November 26, 2021
Holiday PPKM rules released, not all are happy + Two tourists dead, one missing after Ubud rafting trip landslide + Canggu shortcut billboards demolished + Weekend reads + more
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Weather & Tides
Today’s Weather for Southern Bali
Today’s Tides
Meteorology, Climatology & Geophysics Council (Link)
Tide table from Tide-forecast.com.
Daily Covid Update
National Figures
Local Figures
Note: After dropping steadily over recent months, the 7-day average for new cases appears to be flattening out, with the last three days being the first stretch in double figures since the start of November. There has not been a recovery recorded since November 14 — almost two weeks ago.
The Big News
“Christmas and New Year PPKM Rules Released” from Tempo: Nearing Christmas and New Year's Eve, new instructions have been issued by Tito Karnavian, Minister of Internal Affairs to make countermeasures against Covid-19 and preventing a new wave. The rules include: Maintaining 5M and 3T, the acceleration of vaccinations (particularly the elderly), the banning of mudik (returning to one’s hometown), PPKM Level 3 nationwide, no school holidays, the use of the PeduliLindungi app, no arts and sports events, and the closure of all town squares on New Year’s night.
Context: Despite all being based off one memo, media is covering a divergent range of issues around the holiday period PPKM. Another Tempo story flagged a 50% capacity limit for cinemas and malls and a ban on parades, and there is a report on civil servants being banned from taking holidays over the period. Meanwhile one epidemiologist has stated PPKM level 3 is insufficient and that Emergency PPKM is required (Indonesian) to keep the pandemic under control, while another has suggested Bali’s existing PPKM tracing and reporting efforts are not credible (Indonesian). Also on Bali, Minister Luhut has pushed back against the Bali tourism actors (Indonesian) who are unhappy with the increased PPKM level over the holiday period (Indonesian).
“Two Tourists Die After Landslides While Rafting in Bali” from iNews Bali (Indonesian): Two tourists died while one person is still missing due to a landslide that occurred on the Ayung River in Gianyar. "One foreigner and another Indonesian citizen died," said Head of the Gianyar BPBD Emergency Division, I Gusti Ngurah Dibya Presasta on Thursday. "So far, a total of five victims have been successfully evacuated. The team is also still focusing on finding one person who is still missing and is thought to have been buried by a landslide," he said. The accident occurred when the group of tourists was about to go rafting on the Ayung River, but suddenly heavy rain fell so the rafting was canceled. When returning to the post, a landslide occurred from the cliff on the side of the river and buried them.
Context: Other news reports named the victims (Indonesian) and suggested the landslide happened after the rafting trip (Indonesian) — while others (including the above) suggested the trip was cancelled on account of the river’s flow being dangerous (Indonesian).
“Dozens of Canggu Shortcut Billboards Demolished” from Radar Bali (Indonesian): Dozens of unlicensed billboards along the Canggu Shortcut were torn down by a joint team from the Badung Regency Government on Thursday. "Together with related units, we are structuring and controlling the construction of unlicensed billboards along the Canggu Shortcut to Tibubeneng," said the Head of Pol PP IGAK Suryanegara. Suryanegara said that out of a total of 80 illegal advertisements, special ones that were not permanent were immediately torn down.
Context: The volume and visibility of billboards on the shortcut have long been controversial, with a recent post on the topic on the Canggu Pole Instagram account, gaining over 6,000 likes and almost 200 comments.
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Other Headlines
“Govt Readies 1,200 Hospitals to Anticipate Third Covid-19 Wave” from Antara: The government has readied 1,200 referral hospitals across Indonesia as an anticipatory step against a likely third wave of COVID-19 in early 2022. "The preparations for providing referral hospitals is one of the government's strategies to deal with the threat of a third wave of COVID-19," Health Ministry's spokesperson, Siti Nadia Tarmizi said on Thursday. Nadia explained that the government will set aside 30-40% of patient beds in hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients and prepare oxygen supplies and other medical devices to deal with a likely spike in COVID-19 cases.
Context: During the peak of the mid-2021 wave, Indonesia’s active Covid-19 cases sat around the 500,000 mark and in mid July was clocking over 50,000 new cases per day. A new Delta variant, believed to have originated in southern Africa, is causing significant international concern and has led the UK to cancel flights out of the region. One case has emerged in Hong Kong so far.
Health Protocols (Prokes) & Health Services
“Ministry Sends Devices to Health Posts to Prevent Maternal Deaths” from Antara: The Ministry of Health is in the process of delivering ultrasonography devices to all public health centers in Indonesia to improve early detection of maternal deaths during labor and prevent stunting. "The use of ultrasonography machines starts today. We will deliver them to 447 Puskesmas this year," Vice Minister of Health Dante Saksono Harbuwono said on Thursday. "Next year, we hope to be able to send 4,180 devices to Puskesmas," he said. The result of a population survey in 2015 reported that 308 mothers died per 100,000 toddlers born out of five million pregnancies in Indonesia, he said. Meanwhile, the National Mid-term Development Plan mandated that the figures should be reduced to 185 per 100,000 births by 2024, he said. "Our aggressive target is around 70 deaths per 100,000 births.
Context: The UNFPA considers anything over 100 deaths per 100,000 to be “particularly high”.
More...
Nation: “Central, Regional Govts Must Harmonize Covid-19 Policies” from Antara
Denpasar: “Mask Violators Still High in Denpasar” from Bali Post (Indonesian)
Klungkung: “Satpol Collects IDR 15.9 Million Fines for Prokes to Regional Treasury” from Bali Express (Indonesian)
Economy & Infrastructure
“Indonesia Court Says Omnibus Law Defective Due to Bad Process” from Nikkei Asia: Indonesia's highest court on Thursday ordered the government to provide stronger legal ground for the sweeping omnibus law passed last year, saying the current framework will be declared "permanently unconstitutional" if necessary changes are not made within two years. Passed by parliament in October last year in what critics said was a rushed process, the omnibus law on job creation bypasses revisions of over 70 older laws and regulations. The Constitutional Court said Thursday the legal process behind the passage of the law failed to meet standard lawmaking methods as stipulated in the constitution. As such, the process is considered to be "formally defective" and "not legally binding conditionally."
More...
Nation: “Indonesia Still Needs Pilots” from Antara
Province: “Majority of Bintang Beer Consumers are in Bali” from Bali Express (Indonesian)
Education
“Govt to Launch Programs for Enhancing Teaching Quality” from Antara: Education, Culture, Research and Technology Minister Nadiem Anwar Makarim has said that his ministry has prepared several programs for improving teaching quality in schools next year. To show gratitude to teachers for their resilience despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the ministry will not only grant them assistance programs related to communication information technology, such as laptops and projectors, but it will also open various technology platforms to assist them in teaching and learning activities, he said on Thursday. Moreover, the ministry will offer a curriculum that promotes more independent teaching and test it in some schools, Makarim said. The curriculum will be made more relevant and practical so teachers can easily understand it and adapt it according to students’ needs and capabilities, according to the minister.
More...
Nation: “National Library to Update Profile, Data of Libraries” from Antara
Nation: “Teachers Call for Technological and Pay Equity” from The Jakarta Post (Metered Paywall)
Denpasar: “Teachers at Forefront of Preventing Spread of Covid” from Antara Bali (Indonesian)
Bali Reopening
“Luhut on Eliminating Quarantine: When the Pandemic Gets Better” from Kumparan (Indonesian): The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut B. Pandjaitan has insisted that quarantine obligations are maintained. "Slowly everything has to be seen. We don't want, like Europe, to continue to open up again, close again. We don't want to," said Luhut on Thursday. He emphasized that the three-day quarantine for foreign tourists was still running.
Context: There are yet to be any requests from international carriers for flight slots into Bali (Indonesian), meanwhile Lombok saw passenger traffic reach a peak (domestic only) of 5,700 per day (Indonesian) during Mandalika’s Superbike race.
More...
“Adisutjipto Airport Reopens Yogyakarta-Bali Route” from CNN Indonesia (Indonesian)
“River in Jembrana Overflows, Coast Full of Garbage” from Radar Bali (Indonesian): The high rainfall that has occurred over the past few days in Jembrana has resulted in the overflow of a number of rivers. As a result a lot of garbage such as plastic waste, large pieces of wood have been washed away and now pollute the beach. In addition to filling the seafront, wood, plastic and other waste also destroys the beauty of the beach. According to residents, piles of garbage often occur during the rainy season, the only difference now is that this time the volume of waste is very large.
Weekend Reads
“Indonesia’s Participation at COP26” from The Diplomat
“Indonesia’s Culture Wars Overly Fixated on Sex” from Asia Times
“Is It True That the Komodo National Park Fires Were Due to Natural Factors?” from Tirto (Indonesian)
Of Interest
“EU Proposes 9-Month Limit on Covid Vaccine Validity for Travel” from Bloomberg
“2,552 Disasters Struck Indonesia in 2021” from Antara
“Australian Man Arrested in Bali for Drug Possession” from 9News
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How You Can Help Bali
Due to the collapse of the tourism sector in Bali, tens of thousands of families have found themselves with a greatly reduced income—if any. If you’d like to support organizations working to help those in need, you can see a list of some here.
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