Saturday, May 9
New entry rules for ITAP/ITAS holders unveiled + Dengue Fever surging + Denpasar to roll out new Community Activity Restrictions next week, 3 Regencies may follow + Crime on the rise + much more!
Good morning! Welcome to the COVID-19 Update for Bali for Saturday, May 9. If you find this information useful, please subscribe and share it with others in the foreigner community on the island. Also, if you can contribute US$5/month to help me keep the lights on, that would be awesome.
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Status Update
Country-wide Numbers:
Source:
Indonesia National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB Indonesia): @BNPB_Indonesia
Official updates are available from the Indonesian Government here.
Bali Numbers:
Confirmed Cases Distribution:
Key: Red = Infected | Green = Recovered | Black = Died
Bali 30-Day Trends:
Sources:
Infographic comes from Bali Provincial Government COVID-19 Task Force (link).
The geographic breakdown comes from the Bali Provincial Government's data collection department (link).
Charts have been compiled using their data.
More details on the locations of positive cases within each Regency, as well as the number of suspected cases ("ODP") and people under observation ("PDP"), can be found in charts & infographics on the official websites of each Regency's COVID-19 Task Force:
Badung | Bangli | Buleleng | Denpasar City | Gianyar | Jembrana | Karangasem | Klungkung | Tabanan
How You Can Help
This week we've been sharing details about the people and organizations who are fundraising and taking action to help local communities in Bali during this unprecedented economic crisis. Here are the five amazing projects that we've featured since Monday:
There are yet more to tell you about. Going forward, we're going to gather these listings into a single resource that can be referred to and shared with anyone who is looking for ways that they can give back to this island that has given so much to countless visitors over the years. Visit this link to see full details on all of the charitable projects that we documented this week, and please share it, as we'll add each new effort that we feature every weekday.
The Big News
"Immigration Releases New Procedures for Expiring ITAP & ITAS Visas" from Indonesian Expat: The new regulations spell out the procedures for workers or non-workers with an ITAP (permanent stay permit), and ITAS (temporary stay permit). First, it grants the holders of these permits permission to enter for family reunions, or if the entry permit has expired but they have been trapped abroad. It further lays out the procedures for ITAS/ITAP extensions for those which have expired and the holders are current in Indonesia... Immigration offices in charge of seven immigration checkpoints will be given the authority to grant a Force Majeure Stay Permits (Entry ITKT) in the form of a hexagonal stamp, without compromising the validity period of the IMK/ITAS/ITAP. These checkpoints are Soekarno-Hatta, Jakarta; Juanda, Surabaya; Ngurah Rai, Bali; Kualanamu, Medan; Hang Nadim, Batam; and Citra Tritunas, Batam.
"Dengue Fever Overshadowed by the Coronavirus In Indonesia" from Bali Plus: In Bali, cases of dengue fever have skyrocketed amid the Covid-19 outbreak. Based on data from the Bali Provincial Health Office, dengue cases in Bali have almost doubled since last year... The death toll rose to over 250 as of early April. Data from the Health Ministry for the first week of April recorded 2,173 cases of dengue fever in Bali (5th most in Indonesia), with more than 39,000 cases reported across the country at the same time.
"PKM to Be Implemented In Denpasar In Mid-May" from The Denpasar Post (Indonesian): After being approved by Bali Governor Wayan Koster, the Denpasar Mayor's Regulation on the limitation of community activities (PKM) in the city is set to be implimented in Mid-May. The PKM will regulate various matters relating to community activities that fall under already established rules whose implementation generally broadens and tightens current policies. "It's similar to the policy already in place; the only new regulations regard the administrative sanctions for people who violate PKM, including traditional sanctions because we will also involve traditional villages as a form of local wisdom," explained Dewa Rai, Head of Public Relations and Protocol for the Denpasar City Regional Secretariat... The new PKM rules are necessary because there are still many residents who move outside the home and are not yet disciplined in implementing health protocols, such as social distancing, physical distancing, and many residents do not use masks when leaving the house.
Other Headlines
"Three Regencies Expected to Implement PKM Policy" from The Bali Post (Indonesian): After approving the Maror of Denpasar's request to implement new Community Activity Restrictions (PKM) in the city, Bali Governor Wayan Koster has declared the new policies to be a model for the rest of the island. If the the new rules, among other measures, regulates the implementation of restrictions on community activities and encourages community participation in handling COVID-19, then it will provide a legal basis for accelerating the handling of COVID-19 in the city of Denpasar... Other districts, such as Buleleng, Bangli, and Karangasem, which have experienced a significant increase in COVID-19 positive cases can apply the same regulations.
"Law & Order Disturbances In Denpasar Start to Increase" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): Even though it has not yet reached the alarming stage, due to the coronavirus outbreak, the disruption of security & public order (Kamtibmas) situation in Denpasar police area has begun to rise, according to Denpasar Police Chief AKBP Jansen Avitus Panjaitan... "This disturbance has begun to be felt and can not be separated from the layoffs that cause a lack of employment," he explained. He hopes that the community will participate in conducting surveillance while maintaining the surrounding environment and complying with the government's call for prevention of co-19 transmission. In addition, his party also appealed to the public not to panic and feel excessive fear. "The public must be able to filter information on social media. Especially about Corona information, and avoid spreading rumors," he said.
"Indonesian Airlines Resume Domestic Passenger Flights with Strict Health Protocols" from The Jakarta Post: Several Indonesian airlines have resumed domestic passenger flights following a letter from the COVID-19 task force allowing certain people to travel despite government travel restrictions. Service will be reopened gradually this month. Garuda Indonesia officially resumed domestic passenger flights on Thursday. Lion Air, Wings Air and Batik Air ‒ members of the Lion Air Group ‒ will resume domestic passenger flights on Sunday... Garuda Indonesia will require passengers to provide ground staff with medical letters from hospitals stating that they are COVID-19 negative. The airline will also require state officials to provide documents, including official letters of duty, employee IDs and letters explaining the purpose of travel.
"To Prevent Coronavirus, Bank Indonesia Performs Quarantine of Money Received Before Re-Circulation" from The Bali Tribune (Indonesian): n the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Bank Indonesia adopted a number of policies to prevent the spread of Covid-19, which was to carry out a 14-day quarantine of money received from banks before being circulated back to the public... "We've implemented restrictions on money exchange activities, namely not providing money exchange services through mobile cash but optimizing the banking office network," said Head of Bank Indonesia Representative of the Province of Bali, Trisno Nugroho.
"Beaches In Gianyar Reopened [Sort Of]" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian): Access to most of the coast in Gianyar Regency was closed to prevent the transmission of Covid-19, and beach entry points were fitted with bamboo fences. But on Thursday, the Mahayastra Regent confirmed that the total ban had been in error and that the measure was not meant to prevent people who made a living on the beach to do activities. But what is meant is only fishermen, not including traders on the beach. "Only for those who work as fishermen, open for those who sell," he explained.
"A Transportation Route Opens, But There Is Only One Flight to Bali" from Antara [Video] (Indonesian): [Video] Activities at Ngurah Rai International Airport, Bali, have not yet returned to their normally crowded state after the reopening of air transportation lines began on May 7. Ngurah Rai Airport Public Relations explained that there was only one regular flight from Jakarta that was scheduled to arrive Friday night.
"Hundreds Sign Online Petition to Reopen Bali Beaches" from Coconuts: An online petition closing in on a thousand signatures is calling for the reopening of beaches across Bali, arguing that people should be allowed access as long as they obey social distancing rules... The petition, started earlier this week on Change.org by a user identified as Rafi Papazian, aims to introduce the idea of a “filtered access” to Bali beaches under the supervision of local village officials, in order to allow surfers, runners, casual walkers, and people belonging to the same household to gain entry. It has garnered 980 signatures at the time of publication.
Resources
Important information for foreigners who are staying on the island, such as designated COVID-19 hospitals and emergency contact numbers, can be found by following this link.
The government has cancelled its visa-on-arrival process and rolled out enhanced entry requirements for people traveling to Indonesia; they have also granted automatic extensions to most foreigners who are still in the country on temporary stay visas. You can see a (translated) list of all of the relevant regulations on the Directorate General of Immigration & Ministry of Law and Human Rights' website here.
If you are trying to plan travel anywhere, here are some of the best up-to-date resources that can help you:
IATA Travel Center Update - The International Air Transport Association is the global lobbying body for the aviation industry. Their Travel Information Manual Automatic (Timatic) database feeds into airlines' reservation systems, so it is the most reliable list of flight restrictions around.
Revolver Maps' Travel Restrictions Database - This list pulls directly from IATA's Timatic database and arranges the countries in lists that are easier to navigate and creates share-able links for every country. NOTE: This is a third-party service and they warn that the updates to their system can be delayed by several hours for certain countries.
Al Jazeera Travel Restriction & Border Shutdown Tracker - A companion list that includes less technical summaries of each country's travel restrictions, beyond just flights and airport access.
Common abbreviations to be familiar with:
PMI: Indonesian migrant worker
PSBB: Policy of extreme social distancing. Officially restricts forms of transportation and prohibits certain types of business from operating. Requires any permitted businesses to enforce strict social distancing guidelines.
OTG: Possible cases, with no symptoms.
ODP: Suspected cases, being monitored. People with fever or respiratory symptoms such as congestion, sore throat, cough, travel in countries or areas with local transmission, or contact with a confirmed case of Covid-19. Tracked and placed under out-patient observation.
PDP: Probable cases, under observation. People with acute respiratory illness with at least one symptom such as cough, sore throat, congestion, light or heavy pneumonia, and travel in countries or areas with local transmission, or contact with a confirmed case of Covid-19. Usually placed under observation in an isolation ward at a designated hospital pending swab testing results.
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 will polish the excerpt and/or write a short summary in proper English to help clarify the details.
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