November 18, 2021
PPKM level 3 to be applied nationwide over Christmas and New Years + Drug arrests in Bali triple across 2021 + Indonesia & Singapore agree to reopen border + more
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Today’s Weather for Southern Bali
Today’s Tides
Meteorology, Climatology & Geophysics Council (Link)
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Daily Covid Update
National Figures
Local Figures
The Big News
“Government Will Implement PPKM Level 3 Nationwide 24 Dec–2 Jan” from Detik (Indonesian): The government will implement PPKM level 3 for all regions of Indonesia during the 2021 Christmas and 2022 New Year holidays. Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy on Wednesday said the policy will be carried out to tighten the movement of people and prevent a spike in COVID-19 cases. "So there is national uniformity. There has been an agreement, the rules that apply in Java-Bali and outside Java-Bali will be uniformed later," he said. "This Ministry of Home Affairs serves as a guideline for controlling the handling of COVID-19 during the Christmas and New Year holidays, which will be set no later than November 22," he said.
Context: This move was supported by the Vice President who said the country is expecting a likely third wave and called for heightened supervision of public mobility over the holiday period. The details of any travel restrictions over the Christmas and New Year period are yet to be announced.
“Bali Drug Arrests Triple Through 2021” from Merdeka (Indonesian): Bali Police arrested 838 suspects in narcotics abuse cases on Bali from January to November 2021. "There are 838 suspects in the year up to November," said the Director of Drugs and Drugs at the Bali Police, Kombes Pol. Mochamad Khozin, on Wednesday. He explained that the 838 arrested consisted of 816 Indonesian citizens and 22 foreign nationals. A total of 799 of the 838 suspects were male. The remaining 39 were women. Most of the suspects arrested were couriers or marijuana dealers. "This year there are many cases of marijuana. This year there are more than last year in 2020, three times," he added. He said the Covid-19 pandemic did not reduce the circulation of narcotics in Bali. "This has no effect at all with the Covid-19 pandemic, the evidence is that drug cases are increasing. For the time being, there are no dealers arrested, only the pawns," he said.
Context: Media reports have highlighted the over-crowded state of prisons on Bali, noting that the majority of prisoners are drug convicts (Indonesian).
“Indonesia, Singapore Agree to Reopen Borders” from The Jakarta Globe: Indonesia and Singapore have agreed to reopen their borders for fully vaccinated travelers starting on November 29. Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said she visited Singapore on Tuesday to discuss details of the vaccinated travel lane with her Singaporean counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan. The move came a week after Indonesia and Malaysia reached a similar agreement during a visit by Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob. The Indonesia-Malaysia travel corridor arrangement will be implemented in stages, covering Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, and Bali at the initial phase.
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Other Headlines
“Passengers Increase at Lombok Airport as WSBK Draws Closer” from Antara: The number of passengers at Lombok International Airport began to increase ahead of the World Superbike racing event at the Mandalika Circuit, on November 19-21. According to the Public Relations officer of PT Angkasa Pura I at Lombok International Airport, Arif Haryanto, the upcoming WSBK has caused a 21% spike in passenger numbers. Citing data recorded on passenger movements, Haryanto noted that on average, 4,000 passengers arrived at and departed from Lombok Airport, as per November 15, on a daily basis. Meanwhile, as compared to October 2021, on an average, 3,300 passengers per day were recorded.
Context: Other overnight stories related to WSBK included immigration increasing surveillance of foreigners on Lombok, the use of bomb-detection dogs (Indonesian) and the setting up of multiple checkpoints around the race zone for security and health protocol reasons.
Vaccination Update
“Mataram Has Never Received Pfizer” from Merdeka (Indonesian): Mataram has never received the Pfizer vaccine, with the types of vaccines they have received so far being mostly Sinovac. "There is also Moderna for a vaccine to strengthen medical personnel and AstraZeneca from the TNI/Polri, while for Pfizer we do not yet have one," said Head of the Mataram City Health Service Dr H Usman Hadi on Wednesday. Although he said in early November 2021, NTB Province received an additional 10 coli of Pfizer vaccine stock or equivalent to 7,215 vials, but there was no quota for Mataram. "The distribution of vaccine stocks also depends on the provincial government," he said.
More...
Nation: “86.27 Million Indonesians Fully Immunized Against Covid-19” from Antara
Nation: “16,638 Disabled Receive Complete Vaccination Dosage” from Antara
Klungkung: “10,000 Residents Yet to Have First Vaccine Shot” from Radar Bali (Indonesian)
Health Protocols (Prokes) & Health Services
“Pedulilindungi App Used 170 Million Times” from Antara: The utilization of PeduliLindungi has grown rapidly with the application used more than 170 million times so far, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, has said. "It happens in just three and a half months with daily usage average reaching more than 3 million times," he said on Wednesday. He admitted that at the beginning of its implementation, the app experienced a number of problems. However, it has improved greatly now, he remarked. In fact, it has been integrated with other apps, for instance, online taxi apps and e-commerce platforms, he noted. In addition, the Health Ministry has integrated the app with various similar apps in other countries, he informed.
Context: This is the first mention we have seen regarding Pedulilindungi being integrated with track-and-trace apps overseas. No details of which countries this partnership is with or how the apps are integrated, were supplied.
More...
Nation: “Indonesia Must Take Lessons From Covid Surge in Europe” from Antara
Economy & Infrastructure
“Wellness Tourism Could Boost Traditional Medicines, Cosmetics Market” from Antara: The development of wellness tourism could help expand the market for traditional medicines and cosmetics, the National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM) has said. "Indonesia has biodiversity. Its natural ingredients can be processed into herbal products, herbal medicines, and cosmetics. This is what we call wellness tourism," BPOM head Penny K Lukito said on Wednesday. Wellness tourism is also an alternative to explore the economic potential of tourism, which combines tourism and health aspects, she added. According to Lukito there are still challenges, especially those faced by MSMEs in terms of permission, obtaining raw materials, capital, accessing information technology, and the capacity of human resources.
Context: These comments echo those made in late September by Minister Sandiaga Uno regarding the promise of health tourism (Indonesian) as a means to revitalise Bali’s tourism industry, this has been a recurring theme through the year (Indonesian).
More...
Province: “Bali and South Korea Discuss Railroad Project” from CNN Indonesia (Indonesian)
Province: “During Covid-19, 700,000 Vehicles Didn't Pay Tax” from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian)
Denpasar: “Bali Silver Handicraft Exports Still Shine” from Bali Bisnis (Indonesian)
Klungkung: “Klungkung Develops Aquaponic Agriculture” from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian)
Klungkung: “Jukung Freight Forwarding to Nusa Penida Survives” from Radar Bali (Indonesian)
Bali Reopening
“Stumbling Blocks Hinder Bali’s Tourism Recovery” from TTG Asia: A trio of tourism industry associations – Bali Tourism Board, Association of the Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies Bali Chapter and the Indonesia Inbound Tour Operators Association – identified the existing incoming flight regulation, quarantine requirement and visa policies as stumbling blocks. Ida Bagus Agung Partha Adnyana, chairman of BTB, said: “The government allows only airlines of the 19 appointed countries to fly into Bali. From UAE, for example, it is difficult for Emirates Airlines or Qatar Airways to bring travellers to Bali, because (their home-bases) being international hubs, the majority of their passengers are from Europe, the US, and not the local Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi residents.” He suggested the government allow airlines to transit at hub countries but no more than 12 hours. Putu Winastra, chairman of ASITA Bali Chapter suggested categorising visa requirements according to each country’s Covid-19 risk level – for instance, imposing a sponsorship requirement only on medium-risk countries, while allowing low-risk countries VoA facilities.
More...
“Bali Optimistic 15,000 Local Tourists Come per Day Ahead of Christmas Holiday” from CNN Indonesia (Indonesian)
“Garuda Indonesia Posts Over US$600m Loss in Q3” from Tempo: Garuda Indonesia booked US$568 million in revenues, or around Rp8 trillion, as of September 2021. But because the airline spent US$1.29 billion (Rp18 trillion) in operating costs, the company ended up with a loss of some US$632 million. "The company is still recording operating losses," the airline's president director Irfan Setiaputra said on Tuesday. Irfan said the loss was caused by the company's cost structure, which were mostly fixed costs. The airline also suffers from a significant fall in revenue as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Irfan also reported that Garuda boarded 2.3 million passengers as of September. By year-end, the airline projects a traffic of 3.3 million, which is 17% of 2019's passengers' volume before the pandemic.
Of Interest
“60% of Bali Endek Weaving Outside Bali” from Tribun Bali (Indonesian)
“Russian Gets Four Years & IDR 800 million Fine After Buying Covid-Discounted Meth” from Tribun Bali (Indonesian)
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How You Can Help Bali
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