Saturday, August 29
As cases multiply & new records are set, family transmission driving spread + Nearly 10k foreigners apply to stay on island + AmCham Indonesia holds Q&A with Director of Imigrasi + more!
Good morning! Welcome to The Bali Beat for Saturday, August 29. 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.
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SCHEDULE REMINDER: I’m off tomorrow, so there will be no newsletter in the morning. However, the evening Covid-19 update will publish as normal; and being Sunday, it will include a wrap-up of the week’s numbers and put them in context with previous weeks.
Weather & Waves
Today’s Weather for Southern Bali
Today’s Tides
Surf Outlook (animation shows changes from 8:00am - 6:00pm)
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 national total of 3,003 cases reported yesterday was a new record for the country, while Bali has continued the steady run of more new cases each day that it began last week. The island’s 7-day average of new cases is now just a hair below the record set in early July. In addition, yesterday was the third day in a row with multiple fatalities, and the fifth day running with at least one death recorded- another metric that has not been seen since the first “peak” in early July. Click here to see the complete breakdown of yesterday’s numbers + trendlines in our evening update.
The Big News
IMMIGRATION UPDATE #1: On Monday, AmCham Indonesia organized a virtual meeting with the Directorate General of Immigration to discuss current regulations regarding foreigners in Indonesia during the pandemic. You can read their summary of the event here and view their pre-discussion presentation here. An English version of the minutes, which includes a Q&A session, has been posted onto Facebook and can be found here. Finally, be sure to bookmark Imigrasi’s official English translation of the latest visa regulations, which you can find here.
IMMIGRATION UPDATE #2: The Directorate of Immigration’s Jakarta headquarters was closed from August 12-21 for sterilization after several staff members tested positive for Covid-19 and one worker died (link). This resulted in delays processing extensions and visa requests, which was a big reason that the deadline for extensions was pushed to September 20. This week, as part of their reopening process, Imigrasi conducted mass swab testing of everyone who works in the office (announcement here, media coverage here). I am aware of the information being shared over social media that the office has closed again after more positive cases were detected. There has not yet been an official announcement from Imigrasi about this, nor have there been any reports about it in the media. I will post any updates here once they are available.
"In August, Nearly 10,000 Foreigners Apply for Immigration Residence Permits" from The Bali Tribune (Indonesian): Since the issuance of the Circular of the Director General of Immigration Number IMI-GR.01.01-1102 of 2020 concerning Immigration Stay Permit Services in the New Normal Order for foreigners, the TPI Denpasar Class I Immigration Office from 13 June 2020 to 25 August 2020 has served 7,343 applications immigration residence permit. Meanwhile, the Singaraja Immigration Office served 479 applications and the Class I Immigration Office of TPI Ngurah Rai for 1,851 applications for immigration residence permits.
"Family Clusters Still Dominate in Bali, Happening Almost Every Day" from The IDN Times (Indonesian): Spokesperson Denpasar's Covid-19 Task Force, I Dewa Gede Rai, revealed that new positive cases in internal families, workplaces, and positive patients with a history of travel within the region have showed an increase. "Family clusters and trips within the region still dominate [new cases]," said Dewa Rai... Local transmission occurs due to high community activity such as meetings with many people that are not balanced with the application of health protocols. He said that via contact tracing on new patients, family clusters have been found, namely transmissions of husband to wife, children, parents-in-law, son-in-law, and grandchildren. “The cases that we find today are family clusters almost every day. This means that many begin with a lot of activities outside the home. He was hit outside, right, we can know for sure in the family environment. Who does the most activities outside the home,” he explained.
"Education and Culture Minister Denies School Clusters Linked to Reopening" from The Jakarta Post: "A lot of teachers still come to school even though they conduct online teaching. Prior to school reopening, they got tested and many came back positive," he said on Thursday during a hearing with House of Representatives Commission X, which oversees education. Nadiem said in many cases, school clusters appeared when the students were engaged in remote learning... Nadiem said the final decision on reopening schools did not lie with the Education and Culture Ministry but with regional administrations. However, he said, the ministry would work hard to ensure students could go back to schools as soon and as safely as possible. "Schools that were found to be new COVID-19 clusters would be closed immediately and they would go back to online learning," he said.
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Other Headlines
"Kasatpol PP Bali: Going Out of the House Without Wearing A Mask Will Be Subject to Sanctions" from Berita Bali (Indonesian): A day after it was published, the Bali Provincial Satpol PP immediately began educating the public about the new Governor Regulation (Pergub) Number 46 of 2020, which lays out sanctions and fines for those not wearing a mask in public... "The use of masks requires socialization and education because there are many people who have not used masks properly. There are still many people who only use masks, not covering their nose and mouth tightly. We must continue to educate them to use them properly and discipline," said Head of the Bali Provincial Satpol PP, Dewa Nyoman Rai Darmadi. "There are about 260,000 masks that will be distributed during this socialization period. The provision of masks is a solution before implementing the steps to impose sanctions," said Rai Darmadi.
"Laid Off Due to Covid-19, Hotel Worker Community Holds a Pop-Up Market" from The Bali Tribune (Indonesian): A community of hotel workers has formed Hoteliers Friends in Bali that is trying to survive on their household kitchens by creating micro, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Hoteliers Friends who are now working on their new home-based industry have gathered to participate in a UMKM Bazaar for two days, starting today and tomorrow. Today's first Bazzar was held at Grand Lucky Supermarket Jl. Sunset Road Kuta, from 11:00am until closing... "Mostly the goods sold and exhibited here are home industry production. For this first event we've limited it to 25 participants, but later we will make this a monthly routine," said said Emm Larantuka, Project Leader for Hoteliers Friends.
"8 Tourist Attractions in Tabanan Have Not Applied for Certification" from The IDN Times (Indonesian): Of the 25 Tourist Attractions (DTW) in Tabanan, there are still eight DTWs that have not applied to get a New Era Bali Life Order certificate. The head of the Tabanan Tourism Office, Gede Sukanada, said that the DTW, who had not submitted an application for certification, was currently preparing its health protocol. His party has also conducted socialization to the eight DTWs. (Ed. Note: Click through to the story to see the list of attractions that have not submitted plans to reopen yet.)
"The Wave of Layoffs in Bali is Crazy, Workers Reveal Companies' Bad Intentions" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): The Bali Regional Independent Workers Union Federation (FSPM) revealed that currently there are approximately 74,000 tourism workers who have been dismissed, and more than 3,000 workers have been laid off. This number does not include those who do not report workers who accept the decision to be laid off so they do not want to report it... The Secretary of the Bali Regional FSPM revealed that there was actually another motive behind the layoffs. According to him, companies want to suppress permanent workers and then replace them with outsourcing workers when hotels reopen. "They lay off permanent workers, then when the hotel starts to open and guests start arriving, they will be replaced with contract workers, they will be replaced by outsourcing workers," he explained.
"For Those Selling on the Side of the Road, Denpasar City Government Comes and Drives Them Away" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): Surviving in the era of the Covid-19 outbreak is not easy. Many people lose their jobs, lose their income to make ends meet. Not a few of them opt to sell things using cars, motorbikes or anything on the side of the road. However, the Denpasar City Government remains intolerant, disbanding any who they come across... "Not only handling and preventing the transmission of covid-19, but also traffic comfort and safety. In this data collection, we ask car traders to understand that road bodies are not for selling," said I Ketut Sriawan, Head of the Denpasar City Transportation Service. His party directs the traders to coordinate with market parties in the Denpasar City area. So that the merchandise can be dropped off to traders in the market and stalls in the city of Denpasar. "Thus, there will be no more car traders selling on roads in Denpasar City," he said.
"Lombok Tourism Struggles to Bounce Back" from The Jakarta Post: Although four prime destinations in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), have resumed operations, tourists are few and far between on the island. The recreational areas of Rinjani, Senggigi, Mandalika and the three Gili Islands (Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno, and Gili Air) reopened for tourists on June 27. Lalu Moh Faozal, head of the NTB Tourism Agency, said the low number of tourists coming to the area was due to the travel restrictions. He said that while there had been an increase in tourist arrivals at NTB's airports, people were still reluctant to visit destinations due to travel requirements as well as fear of contracting the disease.
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.
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