Monday, January 18
Hospitals reaching critical limits, govt orders more beds added + Health Minister says he may allow private vaccinations + Tabanan testing people gathered in crowded locations + more!
Good morning! Welcome to The Bali Beat for Monday, January 18. If you’re not a subscriber, sign up here to get this update delivered directly to your Inbox every Monday-Friday 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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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: No records we set yesterday, but the number of new cases remained at or near the peak that they’ve been at for the last 2 weeks. Yesterday’s count of 11,000+ new cases nationwide pushed the country over 900,000 since the start of the pandemic. Based on the number of Covid test specimens collected yesterday (46,000+) the positivity rate stands at 24%. That is nearly 5x the level that the WHO says indicates out-of-control spread (5%). Here in Bali, the number of new cases continues to far outpace the number of recoveries and the island is up to nearly 2,400 active cases, which is stressing hospital capacity (see below).
Provincial-level testing numbers are not regularly published, but The IDN Times did an interesting series on the ins-and-outs of local testing. They followed the process of collecting samples and reporting to both the provincial and national governments from Klungkung and Tabanan. You can read the stories here and here.
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
"ICU and Isolation Rooms for Covid-19 Patients in Bali Pass 60%" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): Head of the Bali Provincial Health Office, dr. Ketut Suarjaya stated that all hospitals that accommodate Covid-19 patients in Bali are almost full. "BOR (Bed Occupancy Rate) for isolation rooms has reached 61.06% and ICU BOR has reached 71.96%," said Dr. Suarjaya. "With BOR above 70%, there must be relaxation efforts. We continue to strive to add more [beds], especially ICU."
"Indonesia May Allow Private Sector to Buy and Distribute Vaccines" from Reuters: Indonesia may allow companies to procure their own COVID-19 vaccines, the country’s health minister said on Thursday, as an influential business chamber called for members to be able to inoculate staff or sell vaccines to the public... Medical and security personnel are first in line for the vaccine, but Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin told parliament companies may be allowed to procure and vaccinate their staff and thereby reduce the burden on the state. “It shouldn’t start now, but later after the government has provided mandatory vaccines for health and public workers,” he said, noting no final decision had been made and that authorities wanted to avoid being seen as prioritising the rich.
Context: This statement came just hours after Deputy Minister of Health Dante Saksono Harbuwono had told reporters that private purchases of the vaccine would not be allowed.
"Increasingly Massive Antigen Rapid Test, Tabanan Targeting Visitors in Crowded Centers" from The Bali Post (Indonesian): Tabanan's Covid-19 Task Force is targeting restaurants and shopping centers which are often crowded with visitors n weekends. In fact, officers are now also conducting sampling on waiters or visitors at local locations for rapid antigen testing. "We take a sampling of other employees or servants there and visitors, to ascertain where is the real source of the addition of new cases to date. For the city, I try to explore in a croded place such as in the two locations. later, we will shift to other crowded places around Tabanan," said I Wayan Sarba, Head of Satpol PP Tabanan.
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Other Headlines
"Covid-19 Cases Soaring, Bali Provincial Health Office Asked All Hospitals to [Set Aside] 30% for Isolation Sites" from The Bali Tribune (Indonesian): To anticipate a spike in positive cases of Covid-19 , the Head of the Bali Provincial Health Office has increased the BOR (Bed Occupancy Rate) and added an isolation room. The Head of the Bali Provincial Health Office , Dr. Ketut Suarjaya said that he had distributed circular letters to all government and private hospitals. "The strategy prepared if the BOR or bed use ratio increases, is to provide circular letters to all hospitals to [set aside] 30% of isolation places for Covid-19 treatment," he said.
Context: In Jembrana, officials announced that they have added 3 more hotels as spaces where people who have mild symptoms or are asymptomatic can be isolated until they have recovered. The rapid rise in cases there over the last 2 weeks has lead to their hospitals and isolation hotels being filled.
Vaccination Update
The vaccination program in Bali is well underway, with doses being administered in Denpasar, Badung and Gianyar. All other regencies will have their vaccine allotments delivered in early February so that they can begin distribution there. The exact dates of delivery and total numbers to be expected in their initial shipments have not yet been confirmed, as officials in Tabanan said over the weekend. There is a priority list of people who will be vaccinated and people who have recovered from Covid are disqualified from their first waves of distribution, as they most likely have an immunity that should last at least several months. However, Badung Health Service head Dr. I Nyoman Gunarta clarified yesterday that people who have recovered from an asymptomatic case of Covid - meaning that they have antibodies but were not aware that they were sick - will still qualify for vaccination.
Head of the Denpasar City Health Office, Dr. Luh Putu Sri Armini, said that he estimated that it will take 1.5 months to complete Phase 1 of their vaccination plan, which covers all workers at the 17 health centers in the city. At the same time, Dr. Ketut Ariawati, Director of Medical, Nursing and Support Services at Sanglah Central General Hospital, said that as a crowd control measure he would limit the number of vaccinations there to just 20 per day. At that pace, it will be April by the time all staff there have been inoculated. Over in Gianyar, officials estimate that the first phase will take 3 months to complete there.
Today’s Prokes Patrols
"Saturday Night, Dozens of Prokes Violators Acted" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian): The implementation of health protocols (Prokes) to suppress transmission of the Covid-19 virus is still being ignored by the public. It was proven when the joint officers carried out the Prokes operation in Gilimanuk sub-district, Saturday night, dozens of residents were found violating. "We are carrying out this operation to make people aware so that they always implement health programs, considering that the transmission rate of the Covid-19 virus is still high," said Head of Trantib, Gilimanuk Urban Village, Hendro Rafianto Wibowo.
NOTE: Going forward, I will devote one spot in the round-up to media reports of police patrols to enforce mask-wearing and other health protocols, such as this update on the results of Tabanan’s efforts last week.
"After Nataru, Until March There Were No Hotel 'Bookings'" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): Hotel occupancy rates in Buleleng Regency are in free fall, the age of the last Christmas and New Year holidays. In fact, on the last Christmas and New Year holidays, the average occupancy rate of star hotels in Buleleng was above 50%. Now that the Christmas and New Year holidays are over, hotel managers have to play their brains again. Because there are no tourists. The quiet residence is predicted to last until next March. At least until Nyepi comes.
"Bali Prison Over Four Times Maximum Capacity" from The Bali Sun: Tabanan Prison Class IIB is currently at 400% capacity, as relocation of inmates to other prisons has been neglected by authorities. According to information from the Head of Tabanan Prison, Raden Budiman Patriatna Kusumah explained that the prison, located on Jalan Gunung Agung, has a maximum occupancy of 44 inmates. Currently, 200 inmates are simultaneously held within the accommodation. The prison has 18 cells in total, including 13 male cells, 2 female cells and 3 isolation rooms.
"Kintamani Breed Dogs Need Rejuvenation" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian): This Kintamani breed deserves rejuvenation. However, rejuvenation of broodstock cannot be carried out due to budget constraints. The Bangli PKP Service conserves the Kintamani dog in captivity. Currently raising 22 dogs, but the average age of the mother dogs is old, so it affects reproduction and is susceptible to disease. The Head of PKP Bangli, I Wayan Sarma, said that the procurement of Kintamani breeders was carried out in 2012 as many as 9. "Currently there are 22 dogs in captivity. "The puppies have been adopted by the community on the condition that they are ready to look after them well," said Wayan Sarma.
The View from Outside
"Foreigners in Bali Are Punished With Push-ups for Not Following Coronavirus Health Protocols" from ABC News: Kadek Astika lives in Kerobokan, in Badung regency, and operates a couple of villas in the area. She said the breaching of health protocols during the pandemic showed how outsiders, such as foreigners and tourists, often did not respect local culture... "Even before the pandemic we have already seen many foreign tourists, particularly the young ones not following the rules, such as riding bikes without helmets or getting drunk and then involved in brawls on the streets," Ms Astika said. "Some of them also violated our traditions and values by disrespecting sacred sites with their behaviour when visiting temples."
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.
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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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