Monday, May 4
Rapid test that gave over 400 false positives in Bangli village is scrapped + Hundreds of police lock down Abuan + Bali's low infection numbers puzzle epidemiologists + more!
Good morning! Welcome to the COVID-19 Update for Bali for Monday, May 4. If you find this information useful, please subscribe and share it with others in the foreigner community on the island. Also, if you can contribute US$5/month to help me keep the lights on, that would be awesome.
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Status Update
Country-wide Numbers:
Source:
Indonesia National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB Indonesia): @BNPB_Indonesia
Official updates are available from the Indonesian Government here.
Bali Numbers:
Confirmed Cases Distribution:
Key: Red = Infected | Green = Recovered | Black = Died
Bali 30-Day Trends:
Sources:
Infographic comes from Bali Provincial Government COVID-19 Task Force (link).
The geographic breakdown comes from the Bali Provincial Government's data collection department (link).
Charts have been compiled using their data.
More details on the locations of positive cases within each Regency, as well as the number of suspected cases ("ODP") and people under observation ("PDP"), can be found in charts & infographics on the official websites of each Regency's COVID-19 Task Force:
Badung | Bangli | Buleleng | Denpasar City | Gianyar | Jembrana | Karangasem | Klungkung | Tabanan
How You Can Help
Each day we'll tell you about the people who are trying to make a difference in these difficult times, and how you can pitch in.
AidHub, a global foundation dedicated to providing technology support to other nonprofit foundations, is using their office in Kerobokan to establish a free food bank to help feed local families who have lost their livelihoods due to the collapse of the tourism sector. AidHub founder Alan Morgan is raising money on GoFundMe to purchase the ingredients for food packs, with each pack containing a 1-week supply of food and essentials for 2 people. The foundation is supplying the space and the manpower to organize and distribute the food, so 100% of all money raised will go towards buying food and preparing the packs. You can contribute to their efforts here.
If you know anyone who is raising funds, delivering food, organizing volunteers, or otherwise trying to rally people to the cause of assisting our neighbors here in Bali, please let us know by sending an email to newsletter@migrationmedia.net.
The Big News
"Provincial Health Office Pulls Rapid Test Used In Abuan" from Bali Express (Indonesian): The Bali Health Service (Diskes) is withdrawing the rapid diagnostic test which was used to examine hundreds of residents of Banjar Serokadan, Abuan Village, in Bangli recently... The head of Bali Diskes, Dr. Ketut Suarjaya, said that the withdrawl was being done following allegations that the brand of rapid tests used in the banjar were inaccurate and damaged. "Tomorrow the product will be examined by the Ministry of Health. While we are pulling this rapid test and replacing it with another one."
"Local Transmission Soaring, 22 New Cases Originate Locally" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian): The addition of positive patients Covid-19 has experienced a surge again, with as many as 22 of the 25 new cases identified on Sunday caused by local transmission... Bali Regional Secretary, Dewa Made Indra, said, "For that, once again, in suppressing the case of local transmission, the community must be aware and disciplined in making efforts to prevent this virus."
"All Entrances to Abuan Village Are Strictly Guarded" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian): A joint contingent of hundreds of police personnel are manning several checkpoints around Abuan Village, Bangli, preventing anyone from entering or exiting. This comes after 443 residents of Serokadan Banjar originally tested positive after rapid testing last week... Bangli Police Chief, AKBP I Gusti Agung Dhana Aryawan, said, "In addition to members guarding the border, there is also a deterrent task force whose task is to make an appeal to force measures against citizens who do not comply with the Covid-19 prevention protocols."
Other Headlines
"Hundreds Permitted to Cross to Java on Condition That They Not Return to Bali During Corona Outbreak" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): Even though there is already a ban on going home, there are still stubborn residents who still go to Java via the Gilimanuk Port. Hundreds of people have been massing at the port for days in the hopes of getting onto one of the ferries that are now being used for logistics and emergency transportation. In order to eliminate the crowds, which presented a danger to the people and the island as a whole, authorities allowed them to cross over to Java under the condition that they not return to Bali until the Covid-19 crisis has passed.
"Bank Indonesia: Enough Cash On Hand for 2 -3 Months" from The Bali Post (Indonesian): Bank Indonesia (BI) ensures that there is enough cash to meet people's needs for the next 2-3 months. This is because the inflow of cash (the money that enters BI from commercial banks) is greater than the outflow (the money that comes out of BI)... In April, the inflow was greater than the outflow. Although in March the outflow was higher, at Rp 1,466 billion versus an inflow of Rp 1,229 billion. BI also cooperates with banks in Bali to meet cash needs.
"Buleleng Regional Police Intensify Night Patrol" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): The Buleleng Police Department has begun to intensify its night patrols in response to an uptick in night-time crime in the area. Recently some theft actions have started to occur amid the already difficult economic conditions of the people, due to the impact of the coronavirus... "We were patrolling the night because there was a potential for a disruption in crime that was beginning to be seen in Buleleng and began to unsettle the community," said Kabagops of the Police Headquarters of Buleleng Kompol, A. A Wiranata Kusuma.
Bali Experiencing A Crisis of Medical Physics Workers" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian): Based on data from the Indonesian Medical Physics Education Institute (AIPFMI) the number of health workers qualified as medical physicists in Indonesia has only reached 260 people, and for Bali Nusra only 15 people. At the same time, there are around 3,000 hospitals and clinis in Indonesia, with 155 in Bali... "Prospective students tend to avoid majoring in physics because it is considered very difficult, even though the need for physics personnel, especially medical physics, is quite high. This condition causes us to experience a medical physicist crisis," said the Coordinator of the concentration of Medical Physics, Physics Study Program, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at Udayana University, Dr. I Gusti Ngurah Sutapa.
The View from Outside
"Australian Expats In Indonesia Say They Have 'Moral Obligation' to Give Back During Coronavirus Pandemic" from ABC News: When borders started closing between Australia and Indonesia to contain the spread of coronavirus, Amanda Rialdi's family and friends kept telling her to come back to Australia. "Bali is my home and for me it was never an option to leave," she told the ABC... Amanda is one of many Australians who have chosen to stay behind in their new home, despite Indonesia fast becoming a coronavirus hotspot as the country's death rate surpassed other nations in the region. "I honestly couldn't sleep wondering how people would get by now with no income," said Amanda, who has been living in Bali for the past seven years. "We have now given over 3,000 meals to metro areas and villages [and] about 4,000 masks … I would say we have helped around 5,000 people so far, but those figures could be much higher," she said.
"'No miracle': What Explains Bali's Low Coronavirus Cases?" from Al Jazeera: The Indonesian resort island of Bali, which received half a million international tourists a month until visas on arrival were halted on March 20, is now the site of a medical mystery that has beguiled many: There are no visible signs of a widespread coronavirus pandemic here... From a medical perspective, Dr Panji Hadisoemarto, an epidemiologist at Padjadjaran University in Java, has also been pondering Bali's apparent immunity to COVID-19. "When COVID-19 was first identified in Wuhan, I thought Bali would be one of the first places to be hit hard because of all the Chinese tourists," he said. "I was wrong, and I'm starting to question the assumptions behind these models because the rate of transmission is a lot lower than expected. But the real question is - is this real or just an artefact of under-reporting?"
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 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.
Common abbreviations to be familiar with:
PMI: Indonesian migrant worker
PSBB: Policy of extreme social distancing. Officially restricts forms of transportation and prohibits certain types of business from operating. Requires any permitted businesses to enforce strict social distancing guidelines.
OTG: Possible cases, with no symptoms.
ODP: Suspected cases, being monitored. People with fever or respiratory symptoms such as congestion, sore throat, cough, travel in countries or areas with local transmission, or contact with a confirmed case of Covid-19. Tracked and placed under out-patient observation.
PDP: Probable cases, under observation. People with acute respiratory illness with at least one symptom such as cough, sore throat, congestion, light or heavy pneumonia, and travel in countries or areas with local transmission, or contact with a confirmed case of Covid-19. Usually placed under observation in an isolation ward at a designated hospital pending swab testing results.
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 will polish the excerpt and/or write a short summary in proper English to help clarify the details.
For any questions, comments or tips, please contact us at newsletter@migrationmedia.net.