Thursday, February 18
Several island hospitals run out of vaccine + BPOM set to approve AstraZeneca jab + Singaraja Prison outbreak flares up again + Demand falling 40%, tofu crisis deepens + more!
Good morning! Welcome to The Bali Beat for Thursday, February 18. If you’re not a subscriber, sign up here to get this update delivered directly to your Inbox every Monday-Friday 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 island community by clicking the button below.
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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: New cases yesterday got back up to the level first reached during the post-holiday peak in January. Yesterday also saw the end of a 7-day streak of days with more recoveries than new cases. The number of deaths tied the mark of 2nd-worst on record for third time in 12 days. Month-to-date deaths (155) are now 23% over September's record pace.
Click here to see the national numbers infographic and a Regency-by-Regency breakdown of yesterday’s local numbers.
The Big News
"Referral Hospitals Start Out of Stock of Covid-19 Vaccines" from The Bali Post (Indonesian): Although the vaccination activity for health workers is targeted to be completed by the end of February, several health workers have not been able to participate in the injection of the second dose of vaccination. Kasubag Law and Public Relations of the Wangaya Regional Hospital, Denpasar City, AA Ngurah Suastika, said that vaccination activities were not conducted on Tuesday. So that the remaining 225 health workers have not been vaccinated and are still waiting for the arrival of the next vaccine. Meanwhile, the Head of Public Relations at Sanglah Hospital, Dewa Ketut Kresna, said that the availability of vaccines was empty and was still waiting for distribution from the Bali Provincial Health Office.
Vaccination Update
"BPOM to Approve AstraZeneca's Covid-19 Vaccine for Emergency Use This Week" from Tempo: The Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) stated it would immediately grant an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Covid-19 vaccine made by AstraZeneca following the approval of the World Health Organization (WHO). The agency head Penny K. Lukito said that her side was still waiting for data from WHO that would be used as material for evaluating the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University. “We promise that the EUA will be issued 5-10 days after we receive dossier data from WHO so that the vaccine supply from the multilateral cooperation can immediately enter Indonesia,” said Penny.
More...
Nation: "Indonesia to Vaccinate Priority Athletes This Week: Sports Ministry" from Antara
Badung: "Vaccination Phase Two Wait Technical Guidance" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian)
Bangli: "Bangli Health Office Holds Outreach for Vaccine Implementation at the Class IIA Bangli Narcotics Prison" from Tribune Bali (Indonesian)
Buleleng: "Wait for the Provincial Technical Guidance, the Second Stage of Vaccination to be Held Soon" from Bali Express (Indonesian)
"Singaraja Prison Cluster Widened Again, Covid Task Force Reveals This Fact" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): The covid-19 distribution cluster in Singaraja Prison, has expanded again. A total of 4 assisted residents at Singaraja Prison, were confirmed positive for Covid-19. Now the inmates are currently undergoing treatment at Buleleng Hospital. Now officers from the Buleleng Health Office have been asked to carry out a rapid test again at Singaraja Prison. Especially for the inmates who are in a cell with a positive confirmed case. "There will be tracing back there. For the newly assisted residents, they are hospitalized because they have symptoms,” explained Gede Suyasa, Secretary of the Buleleng Covid-19 Task Force.
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Other Headlines
"COVID-19 Task Force Claim Cases and Hospital Patients Decreased" from Indonesia Expat: The COVID-19 Handling Task Force has claimed that a week of the Java-Bali micro-community activity restrictions (PPKM) saw a decrease in COVID-19 active cases, a decrease in hospital bed occupancy, and even an increase in community compliance with health protocols. Furthermore, Wiku Adisasmito, spokesman for the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, said that there was an increase in community compliance with health protocols, especially during micro PPKM. He said that the level of community compliance in wearing masks increased by more than 75 percent in 8-14th February. “Given that the level of compliance with health protocols has increased sharply since the implementation of micro PPKM, it is likely that the number of positive cases over the next few weeks will decrease,” concluded Wiku.
Health Protocols (Prokes) & Patrols
Badung: "Police Antigen Swab Test at a Shopping Mall in Dalung" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian)
Badung: "Anticipating the Spread of Covid-19, Badung Traffic Police Establishes Tough Traffic Post" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian)
Buleleng: "People Are Asked to Postpone Activities That Invite Crowds" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian)
Denpasar: "The Yustisi Denpasar Team Caught 22 Health Protocol Violators" from Antara (Indonesian)
Denpasar: "16 Dirapid Antigen Offenders at the Prokes Inspection, All Negative" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian)
Klungkung: "Preventing the New Cluster from Spread of the Covid-19 Virus, Klungkung Police Personnel Distribute Masks in the Market Area" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian)
"The State Hospital Finally Has a PCR Tool for Diagnosing Covid-19" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): After a year of the Covid-19 pandemic, Jembrana State Hospital finally has a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machine that is used to check swabs. With the PCR tool assisted by the Bali Provincial Government, the swab examination process can be faster. Acting Director of the State Hospital I Gusti Bagus Ketut Oka Parwata said, assistance from the province, one PCR machine with a daily capacity of up to 100 swabs could be checked, so the testing process could be faster than before. "Because previously we sent swabs to laboratories in Denpasar and other health facilities that already have PCR, the results can be received in a day," he said.
"Demand for Tofu Tempe in Bali Drops Up to 40%" from Bisnis Bali (Indonesian): Chairman of the Indonesian Tofu Tempe Entrepreneurs Cooperative (Kopti) Bali Sutrisno revealed that the estimate was based on the decline in the production rate of tofu on the Island of the Gods from the previous 1,500 tons per month to 810 tons per month. In addition, a number of craftsmen reduce the number of workers. "Maybe because it's a pandemic now. Some craftsmen have reduced their workers and some have returned to their hometowns,” he explained. The decline in demand is exacerbating the distress of entrepreneurs because at the same time the price of imported soybeans is still experiencing an increase. If previously imported soybeans from the US were purchased by tofu producers for around Rp. 6,000 per kg, now it has reached Rp. 9,750 per kg. The number of tofu tempe entrepreneurs in Bali, based on data from Kopti Bali, is 405 units with an estimated workforce of 3,800 people.
"‘Conversion Therapy’ Website Haunts Indonesian LGBT Activists" from The Jakarta Post: The website invited “individuals who are confused about their sexual identity” to visit clinics it purportedly runs to receive “services” including reluctance or electroconvulsive therapy, exorcism and corrective rape or “sex therapy.” The website only contains an email address and a link to a Facebook page, as well as an online form people can fill in with their contact details. Neither phone numbers nor physical addresses of the clinics are shown. No response was received to multiple contact attempts by The Jakarta Post. The Facebook page, Terapi Konversi, was created on Nov. 12, 2020 and ‘liked’ by 2,661 Facebook accounts with 2,664 Facebook accounts following it.
"Prevent Climbers from Mount Agung, BPBD Keeps 5 Points and Rat Trails" from iNews Bali (Indonesian): Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) reminded people not to climb Mount Agung . Currently, BPBD officers are working with related agencies to strictly guard the five points of the climbing route and the mouse route to anticipate climbers to the mountain. The Chief Executive of the Karangasem Bali BPBD Ida Bagus Ketut Arimbawa said, currently Mount Agung is still at level II alert and there may still be an eruption at any time. Until now, community activities and climbing as far as 2 km from the top of the crater of Mount Agung are still being prohibited.
Of Interest
"[Due to Its Potential to Destroy] TNBB's Animal Habitat, DPR RI Sends a 'Signal' to Reject Buleleng Airport" from Radar Bali (Indonesian)
"Clubhouse May Join Banned Apps Club in Indonesia" from Coconuts
"Business Actors in Bali Preparing Electric Car Rentals" from Bisnis Bali (Indonesian)
"Considered Negligent in Accompanying Tourists, Two Travel Agents in Bali were Sued" from Bisnis Bali (Indonesian)
"A Number of Suspects of Abusing PEN Funds Arrested" from The Bali Post (Indonesian)
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
We do not share rumors.
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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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