Monday, July 6
Guv announces reopening schedule; foreign tourists can return on Sep. 11 + Denpasar releases testing numbers, positive rate at 20% + Sukawati Health Centr closes due to staff Covid-19 exposure + more!
Good morning! Welcome to the COVID-19 Update for Bali for Monday, July 6. Please subscribe and share it with others in the foreigner community on the island. I happily put this daily newsletter together as a public service, and it will be free so long as the current emergency lasts. *A paid subscription is NOT required to access this content.* When signing up, select the "None" option and you'll get it delivered to your Inbox each day. If you would like to support my work, please consider making a voluntary contribution of US$5/month. Supporters receive an early update on the government’s daily infection & recovery numbers each night within an hour or so of their announcement… plus my enduring gratitude!
Status Update
National Numbers:
Bali Numbers:
Regency Numbers:
Confirmed Cases Distribution:
Key: Red = Infected | Green = Recovered | Black = Died
30-Day Trends:
More details on the locations of positive cases within each Regency, as well as the number of suspected cases ("ODP") and people under in-patient observation ("PDP"), can be found in charts & infographics on the websites of each Regency's Covid-19 Task Force:
Badung | Bangli | Buleleng | Denpasar City | Gianyar | Jembrana | Karangasem | Klungkung | Tabanan
Sources:
The national update comes from the Indonesia National Disaster Management Agency: @BNPB_Indonesia
The Bali Numbers infographic comes from the Bali Provincial Government COVID-19 Task Force (link).
The Confirmed Cases Distribution map & Regency Numbers figures come from the Bali Provincial Government's data collection department (link).
NOTE: While the national government includes daily testing totals in its infographic, Bali’s provincial government does not routinely release this data, so it is not included.
The Big News
"Bali Will Officially Open to Foreign Tourists On September 11th" from The Bali Sun: The announcement was made at the end of a mass prayer in Bali to ask for the permission, blessing, guidance, and protection of God. Koster announced in the new decree that there will be three phases to the reopening of Bali’s economy:
The first phase: July 9th, 2020 - Businesses will begin to reopen to the local people in Bali.
The second phase: July 31st, 2020 - Bali will reopen the island to all domestic tourists. Indonesian tourists will be able to travel to the island for the purpose of tourism.
The Third Phase: September 11th, 2020 - Bali will officially reopen to international tourists.
(Ed. Note: This schedule has been positioned as being tentative, with actual reopening based on Covid-19 infection rates. Changes should be expected based on the facts on the ground.)
"Swab Test Reaches 3,559 People in Denpasar, Rapid Tests Reach 13,634 People" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian): The Head of the Health Office of Denpasar City, Dr. Sri Armini, said that case finding was the focus of handling Covid-19 in Denpasar City at this time so that with the case data based on names and addresses, the right targeted policy will be easier to design and implement... "If it is not tested, then we do not know the mapping to be carried out tracking, and if left unchecked, there will be an explosion of cases such as snowballs, given the number of elderly people aged 45 years and over as vulnerable age in the city of Denpasar is currently in the range of 21.83 percent, this is what we must be aware of," he explained.
(Ed Note: Given Denpasar's reported infection total of 698 as of Sunday, the number of swab tests conducted results in a positive rate of ~20%. However, since the government does not regularly release testing numbers, it is impossible to determine if this rate has increased of late, or whether it has remained steady over the last 3 months. Without this data, we can't know whether increased testing is the reason why more cases are being detected, or if it’s because the pace of local transmission is rising.)
"Becoming a Red Zone, Sukawati I Heath Center is Temporarily Closed" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian): Puskesmas Sukawati I was temporarily closed after a local health worker was declared positive co-19. This was done to break the distribution of corona among Puskesmas staff. One employee who was positive with the coronavirus had contact with almost all health workers and staff of the Public Health Unit of Sukawati, which numbered around 25 people... "We prevented it, we brake the spread of transmission, that's why we closed this shop temporarily," said I Made Wisnu Wijaya, CHairman of Gianyar's COvid-19 Task Force. Over the next 3 days, they will conduct an evaluation, and see the development of this sub-cluster. "Based on the evaluation, we will take further steps, we hope that this sub-cluster will not expand," Wisnu Wijaya concluded.
Other Headlines
"Worried About Overload, Tabanan Adds Covid-19 Treatment Room" from The IDN Times (Indonesian): Spokesperson for the Tabanan Covid-19 Task Force, I Putu Dian Setiawan, confirmed the plan to increase bed capacity at Tabanan Regional Hospital. Currently Tabanan Hospital has six beds in isolation rooms. "Later the plan will be added by 12 beds so that it will have the capacity for 19 patients," Dian said. In addition to Tabanan Hospital, Tabanan Regency Government also prepared 100 beds in UPTD Hospital Nyitdah. Currently the hospital has 30 beds to treat COVID-19 patients. "Later the capacity of 100 beds will be used in stages. At present the facility continues to be equipped according to needs," explained Dian.
"With Activity at Bali's Ngurah Rai Airport Predicted to Increase, 7 Airlines Propose Flight Slots" from The Bali Tribune (Indonesian): From the data obtained, there were 4 national airlines and 3 international airlines have submitted applications for flight slots for July 2020 from a total of 219 flights. A total of 191 of them are domestic routes, while the remaining 28 flights are international routes... For international routes, which have been approved are the Doha route with 7 flights, and the route to Dubai with 3 flights. Currently, there is only one international route, namely Qatar Airways flights from Doha. "Of course, this is accompanied by an increase in terminal capacity, from the beginning we only functioned 35 percent of the capacity, now we increase it to 50 percent of the capacity of the terminal," said Herry AY Sikado, General Manager of PT Angkasa Pura I (Persero) I Gusti Ngurah International Airport Rai Bali.
"During Banyu Pinaruh in Watu Klotok, Residents Disobey Health Protocol" from The IDN Times (Indonesian): A number of beaches in Klungkung Regency were invaded by residents who performed the Banyu Pinaruh ritual on Sunday, but there are those who ignore health protocols such as crowding and not wearing masks. The Civil Service Police Unit (Satpol PP) could only appeal to people to continue implementing the health protocol. "Residents who come to Klotok Beach are not only from Klungkung, there are also from other areas such as Karangasem, Gianyar, Bangli, even Denpasar," said Klungkung PP Kaspppol, I Putu Suarta. He regretted residents who ignored health protocols during the Banyu Pinaruh ritual. "We see many people not wearing masks and crowding when many twins on Watu Klotok Beach," he said.
"Entrepreneurs in Buleleng Tourism Complain About Rapid Test Costs" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): The "New Normal" prerequisite for tourism accommodation entrepreneurs in Bali to conduct independent rapid tests on their employees before opening their businesses has drawn complaints from hotel entrepreneurs. "I think the problem will be the cost of the rapid tests that are charged to hotel entrepreneurs and employees independently. It's hard if staff or employees have to be burdened with rapid costs. It's not working yet, there's already spending," complained PHRI Chairman Buleleng Dewa Ketut Suardipa. "If one hotel alone has 30-40 employees with the price of a rapid test tool of Rp. 300 thousand, we have already spent millions as hotel entrepreneurs only to have a new era life order certificate," he said.
Non-Covid News of Note
"Bali Elementary School Destroyed By Massive Fire" from The Bali Sun: The blaze broke out at the Bejera State Elementary School Saturday (07/04/2020) afternoon around 5:30 pm according to officials. The entire building went up in flames and nothing could be salvaged. Preliminary damages are estimated at Rp. 500 million. “We are still investigating the cause of the fire. All of the buildings were burnt,” said Police Chief Commissioner I Made Budi Astawa.
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 fund 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.
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. You can see their confirmation of this policy on June 11 here, and see a cringe-inducing PSA here.
Local travel website Traveloka has a helpful page with a summary of what’s needed to travel to and within the country. You can also order a rapid test or swab (PCR) test via their platform: Link
The British Embassy in Jakarta has recently posted a great summary of the Indonesian government's travel restrictions on their Facebook page. You can read it here.
The EU has launched a website to help travelers stay informed about how member states will be accelerating the reopening of their borders. Through the “EU Re-open” website, travelers can enter the name of the country they wish to visit and find out the rules that will apply after each place's coronavirus lockdown. Information on the EU Re-open website and app will continue to be updated in line with the developments of the coronavirus pandemic.
If you are trying to plan travel anywhere, here are some 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 Travel Information Manual Automatic (Timatic) database feeds into airlines' reservation systems, so it is the most reliable list of flight restrictions around.
Revolver Maps' Travel Restrictions Database - This list pulls directly from IATA's Timatic database and arranges the countries in lists that are easier to navigate and creates share-able links for every country. NOTE: This is a third-party service and they warn that the updates to their system can be delayed by several hours for certain countries.
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.
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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We only include news items from established media sources
We do not share rumors.
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For all stories marked "Indonesian" I have used Google Translate to convert it from Bahasa. In most cases I will polish the excerpt and/or write a short summary in proper English to help clarify the details.
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