October 7, 2021
Odd-Even policy revoked in Sanur & Kuta + 8-day quarantine costs Rp 10-25 million + Big events planned to awaken Bali tourism + more
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National Figures
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The Big News
“Bali Revokes Odd-Even Policy in Sanur and Kuta” from Republika (Indonesian): Bali Governor Wayan Koster revoked the policy on vehicle traffic with odd-even number plates to the tourist area of Sanur Beach, Denpasar and Kuta Beach, which has been running since September 25. "The policy of applying odd-even vehicle numbers is not effective. Therefore, I discussed with the Regional Police Chief so that the policy was revoked," said Koster on Wednesday. Even though the odd-even policy was revoked, he reminded them to pay attention to the occupied capacity of parking facilities.
“Eight Day Quarantine in Bali Priced From Rp 10–25 Million” from Tribun Bali (Indonesian): After international flights are opened on October 14, only foreign tourists will quarantine for eight days, said the Chairman of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association Badung, I Gusti Ngurah Rai Suryawijaya on Wednesday. He said Nusantara tourists do not need to quarantine when visiting Bali. He also provided details on prices for quarantine for eight days. "3-star hotels can be up to Rp 10 million, 4 stars to Rp 15 million, 5 stars can be up to Rp 20 to 25 million for eight days. That includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, and laundry," he said. According to him, the price is very reasonable, because the price is the price of the Covid-19 pandemic. Also, the tourists get food and laundry.
Context: See the Bali reopening section below for a story noting how the quarantine hotels are unhappy about the length of quarantine mandated for Bali.
“Big Events Are Prepared to Awaken Bali Tourism” from Merdeka (Indonesian): Bali Governor Wayan Koster said on Wednesday that the island of Bali will host various international events to stimulate tourism. International events include international disaster risk reduction and the 2022 G-20 Countries Summit. In sports, there is the badminton world championships and the Indonesian Youth Championship U-20 football championship, as well as the Indonesian All Star on December 1 to 8. There is also the BRI Liga 1 event which will involve 18 Indonesian clubs, from December to January. "All these events can only be carried out on condition that the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in Bali continues to improve," he said.
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Other Headlines
“Government Warns of Fake Pedulilindungi Sites” from Antara: Indonesia's Communication and Information Technology Ministry confirmed that the pedulilindungiq.com site is fake and not related to the government. “All content and information in the pedulilindungiq.com site is not related to pedulilindungi.id and is not related to the government's efforts in handling COVID-19 in any shape or form,” the Communication and Information Technology Ministry's spokesman, Dedy Permadi, said on Wednesday. The official website is Pedulilindungi.id, and the government does not charge any fee to use the site. The Ministry warned that the fake site requires users to pay Rp 1,000,000 to register for the vaccination program. Kominfo has cut off access to the pedulilindungiq.com site.
Context: As at the time of writing the newsletter, the fake site was still online and accessible in Bali. The correct website is https://www.pedulilindungi.id/
Vaccination Update
“Achieving Herd Immunity Requires Hard Work” from Antara: Vice President Ma'ruf Amin has reminded the public that all parties still need to put in all-out efforts to help the country achieve herd immunity against COVID-19. "As of October 3, under the national vaccination program, 45.03% of the population had been administered the first dose, while 25.29% had taken the second dose. Hence, hard work is still required to achieve herd immunity, which is 70% vaccination coverage for the first and second dose," Amin said on Wednesday. According to the daily record of the Health Ministry, Amin said some 1.4 million vaccine doses on average per day were administered. In keeping with that pace, Indonesia will require seven months to achieve herd immunity. "It is estimated to still take seven months from now or around mid-2022 to reach 70% coverage," he said.
Context: Don’t forget, you can follow Bali’s vaccination progress in the Bali Beat Sunday evening edition.
More...
“Badung Police Target 1,000 Vaccine Doses per Day” from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian)
Health Protocols (Prokes) & Health Services
“Prokes Violators Are Still There” from Nusa Bali (Indonesian) Even though Covid-19 cases have slowed down, the Denpasar Judiciary Team still reminds the public to always be disciplined in Prokes. In every inspection, the Denpasar City Judiciary Team still finds violators of health protocols. "This of course must be a common concern so that people do not ignore health protocols, because if they are careless and ignore the Covid-19 cases can increase again," said Head of Denpasar City Police Satpol Dewa Gede Anom Sayoga on Tuesday.
More...
Nation: “More Covid-19 Cases Detected, Papua Games Continue” from Antara
Nation: “Covid-19 Treatment Drugs Must Undergo Clinical Trials” from Antara
Economy & Infrastructure
“Thohir Expects Health Economic Zone to Revive Bali Tourism” from Antara: State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir expects that the establishment of a Health Special Economic Zone in Sanur will revive the province’s tourism sector. "Starting the week full of ‘wara nugraha’ (means ‘all kinds of gifts’) by meeting the Governor of Bali Wayan Koster. We discussed the development of the Health SEZ in Sanur village. It has quite a large potential; thus, it can become a priority to revive tourism activities in Bali," he said on Wednesday. During their meeting, the minister and the governor also discussed the readiness of state-owned companies to support the reopening of international flights to Bali.
More...
Nation: “Senggigi Hotel Occupancy Rate Rises Ahead of WSBK” from Antara
Nation: “Govt Will Cut Carbon Emissions in Air Transportation” from Antara
Nation: “Air Passenger Traffic Up 88% in September” from Tempo
Province: “Opportunities for Bali Coffee Exports Abroad” from Bali Express (Indonesian)
Education
“Dozens of Jembrana Schools to be Rehabilitated” from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian): Damaged Elementary (SD) and Junior High School (SMP) buildings in Jembrana will be repaired. There are 40 elementary and junior high schools that will be rehabilitated using the Special Allocation Fund (DAK) from the Ministry of Education and Culture. The Head of the Basic Education Division, I Nyoman Wenten, said there were 40 packages for rehabilitation activities in Jembrana Regency. “Indeed, all those who received rest were in moderate and heavily damaged conditions. So it must be treated immediately,” said Wenten. As for the budget, Wenten explained that a total of Rp 30.6 billion has been prepared.
More...
Denpasar: “Prokes Mandatory, PTM in Police Supervised Schools” from Radar Bali (Indonesian)
Bali Reopening
“35 Hotels in Bali Will Welcome Foreign Tourists for Quarantine” from Bali Plus: “There are 35 hotels for the first phase. But 62 will follow,” said I Gusti Ngurah Rai Suryawijaya, Deputy Head of Culture, Environment and Public Relations at PHRI Bali, on Wednesday. “The first stage is 35, the second stage will include 62 more hotels,” he said. He also said many hotels are competing to become designated quarantine hotels. “But, there are consequences; if quarantine hotels are designated for foreign tourists, they must not be mix with domestic tourists. They cannot accept guests outside of quarantine,” he said. “And the hotels also have to issue quarantine packages, whether it’s 8 days initially. But, we expect it to be as short as 3 days eventually; a maximum of 5 days,” he said. Suryawijaya explained that if tourists stay in quarantine hotels for too long, their holiday time will run out.
Context: We covered this announcement yesterday, with a story which listed the 35 hotels, but this is noteworthy for the PHRI suggesting the quarantine should be reduced to three or five days due to the short period many tourists spend in Bali.
More...
Province: “Tourism Ambassadors to Promote Bali” from Bisnis Bali (Indonesian)
Province: “Singapore Airlines Yet to Fly to Bali” from Bisnis (Indonesian)
“Riau Islands-Singapore "Travel Bubble" Scheme Cancelled” from Antara: Riau Islands Governor Ansar Ahmad confirmed that the travel bubble scheme with Singapore, earlier planned for October 2021, had been cancelled following a spike in COVID-19 cases in the city-state. "The number of COVID-19 cases in Singapore remains high," Governor Ahmad said on Wednesday. The Riau Islands administration is looking to attract domestic tourists to the province, pending the central government's decision to resume the travel bubble scheme between the province and Singapore in future, he stated.
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Of Interest
“Concerns Rise for Reef Damage in Nusa Lembongan Due to Stranded Barge” from Coconuts Bali
“Bali in Transition From Dry to Rainy Season” from Nusa Bali (Indonesian)
“Convict Escapes From Kerobokan Prison” from Radar Bali (Indonesian)
“Gunung Ile Lewotolok Erupts, Wings Air Cancels Flights” from Bali Express (Indonesian)
“Two Turkish Citizens Sentenced to 30 Months for ATM Skimming” from Bali Express (Indonesian)
“US Woman in Bali 'Suitcase Murder' to be Released Oct. 29” from AP
“The History of Ngurah Rai Airport” from Suara Bali (Indonesian)
How You Can Help Bali
In response to the collapse of the tourism sector in Bali and the resulting economic crisis due to Covid19, tens of thousands of families have found themselves with a greatly reduced income—if any. By the middle of 2020, over 100,000 people on Bali had lost their job. While government support has been limited, Indonesians and foreigners have sprung into action, raising funds and distributing badly needed food and everyday essentials to those most in need.
We've been raising awareness of these efforts, and if you’d like to make a contribution of any kind, you can see a list of some organisations here. Further projects have registered themselves with Bali Solidarity. If you know of an effort and would like to have them listed, please send their information to TheBaliBeat@outlanders.global
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