Saturday, September 19
Nine legislators in DPRD test positive + Buleleng to build quarantine facility + As President singles out Bali as hot spot, Minister Luhut says army must help police & tourism must slow + more!
Good morning! Welcome to The Bali Beat for Saturday, September 19. 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 complete breakdown of yesterday’s numbers + trendlines in our evening update.
The Big News
"Wiryatama Admits Nine Bali DPRD Members Are Positive for Covid-19" from Bali Express (Indonesian): As soon as possible, Chairman of the Bali DPRD, Nyoman Adi Wiryatama, will decide on the work pattern that will be implemented in the Bali DPRD for some time to come. However, he emphasized that it is likely that his party will follow the same pattern as applied at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. "Maybe like before (the beginning of the pandemic). We seek long-distance coordination. The number of staff in his office is also limited. The most important thing is that the activities and tasks are running,” said Adi... Especially for important meetings such as plenary sessions, he continued, it will also be adjusted to health protocols or prokes. The implementation is done virtually but in accordance with the rules and regulations. "For the time being we do not force ourselves to meet each other directly to avoid the risk of adding new cases," he concluded.
(Ed. Note: Initial conclusions from contact tracing indicate that the legislators contracted the virus while working in their respective constituencies. All are improving while isolating. Going forward, all members of the DPRD will be subjected to regular swab testing. Read more here.)
"Not Disciplined in Carrying Out Isolation, Buleleng Opens Patient Quarantine Discourse" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): So far, patients with mild asymptomatic and symptomatic conditions are allowed to carry out independent isolation. The problem is that not all patients are willing to be disciplined in self-quarantine. Some remained active as usual. There are also those who insist on living with their families, which triggers infection in the family cluster... Buleleng has asked the Bali Provincial Government for permission to establish an independent quarantine facility. This facility is specially provided for patients with asymptomatic and mild symptomatic conditions. It is planned that the facilities provided are equivalent to a two-star hotel. It's just that until now there has been no answer to the letter.
"Minister Luhut Wants Stricter Health Hrotocols in Place During ‘Critical Time’" from The Jakarta Post: Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan has ordered joint forces of the military and police to monitor the enforcement of health protocols during the “critical time” over the next two to three months until the country is able to conduct mass vaccination, which is expected to take place in December... Luhut went on to say that the country could not limit economic activity “for too long”, but leaving citizens to carry out their activities without proper health measures in place could also lead to increasing cases of COVID-19. “Therefore, we need to strictly monitor the implementation of health protocols. This is actually an art of balancing between COVID-19 handling and conducting economic activities,” Luhut said.
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Other Headlines
"The Government Does Not Want to Open Bali Tourism Indefinitely" from Antara (Indonesian): "I think we also don't want to open the Bali tourists immediately without limits. Earlier I just called the Governor of Bali, so we will limit it," he said... Following efforts to suppress cases in the province, the government will strictly implement health protocols and limit a number of community activities even though they are not as extreme as before so that the economy can continue to spin. "Now in Bali, religious events are reduced, offerings are temporarily reduced, offices are also reduced. Tourists are also reducing it for the past two weeks, perhaps not being closed as before (in total) so that the economy is still moving," he said.
(Ed. Note: Across the country, Bali is being seen more and more as a place where the virus can spread from. Jambi City announced that three of its new cases yesterday were people who had just returned from a holiday here.)
"Asked to Reduce Covid-19 Cases in 2 Weeks, Bali to Increase Inspection" from The IDN Times (Indonesian): Nine provinces in Indonesia, including Bali, have received special attention from the Central Government to reduce COVID-19 cases within two weeks. The directive was conveyed by President Joko Widodo to the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan. Luhut emphasized that there are several steps that will be taken, including more strict enforcement of health protocol discipline (prokes)... The Head of the Badung Regency Civil Service Police Unit (Satpol PP), I Gusti Agung Ketut Suryanegara, said that in the Pererenan Beach area there were still many offenders who were dominated by foreign nationals (WNA). For example, in the operation carried out there on Wednesday, there were 39 offenders and 28 of them were foreign nationals.
(Ed. Note: Like many articles having to do with mask patrols, the photo used at the top of this one shows a police officer speaking to a foreigner who’s been stopped. Follow-up stories noted that people without masks in Tabanan are being fined, while people in Buleleng are being given warnings for a first offense. Wear a mask.)
"Stubborn Not Wearing Masks, Dozens of Foreigners in Bali Were Fined by Satpol PP" from Detik (Indonesian): A number of foreigners in Bali are still stubborn by not using masks when leaving the house. Badung Satpol PP officers found as many as 35 foreigners were not wearing masks during activities outside the home. Kasatpol PP Badung I Gusti Agung Kerta Suryanegara explained that 35 foreigners who did not wear masks were being punished in accordance with Governor Regulation (Pergub) Number 46 of 2020. There were 4 tourists who were fined on the spot for not wearing masks and 31 others were coached for not wearing masks properly. 35 tourists have been caught in raids since the implementation of Governor Regulation Number 46 of 2020.
"As Jembrana Becomes A Covid Red Zone, Face-to-Face Learning is Postponed" from Nusa Bali (Indonesan): The plan of the Jembrana Education, Youth and Sports Office (Dikpora) to open face-to-face learning (PTM) at the SD and SMP levels in Jembrana, is confirmed to be delayed. This is because Jembrana Regency has been designated as the Covid-19 red zone, so based on central government regulations, it is certain that it cannot implement PTM... The stage, which was designed to run last week, is a simulation at school. Then there has also been a plan for an evaluation meeting with a number of related parties from the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI), the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI), and Jembrana's Covid-19 Task Force, which had to be postponed. "Our plan, after the simulation, will enter the evaluation meeting stage. But because it is already a red zone, it can't be," said Head of the Division (Kabid) of Basic Education (Dikdas) at the Jembrana Dikpora Office I Nyoman Wenten.
"Tabanan A Red Zone, Early Years Study Group Comes Under Review" from Nusa Bali (Indonesan): The Education Office of Tabanan Regency will evaluate group learning that was previously applied to lower classes. This was done because Tabanan turned into a Covid-19 red zone. Even after Hari Raya Kuningan (Saturday, 26/9), Tabanan is still in the red zone, group learning is stopped. Previously, the Tabanan Education Office implemented group learning for lower classes (grades 1, 2, and 3 SD) to maximize learning... Because when the class is low, online learning is considered ineffective, so group learning is designed. The encouragement of group learning was approved by the Tabanan Council. Group study takes place at the home of the parents of students, by implementing the Covid-19 health protocol. Head of the Tabanan Education Office, I Nyoman Putra, revealed that currently students still have Galungan and Kuningan holidays. If after the holiday, Kuningan is still in the red zone, group learning will be temporarily suspended. "This is to anticipate a cluster of study groups. We'll evaluate it," said Nyoman Putra.
"Galungan Waste Reaches 240 Cubic Meters" from Nusa Bali (Indonesan): Officers from the Bangli Environmental Service (DLH) work extra hard to transport community waste during Galungan Day. The volume of Galungan waste reached 240 cubic meters, a sharp rise compared to a normal day which sees 160 cubic meters of waste volume... Head of the Bangli Environmental Service, Ida Ayu Gde Yudi Sutha, said that in addition to the combing officers who pick up scattered trash, during the holiday, DLH Bangli dispatched 20 pieces of equipment - 17 trucks and 3 pick-ups - to transport garbage. "Handling garbage every day involves 100 officers, they are spread across four sub-districts."
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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