inspection in Tibubeneng Village Target Foreign Citizens" from Bali Express (Indonesian): "Officers conduct health protocol inspections and education, not only targeted local residents, we also target foreign tourists, because sometimes they are also not disciplined," said Acting. Tibubeneng Village Manager I Nyoman Tirtayasa. The inspections are being carried out by joint officers in the village of Tibubeneng. "Hopefully, local residents and foreign tourists who live in Tibubeneng will continue to improve their discipline in implementing health protocols. If all the disciplines make it easier for us to work together and the spread of Covid-19 can continue to be suppressed," he explained.
(Ed. Note: Tibubeneng Village is centered around Jl. Pantai Berawa and Jl. Raya Semat, and includes Finn’s Recreation Club and Berawa Beach. )
"Prepared, 41 Inpatient Health Centers On the Tourist Route" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian): Bali Provincial Government instructed public hospitals throughout Bali to be on standby 24 hours in providing services for travelers during the Christmas 2020 and New Year 2021 holidays. In addition, 41 inpatient health centers on the tourism route were also instructed to open a 24 hour full service. Head of the Bali Provincial Health Office, Dr. I Ketut Suarjaya, said that in total in Bali there are 120 Puskesmas spread across 57 sub-districts in 9 regencies / cities. Of the 120 Puskesmas, 41 units of which are inpatient Puskesmas in tourism routes. All are instructed to be fully open 24 hours during the Christmas and Year holidays (Nataru). In addition, the Bali Provincial Government obliges all government-owned PCR reference laboratories to open 24-hour full service, from 18 December 2020 to 4 January 2021.
"Alert, Covid-19 Patients at Wangaya Hospital Reach 60%" from Bali Express (Indonesian): Cases of Covid-19 sufferers, especially those who are being treated intensively at Wangaya Hospital, Denpasar, have now reached 60%. In fact, WHO itself says that if the occupancy of patients in special rooms has reached 70%, this means that the rate of spread of Covid-19 in the region has been very massive. According to the spokesman for the Covid-19 Covid-19 Task Force for Denpasar City, Dewa Gede Rai, Thursday (17/12), what he emphasized was that the patients being treated at the Wangaya Hospital had severe symptoms such as prolonged coughing, fever and shortness of breath.
(Ed. Note: This news comes after Wangaya Hospital said last week that its Covid ward was nearly full. The government does not publish regular updates about hospitalization levels or ICU admittance, so individual hospitals’ public notices about their capacity levels are the only indication that we have about the strain being put on the island’s health care system by the current wave of Covid-19 cases.)
"Tito Calls for Regions to Muster Locals in Flattening COVID-19 Curve" from The Jakarta Post: Home Minister Tito Karnavian has called on regional leaders to issue regulations banning large crowds and to restrict the number of attendees at public rallies to drive local efforts to “flatten the curve” of COVID-19 transmission. “To the regions, please, we are seeing that the COVID-19 [transmission] curve is continuing to rise. There are no signs of [flattening] yet,” he said. “It will need policy intervention. Physical distancing in public spaces should be managed [and must] also include enforcement,” said Tito, who is a former National Police chief.
(Ed. Note: This call from the Interior Minister came a day before 455 demonstrators in Jakarta were arrested for failing to submit to rapid tests in order to participate in an event. 23 were found to be reactive and have been isolated in a hospital to await swab test results. It is not clear if Bali will adopt similar rules. On Saturday, a small pro-West Papuan independence rally and a larger counter-demonstration were broken up in Denpasar, but the police did not claim to be enforcing any new rules regarding mass gatherings. "Because the situation is getting hotter between the two parties, the Head of the Denpasar Police for a mediation so that the students disband," explained the Head of Public Relations of the Denpasar Police, Iptu Ketut Sukadi.)
"Long Lonely Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, Kuta Beach is Again Crowded" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian): After almost ten months of quiet visitors due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Kuta Beach, Badung, Bali, Sunday, began to be crowded with tourists. It's just that most of the tourists who come to the white sandy beach are domestic tourists. Apart from the beach area, along the road to Kuta Beach it also looks crowded [with traffic] creeping. From balipuspanews.com observations, several tourists were seen visiting the modern shopping places and the Beach Walk which had reopened. One of the beach visitors, Kadek Novi Febriani, who is also a local resident, admitted that he was very happy that Kuta was back to be busy like before the pandemic. "The economic cycle is running. People can eat," said Novi.
"Four People Died From Tannery Gas Poisoning in Bali" from The IDN Times (Indonesian): Four people were found dead on Saturday (19/12/2020) at 10:20 a.m. in a shop on the second floor of Taman Griya Housing on Jalan Batur Raya, Jimbaran Village, South Kuta District, Badung due to gas poisoning used for leather tanning. According to the South Kuta Police Chief, AKP Yusak Agustinus Sooai to IDN Times that four victims died, one of whom was the business owner, Boy Don Tambunan (43) who lived in the same location. Boy was declared dead after being at Jimbaran Hospital. Meanwhile, other employees who are known to have died at the scene of the case include Rivaldo Simagunsong, Ardi Silitonga, and Attorney Napitupulu. The three of them also live at the scene.
"Indonesia, South Korea Sign CEPA in Seoul" from Antara: IK-CEPA comprises the trade of goods including tariff reduction and elimination, origin of goods, customs procedures, trade facilities and trade remedies, and trade of services covering investment, economic cooperation, and institutional arrangement. In the trade of goods, South Korea will eliminate 95.54% of its tariff posts, while Indonesia will remove 92.06% of its tariff posts. In the trade of services, both countries are committed to opening more than 100 sub-sectors and increasing the integration of several service sectors in future, including the construction sector, post and courier service, franchise, and computer-related services, and facilitate intra-corporate transferees (ICTs), business visitors (BVs), and independent professionals (IPs).
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.
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