Saturday, December 5
Triple-digit fatalities continue in deadliest 2-week stretch for country yet + Army to expand hospital capacity if surge continues + All govt staff in Badung being tested, no positives yet + more!
Good morning! Welcome to The Bali Beat for Saturday, December 5. 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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PUBLICATION 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
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: Click here to see the national numbers infographic and a Regency-by-Regency breakdown of yesterday’s local numbers.
The Big News
"Indonesia Reports Longest Run of Three-Digit Covid Deaths" from The Jakarta Globe: Daily death toll in the Indonesian coronavirus outbreak has exceeded 100 in the last 13 days, the longest run since the outbreak began as newly confirmed cases continue to surge. The country reported 124 more Covid deaths on Friday, bringing the total death toll to 17,479. The previous record was a span of 12 days from Sept. 14 through 25. The central government excludes deaths in probable cases from the list of Covid deaths.
"Indonesia Prepared to Add Hospital Rooms in Case of COVID-19 Infection Surge" from The Jakarta Post: “If the cases increase by 20 to 50 percent then [hospitals] would continue operating like at the moment,” task force spokesman Wiku Adisasmito said. According to Wiku, hospitals are capable of accommodating patients if cases do not increase beyond 50%. However, should cases increase by 100%, the ministry would turn general care units into makeshift rooms for COVID-19 patients. In this scenario, hospitals would cooperate with the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) to establish emergency tents at their COVID-19 patient areas.
"Regarding the Bulk Swab, Head of Badung Health Office Says No Employees Positive for Covid-19" from The Bali Tribune (Indonesian): The implementation of swab tests for employees, both State Civil Servants (ASN) and non ASN in Badung Regency, continues. Based on the records of the local Health Service (Diskes), the number of ASNs who have taken the swab test until Thursday (3/12/2020) has reached 880 people. Even so, he admitted that he had not found any employees who were positive for Covid-19. "The total number of people who have just been swabbed is only 880 people, of course this number will continue to increase because the swab test will be continued until early 2021," he said.
(Ed. Note: According to another report, this mass swab testing program follows on a mass rapid test program that has already seen every public employee in Badung tested. No results data was offered in the piece.)
>> Classifieds <<
Community is so important- especially in times like these. If you’re looking to connect with the community of dedicated, engaged foreigners in Bali who’ve stayed during this pandemic, you can reach them with a classified ad in this space. Check out this page to find out how.
Other Headlines
"The Number of Unemployed in Bali Continues to Increase, Dominated by High School Graduates" from Bisnis Bali (Indonesian): Based on data from Bank Indonesia, Bali's open unemployment rate in August 2020 was recorded at 5.63%. This unemployment rate makes Bali, which was originally ranked 1st with the lowest unemployment in Indonesia to be in 18th place. Head of Bank Indonesia Representative Office for Bali Province, Trisno Nugroho, said that at least 45,006 workers had lost their jobs. Workers who lost their jobs were dominated by workers with high school education, as much as 46%, followed by junior high school as much as 37%. "Unskilled labor that many laid-off, is so concerned we want them be later returned unpaid leave provided education," he said.
"November 2020 Period, Passenger Movement at Ngurah Rai Airport Reaches 351,585 People" from The Bali Tribune (Indonesian): A total of 3,898 aircraft and 351,585 passengers were recorded in and out of Bali Island through I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali during November 2020. When compared with the record in October 2020, there was a growth of 27.5% and 51.8% for aircraft and passenger movements, respectively. "Over the past 6 months, we have recorded that airplane and passenger statistics continue to grow. For this November, the record is the highest of the last 3 months," explained Herry AY Sikado, General Manager of PT Angkasa Pura I (Persero) International Airport I Gusti Ngurah Rai Bali. Over the past 6 months, the average growth for aircraft is 56.1%, while for passengers the average growth is 101.4%. With the additional record of the number of aircraft and passengers served in this November, until the eleventh month of 2020, there were 50,659 aircraft and 5,806,270 passengers served.
"New Bali Waste Management System to Combat Overflowing Landfill In Denpasar" from The Bali Sun: Denpasar has been struggling with waste management for years. The city faces a lack of space as the landfill is overflowing with garbage. As a solution, the city has introduced a new waste control program which requires a collective effort from all residents. The Head of Denpasar Waste Management, I Ketut Adi Wiguna, said starting from January 1st, the TPS will only accept inorganic waste. All organic waste must be processed into compost. This program has been initiated to reduce the volume of Sarbagita Regional Landfill that is predicted to reach full capacity in July 2021.
"Two Cafe Owners Sentenced to Seven Days In Jail for Breaking Health Protocols" from The Bali Sun: The cafes were held responsible for hosting crowded gatherings without maintaining physical distancing along Jalan Badak 1 and Jalan Tukad Gangga. The violations were brought to police’s attention by nearby residents who were irritated by the excessive noise. “The owners did carry out health protocols, such as sanitizing and handwashing stations at the property, but unfortunately they facilitated massive crowds which made it impossible to physically distance, and the music was far too loud,” Judge I Dewa Made Budi Watsara said in his ruling. Both cafe owners have been sentenced with seven days imprisonment or a fine of US$14 (IDR 200,000). The officers claim the purpose of this punishment was to create a deterrent effect as an example to others, in order to prevent such incidents in the future.
"Grab Tells Staff It's 'In A Position to Acquire' After Gojek Merger Report" from Reuters: Southeast Asia’s Grab has told employees the ride-hailing and food delivery company is well placed to make acquisitions as it talked up its strengths after a report that it was close to a merger with rival Gojek. For its part, Gojek’s leadership in its own note to staff said it was “very well capitalised”, had enough runway to grow its business for many years and had “no pressing reason” to do the sort of deal being referred to in the media... The notes issued to their employees on Thursday come on the heels of a Bloomberg report that the two firms have made substantial progress in merger talks. The report said Grab CEO Anthony Tan would head the new entity, while Gojek executives would run the combined Indonesian business under the Gojek brand. Large investors in the two companies have backed a merger in recent years, sources familiar with the matter have told Reuters.
(Ed. Note: In a statement issued after this story ran, Gojeck co-CEOs Andre Soelistyo and Kevin Aluwi denied the rumors of a takeover, saying in a letter to employees, “We have addressed this many times and our position remains the same. Speculation on this topic is and continues to be inaccurate and we should all try to avoid engaging with it.”)
The View from Outside
"Bali's Villa-building Boom Defies COVID Economic Slump" from Nikkei Asia: Only 3% of Bali's 130,000 hotel rooms are occupied while rental rates for the island's 4,000 villas have been slashed by as much as 85%. The property market has hit a wall. "You can't sell anything at the moment," a prominent real estate agent told Nikkei Asia on condition of anonymity... However, the building of new villas -- mainly for people from Australia, Europe and the U.S. -- appears to defy this calculus. Construction activity is most pronounced in the surf mecca of Canggu, where a property boom saw land values increase 40 to 50 times in the last 10 years. Some of these projects were started or conceived before the pandemic. But many are new projects commissioned by foreign investors. "We are receiving more inquiries from expats living in Indonesia than ever before -- people who out of the blue decided to invest. It has really surprised me," says Baptiste Dufau of Bali Sandstone Consulting.
"Bali Struggles with ‘COVID-poor’ As Indonesian Cases Hit Record" from Al Jazeera: Chronic malnutrition that has long afflicted isolated communities in the remote eastern cape of Bali has ballooned as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and with a new wave of “COVID-poor” emerging in urban areas, NGOs have said thousands of people on the island are going hungry. “We see a lot of people who are hungry and haven’t eaten for a few days with no funds to buy food – thousands,” said Sarah Chapman of Yayasan Solemen Indonesia, a charity that works across Bali helping to feed elderly, people with disabilities and families of those with disabilities who were previously supported by relatives working in tourism. Added her colleague Robert Epstone, “Chronic and acute malnutrition leading to many other issues has been a problem all along. We were caring for 2,400 people before the pandemic. But it has become so very much worse clearly visible all around Bali.”
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.
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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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