Monday, September 21
Visa extension deadline moved to Oct. 5 + Widespread health protocol enforcement actions over weekend snare hundreds + testing rules tightened for tourists + Badung not closing tourist spots + more!
Good morning! Welcome to The Bali Beat for Monday, September 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.
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.* However, if you would like to support my work, please consider making a donation of US$5/month by becoming a contributing subscriber at the link above.
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: The average daily total of new cases last week was 74. The week prior, it was 149- a drop of 50%. Yesterday was the first day of triple-digit new cases in a week. Also, according to statistics tweeted by Agus Wibowo, Head of the Directorate of Disaster Management Strategy Development (PSPB), the number of Swab Tests conducted on Bali rose slightly (15%) last week to 593. This is still down quite a lot (28%) from two weeks ago, when the island was in the middle of a spike in new cases.
Click here to see the complete breakdown of yesterday’s numbers + trendlines in our evening update, which includes a look back at last week’s overall totals.
The Big News
IMMIGRATION UPDATE: Because of the recent outbreak of Covid-19 cases in their Jakarta headquarters, and the resulting delays in processing extension and new visa requests, Imigrasi has extended the deadline for submitting telex requests + the effective date for overstay penalties until October 5. You can read the original post on Imigrasi's Twitter, Facebook & Instagram pages.
"Not Using Masks, Hundreds of Prokes Violators Subject to Sweeping and Push Up Sanctions" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian): Badung Police continues to carry out integrated justice operations in collaboration with the TNI and related agencies to prevent the increase in the transmission of the Covid outbreak in the Badung area. "There are hundreds of violators without wearing masks that have been firmly dealt with by the Justice Team. They are subject to sweeping sanctions, push-ups and squad jumps,” said Deputy Head of Badung Police, Kompol Ni Putu Utariani, SH. "These raids will continue, until people really realize the importance of guarding themselves using masks, washing hands, and maintaining distance," he explained.
(Ed. Note: Stories popping up across various media outlets over the weekend indicate that police in every Regency have stepped up patrols and enforcement actions to look for people not wearing masks & businesses not following health protocols. Reports out of Buleleng, Tabanan, and Denpasar show that the government isn’t backing off, even though infections numbers decreased last week. In light of last week's news that Minister Luhut has ordered the Army to form joint enforcement task forces with local police, we can expect these actions to continue and to only get larger.)
"Govt Tightens Rules On Bali Visitors As COVID-19 Cases Rise" from The Jakarta Post: Authorities will impose stricter screening measures on visitors to Bali amid an increasing number of COVID-19 cases on the resort island. Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said the measures would be enforced for the next two weeks. “We don’t want to just uncontrollably open Bali for tourism. People wanting to visit the island will be required to undergo strict testing,” Luhut said.
"Indonesia Reports Longest Run of Three-Digit Daily Covid Deaths" from The Jakarta Globe: The daily death toll in the Indonesian Covid-19 outbreak has exceeded 100 for seven consecutive days, the longest streak of three-digit deaths as newly cases are surging at unprecedented rate. Indonesia has recorded a total of 9,553 Covid-19 deaths since the outbreak in early March, but deaths from probable cases aren’t included in the official tally, although thousands more deceased patients have been buried under the Covid-19 protocol across the archipelago. It has reported 830 deaths in the past week alone, or 9% of the total death toll. The highest daily death toll is 139 on July 22. New cases have been growing at the fastest speed since the beginning of the month. Indonesia has recorded more confirmed cases of coronavirus during 20 days in September than the total number accumulated throughout last month.
>> Classifieds <<
AMERICANS ABROAD - CAST YOUR VOTE FOR THE NOVEMBER ELECTION! We are 5 volunteers helping Americans vote from here since 2002. Due to mail delays you NEED TO START NOW, so CLICK HERE. And yes, we provide individual help too. Please VOTE; it’s so important this year!
Want to share your message with the most engaged members of the foreigner community in Bali? Click here to learn how to place a classified ad.
Other Headlines
"Badung Has Not Planned To Close Back Tourism Objects" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian): Acting Head of the Badung Tourism Office, Cokorda Raka Darmawan, emphasized that there are no plans to close down tourist attractions in Badung, even though graphically positive cases of Covid-19 continue to occur today. "We do not plan to close. There is indeed the [new circular], Governor of Bali Number 487 / GugusCovid19 / IX / 2020. However, the point is that it regulates or limits activities to tourist objects, not closings,” he said.
"Acting on 3,051 Non-Masked Residents, Officials Receive Tens of Million in Fines" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): According to Head of Public Relations of the Bali Police, Kombes Pol Syamsi, during operations from September 7-18 2020, officers had acted on as many as 3,051 violators throughout Bali. The majority, the offenders who were prosecuted by the officers were residents who did not wear masks when doing activities outside the home... offenders were subject to various sanctions. 355 violators were subject to physical sanctions (such as push ups, etc.); 1,698 offenders were subject to verbal warning sanctions; 283 violators are subject to written warning sanctions, 317 violators are subject to social work sanctions in public facilities; 138 violators are subject to postponement of administrative service sanctions; and the remaining 244 offenders were subject to administrative fines of Rp. 100 thousand per person. So specifically for fines, from a total of 244 offenders who have been prosecuted, the joint apparatus has collected a fine of Rp. 24,400,000.
"Relying On Income from the Tourism Sector, Badung is Reluctant to Close Tourism Objects" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): The richest regency in Bali prefers to limit the number of visitors or the capacity of tourist attractions. Naturally, the Badung Regency Government is careful. This is because tourism is the main source of revenue for the Badung area. This year, the Badung Regional Budget is also battered due to lack of tourism... Acting Head of the Badung Tourism Office (Kadispar), Cokorda Raka Darmawan, emphasized that even though he did not close tourist objects, his party had tightened health protocol standards. All managers of tourist objects or tourist attractions in Badung are required to enforce health protocols. "The manager of a tourist attraction must understand how much capacity or capacity it has. Simply receiving 25 percent, including social distancing must also be regulated. That must be understood," he said.
"142 Doctors-Nurses in Denpasar Are Positive Covid-19 Due to Patients Unaware of Having Corona" from iNews Bali (Indonesian): "There are 142, both doctors and nurses in hospitals and health centers," said Dewa Rai, spokesman for the Covid-19 Task Force in Denpasar. He explained that most of the health workers who were exposed to this were not treating positive patients with Covid-19. The majority of them are infected by general patients who do not know that they are already exposed to Covid-19. As a result of health workers being exposed to Covid-19, Dewa Rai admitted a number of hospitals and health centers in Denpasar were temporarily closed.
"As Asymptomatic Cases Rise, COVID-19 Testing Gains Traction" from Antara: In mid-July this year, the COVID-19 Handling Task Force decided to ramp up testing to 30,000 specimens daily as part of efforts to meet the criteria outlined by the World Health Organization. President Joko Widodo had earlier announced the same target. According to reports, as of the beginning of September, Indonesia’s existing inspection facilities have increased their testing capacity to analyze 28,000 specimens per day.
The View from Outside
"As Tourist Flow Stops, Bali’s Craftsmen Struggle to Market Their Work Online" from CNA: Gallery owner Vincen Klau said last year he could make a gross income of between 40 million rupiah and 70 million rupiah (US$2,669 and US$4,670) a month selling chairs, dining tables, wall decorations and small statuettes - carved in the rustic and abstract style of Eastern Indonesian wood art. “Now, it is quieter than my quiet months,” he told CNA... Many of the artisans who are reluctant to sell online are held back by their lack of exposure to technology and social media. “I don’t understand technology,” said Made Ariani. For the last 15 years, she has been selling wooden boxes and souvenirs at the Sukawati Art Market - a half-hour drive from provincial capital Denpasar. “My children understand technology better than me, but they don’t have the time to help me. My daughter is already working and my son is still too little,” she said.
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.
For any questions, comments or tips, please contact us at newsletter@migrationmedia.net.