Saturday, November 14
Bleak milestone as country logs over 5,400 cases + Superspreader events in Ubud infect 32; hundreds more exposed, mass swab testing underway + 10% of election workers show reactive rapid tests + more!
Good morning! Welcome to The Bali Beat for Saturday, November 14. 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 Sets Bleak Daily Record with 5,444 New Cases" from The Jakarta Post: The national COVID-19 task force confirmed 5,444 new cases on Friday, the highest single-day figure the country has seen, as the cumulative death toll passed 15,000, two weeks after a long weekend during which thousands of people traveled throughout the country. Friday was the first time daily cases surpassed 5,000. The previous one-day record was 4,850 new cases, reported on Oct. 8. With the addition of Friday’s figure, the country had recorded 457,735 COVID-19 cases in total. The national COVID-19 task force announced 104 new deaths on the same day, bringing the tally to 15,037 fatalities in Indonesia.
"Officials Suspect Dozens of New COVID-19 Patients in Ubud Were Infected During A Wedding and A Funeral" from Coconuts: Dozens of residents in Tebongkang neighborhood, Ubud, tested positive for the coronavirus this week, with officials suspecting that the new COVID-19 clusters may have originated from a recent wedding reception and funeral. Twenty-eight people have been confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 as of Wednesday afternoon, the regional secretary of Gianyar regency, Made Gede Wisnu Wijaya, has confirmed. The events took place in late October and earlier this month, respectively.
(Ed. Note: In addition to the cases identified so far, contact tracing from the events has led investigators to identify “dozens” of people who have been exposed to Covid-19. Yesterday, 70 people were swab tested, with expectations that the number of people who will need to be tested in the area will reach into the “hundreds.”)
"10% of KPPS Officers at Denpasar Rapid Test Return Reactive Results" from iNews Bali (Indonesian): The Denpasar General Election Commission (KPU) conducted amass rapid test for thousands of KPPS and security officers who will be on duty at the regional election (TPS) polling places. Of the 7,500 people who have undergone rapid tests, as many as 10% of them received Covid-19 reactive results. The total number of KPPS and security officers who will undergo the rapid test is 10,818 people, with a goal of having all tests by the end of this week. Officers who received reactive results have been coordinated with the Denpasar Covid-19 Task Force. They will be facilitated to get a swab test at the Wangaya Regional General Hospital (RSUD) in Denpasar.
>> 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
"RT-PCR Lab At Klungkung Hospital is Ready to Operate" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian): After being equipped with various supporting tools, Klungkung Hospital is ready to operate its RT-PCR (Real-Time Reverse-Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction) Laboratory. Director of Klungkung Regional Hospital, Dr. Nyoman Kesuma, said that this laboratory will start operating on Saturday. He said that the hospital has trained 4 analyzers who would later carry out PCR testing. "Our human resources are ready, and we think they have the ability to do PCR tests," he said. The laboratory will be able to test 94 Swab test samples and operate in accordance with strict health protocol standards.
(Ed. Note: The activation of this new testing facility is part of an effort spearheaded by the national government to vastly increase the island’s swab testing capacity. New machines have been added & staff have been trained in almost every Regency so far, with the exception of Karangasem, which is having trouble procuring the supporting equipment needed. The new testing capacity is what is making the mass swab testing of police and government workers in each Regency possible. Unfortunately, the Provincial Government does not publish daily testing figures, so we can not tell what effect this increased capacity is having on new case numbers or positivity rates.)
"Bali Officials Voice Concerns Over Deliberations On Alcohol Ban" from Coconuts: According to AA Ngurah Adi Ardhana, who is a member of the Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) in Bali, the studies from which the bill is based on are “too shallow,” he said. “If we are to take a look at the bill it doesn’t look at the practices on the field and merely took into account the wishes of a select few, so it is very unfair to members of the public who are traditionally and culturally accepting of alcoholic beverages, which is also something guaranteed by the 1945 Constitution,” Ngurah said... While there’s still a long way to go on discussions of the bill, as noted by Baleg Deputy Chairman Willy Aditya, it’s in parliament’s list of priority bills in 2020 and may make the same list next year.
(Ed. Note: While there is a loud and universal tourism industry outcry against the legislation, the Provincial Government has yet to issue an official statement about it.)
"AirAsia Unlimited Pass Expected to Revive Aviation Industry" from Suara (Indonesia): Senior Marketing Manager for Airasia Indonesia, Priska Lampangateia, said that the owner of the AirAsia Unlimited Pass, by paying Rp. 1.5 million, can fly AirAsia domestic routes for 6 months. The flight schedule that can be used is from 23 November to 31 May 2021. "AirAsia Unlimited Pass can be purchased from today until November 15," said Priska. The routes that can be used include, Jakarta - Medan, Jakarta - Surabaya, Jakarta - Yogyakarta, Jakarta - Bali, Jakarta - Lombok, Surabaya - Bali, Surabaya - Lombok and Bali - Yogyakarta.
"Coral Reef Restoration to Drive Bali's Tourism Recovery: Ministry" from Antara: The Indonesia Coral Reef Garden (ICRG) program, launched on October 7, is a labor-intensive initiative for coral reef restoration in five locations in Bali: Nusa Dua, Serangan, Sanur, Pandawa Beach, and Buleleng. "The ICRG program has targeted to restore 50 hectares of coral garden in five locations in Bali," said Acting Director General of Marine Spatial Management of the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry T. B. Haeru Rahayu. The program is expected to absorb some 11,000 workers impacted by the pandemic and involved organizations experienced in coral transplantation.
"Bali Wins 'Best Wedding Destination' and 'Most Romantic Destination' At the 2020 World Travel Awards” from Bali Plus: Bali has won the ‘Best Wedding Destination’ and ‘Most Romantic Destination’ categories in Asia at the 2020 World Travel Awards. Bali also won the same awards last year. The World Travel Awards, often called the Oscars for the world tourism industry, also recorded a number of victories for Indonesia within the Asian realm.
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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We only include news items from established media sources
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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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