Saturday, September 12
Country-leading infection rate means more Red Zones than any other province + Jembrana Regency Secretary tests positive + New testing capacity hampered by lack of permits & personnel + more!
Good morning! Welcome to The Bali Beat for Saturday, September 12. 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.
I happily put this daily newsletter together as a public service, and it will be free so long as the current emergency lasts. *A paid subscription is NOT required to access this content.* However, if you would like to support my work, please consider making a donation of US$5/month by becoming a contributing subscriber at the link above.
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 complete breakdown of yesterday’s numbers + trendlines in our evening update.
The Big News
"Bali Province Records Highest Number of COVID-19 ‘Red Zones’ in Indonesia This Week" from Coconuts: The recent surge in coronavirus cases led to eight of the province’s nine regions being marked as high-risk, or “red zones” for COVID-19, the highest number compared to other provinces in Indonesia. With the exception of Klungkung regency, all of Bali’s regencies and Denpasar — the only city in the province — were recently declared as red zones.
"Bali, Riau See Biggest Growth in Number of Covid-19 Cases Outside Java" from The Jakarta Globe: Bali and Riau have reported the biggest rise in daily number of coronavirus cases after four worst-affected provinces on Java Island since the beginning of the month. Bali has added more than 1,700 cases while Riau has accumulated around 1,500 cases in the period of Sept. 1-11... While being ranked low in the list of most affected provinces, both already beat month-to-date rises in other hotspots like South Sulawesi, South Kalimantan, North Sumatra and East Kalimantan. Bali has recorded a total of 6,978 cases since the outbreak began, to rank eighth.
"Jembrana Regional Secretary is Positive for Covid-19" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): Jembrana District Government Secretary (Sekkab) I Made Sudiada has confirmed positive for Covid-19. The results of Sudiada's swab test were confirmed by Jembrana I Gusti Agung Putu Arisantha, spokesman for the regency's Covid-19 Task Force. The Sekkab's diagnosis is based on results of a swab test taken on Wednesday... The Task Force is still conducting contact tracing to find the origin of his infection. From the results of a study by the health office, there are several possibilities for transmission of the virus. Among other things, while attending a family event, where his nephew proposed a woman who turned out to be his future nephew's wife confirmed positive for Covid-19.
(Ed. Note: While it is not clear if the Secretary's case is directly tied to it, the outbreak that has been spreading among government workers and officials in Jembrana since late August has been spreading. 17 new cases tied to the cluster were confirmed yesterday, with five more people showing reactive results from rapid testing that was administered to 178 office workers. Contract tracing continues. Read more here. Meanwhile, fears of an outbreak within the top levels of the Tabanan government have been allayed as swab test results from 37 high-ranking officials and accompanying office workers came back negative yesterday.)
>> 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
"Bali Increases Bed Capacity to 1,025 for Self-isolating Patients" from Antara: "We have endeavored to increase the number of beds for self-isolation. Since yesterday, the number has reached 1,025. In addition, we have placed patients at hospitals based on the serious to mild category of cases," Head of the Bali Provincial Health Office Dr. Ketut Suarjaya stated... Several hospitals currently have packed self-isolation wards, he remarked. "Hence, it is not to find other locations now but to increase the number of beds at hospitals to serve COVID-19 patients," he explained. Bali has, until now, 55 hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients, he noted. In view of the high occupancy rate at treatment rooms in hospitals, the Bali government will also coordinate with private hospitals to turn them into referral facilities for COVID-19 patients, he added.
"As Positive Cases Soar, Buleleng Receives PCR Machine Help, Task Force Prepares Operators" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): As positive cases crept up, the Buleleng Covid-19 Task Force obtained a PCR machine to process swab tests. The tool was just received on Tuesday and has been placed in Buleleng Hospital. It's just that the tool can't be used yet, because the task force must prepare supporting facilities for the operation of these tools.
"Tabanan Hospital Swab Examination Tool Still Awaiting Laboratory Permit" from The IDN Times (Indonesian): To increase the number of Polymerase Chain (PCR) examinations or COVID-19 swab tests, the Bali Provincial Government has provided a PCR examination tool to the Regional General Hospital (RSUD) Tabanan. The operation of this PCR tool requires infrastructure such as a PCR laboratory building and supporting equipment, Human Resources, and laboratory permits. The hospital is currently awaiting for laboratory permission from the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia. All processes have been taken care of, it's just a matter of waiting for the permits to come out. If it goes well, the permit will be out next week.
"Public Urged to Stop Accusing Medical Workers of Profiting from Outbreak" from The Jakarta Post: Muhammad Alkaff, an internist at Persahabatan General Hospital (RSUP) in East Jakarta, urged the public to spare doctors and other medical workers from such accusations and hate speech. “Please don’t [attack] doctors or medical workers who have struggled to such an extent with more than 100 casualties, with hate speech alleging that we or the hospital receive tens or even hundreds of millions [of rupiah]. We don’t,” Alkaff said. The plea came amid the circulation of rumors among social media users that accuse medical workers of seeking to benefit from the outbreak, despite the growing number of casualties among them in the frontline while treating COVID-19 patients.
"Ngurah Rai Airport Joins SCI Pilot Scheme" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian): I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport will be a pilot regarding the implementation of Safe Corridor Initiative (SCI) initiation guidelines in collaboration with Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) based in South Korea. This cooperation was marked by the signing of a cooperation agreement on Thursday (10/9)... SCI is an alliance of airport managers initiated by IIAC which will maintain the reliability of airport operations through the application of a number of health and safety criteria. SCI aims to help restore public confidence in air travel, and revive the aviation industry by maintaining psychological comfort and building positive perceptions of airport service users regarding air transportation activities.
"Indonesia Seals Deal With Australia to Exchange Tax Information" from The Jakarta Post: Indonesia’s tax office and its Australian counterpart have joined hands to exchange information as part of the latest efforts to fight tax avoidance, the Taxation Directorate General announced on Wednesday. The tax office and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) last month to exchange tax information automatically starting on Aug. 19 under the double tax treaty... The tax office said the information exchange would help fight tax avoidance committed by taxpayers by underreporting their income and assets abroad. “The collaboration between the tax office and the ATO through the taxation information exchange is in line with a global commitment to create transparent taxation," it added.
"Government Releases 2021 Holiday and Collective Leave Schedule" from Coconuts: In total, there will be 23 public holidays and collective leave days, but that is of course subject to change, especially amid uncertainties during the pandemic. This year, for instance, saw Eid al-Fitr collective leave days moved towards the end of the year with the expectation that the outbreak would be better managed then (some say it’s only getting worse).
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.
For any questions, comments or tips, please contact us at newsletter@migrationmedia.net.