Thursday, February 25
Proposed new rules for entering island include swab tests & hotel quarantine + Quarantine rule for intl arrivals extended to Indonesians + Schools to reopen after all teachers vaccinated + more!
Good morning! Welcome to The Bali Beat for Thursday, February 25. 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 confirmed cases were back over 300 yesterday, with recoveries just about keeping pace. The number of active cases is ⬇️33% in February. Meanwhile, deaths ticked downwards and the pace over September's record is slowing; it now stands at 214 month-to-date, ⬆️19% from the same point that month.
Click here to see the national numbers infographic and a Regency-by-Regency breakdown of yesterday’s local numbers.
The Big News
"Plesiran to Bali Must Pass Quarantine Stage at Hotel & Foreigner Violating Prokes 2 Times Will You Deportation?" from Tribune Bali (Indonesian): The Central Government is coordinating with the Bali Provincial Government planning to tighten the protocol for the arrival of people from outside Bali to Bali. Deputy Expert Staff for Investment and Mining Coordination of the Indonesian Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Baja Sirait, said that the protocol for the arrival of people from outside Bali must be tightened. "Anyone who enters Bali by air, sea and land must be tested before departure, tested on arrival, quarantined for a Sharia stay at a hotel (Staycation), then retested after quarantine," said Baja Sirait. "If all the test results are negative, then the person can continue his activities in Bali, including the provision of policies under strict health protocols only to drivers or logistics personnel," he added. Regarding Prokes violations by foreigners (foreign citizens) where if done 2 times they will be deported to their home country.
"Ministry Makes 5-day Quarantine Mandatory for International Travelers" from Antara: All international travelers, including Indonesian nationals, entering Indonesian territory will have to compulsorily undergo five-day self-isolation at government-designated facilities from now on, a Health Ministry official said. "The obligation to follow health protocols for international travelers applies not only to foreign nationals, but also Indonesian nationals," said I Made Yosi Purbadi Wirentana, the Health Ministry's sub-coordinator for the territorial health quarantine and land border cross post. The preventive screening of foreign and Indonesian nationals traveling to Indonesia will start from an examination in the country of origin and end with an examination at the self-isolation facility, he said.
"Russian Fugitive Nabbed in Bali After Dramatic Escape" from Channel News Asia: A Russian fugitive whose dramatic sprint out of an Indonesian immigration office was captured on CCTV has been caught again after two weeks on the run, authorities said on Wednesday. Authorities fanned out across the island in the hunt for Kovalenka, who was nabbed early Wednesday at a villa in tourist hub Kuta along with girlfriend Ekaterina Trubkina, who was wanted for allegedly assisting his escape. Trubkina, 31, also Russian, could face up to nine months in prison if convicted of assisting Kovalenka's escape, authorities said.
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Other Headlines
"Mochtar Riady Institute Joins Gov’t Efforts to Detect New Covid Variants" from The Jakarta Globe: Mochtar Riady Institute for Nanotechnology and Universitas Pelita Harapan (MRIN-UPH) have been invited to participate in a novel consortium to sequence the whole-genome of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, as a real-time surveillance of the viral variants in Indonesia. The institute and the university, both are based in Banten province, have been participating in the global science initiative GISAID that provides genomic data of the SARS-CoV-2 since mid-2020. Indonesia has only contributed 351 whole-genome sequencing data of the virus to date.
Health Protocols (Prokes) & Patrols
Bangli: "Four Residents Without Masks Netted Yustisi Operation at Tembuku" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian)
Denpasar: "Conducting Inspections at Dauh Puri Kelod, Yustisi Team Nets 14 Offenders" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian)
Jembrana: "Opening Hours of Food Delivery Service Has Been Relaxed" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian)
Vaccination Update
"Teachers' Covid-19 Jab Becomes Jokowi's Hope for School Reopening" from The Jakarta Globe: President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo hopes schools can reopen for the new school year in July, as the government recently began administering Covid-19 vaccine shots for teachers. Hundreds of teachers and education staff received their first Covid-19 jab at SMA 70 high school in Jakarta on Wednesday. "We are aiming to vaccinate 5 million teachers and education staffs by June. So that everything can hopefully return to normal when the new school year starts in July," Jokowi said.
More...
Nation: "Teachers From These Two Levels Are Prioritized to Get the Covid-19 Vaccine" from The Bali Post (Indonesian)
Nation: "1.3 Million Indonesians Get Covid-19 Vaccine Shots" from Antara
Island: "Get Ready, the Elderly in Bali Will Be Injected With the Covid-19 Vaccine" from Bisnis Bali (Indonesian)
Island: "In Phase II Vaccination in Bali, Kasdam IX / Udayana Suggests Retired Officers and Warakawuri" from Tribune Bali (Indonesian)
Jembrana: "Thousands of Health Workers in Jembrana Have Received Second Dose of Vaccination" from The Bali Post (Indonesian)
Tabanan: "Tabanan Receives 1,300 Doses of Covid-19 Vaccine Again" from The Bali Post (Indonesian)
Tabanan: "Tabanan Entering the Second Stage of Vaccination, Targeting More Than 10,000 People" from Suara Bali (Indonesian)
"Questioned, the Certainty of Nyepi Holiday" from The Bali Post (Indonesian): In the last few days, the discourse of Nyepi in Bali will be extended. Like last year's Nyepi which lasted for two days. his time the question about the certainty of Nyepi which will fall on Sunday (14/3) is starting to question whether there will be another extension. Denpasar DPRD Democrat Faction member, AASusruta Ngurah Putra, Wednesday (24/2) expressed the need for the government to convey the certainty of Nyepi earlier this year. Because there are rumors that Nyepi will be extended again like last year. "We ask the government to convey certainty earlier whether there is an extension for the Nyepi holiday or something like this. This is also important for businesses to take anticipatory steps earlier," said Susruta.
Economy News
"Foreign Exchange Earnings in Bali Drop 82% to US$0.73 Million in 2020" from Bisnis Bali (Indonesian): Bali's foreign exchange earnings decreased by 82 percent on an annual basis (year on year / YoY) in 2020 to US $ 0.73 million from the previous year which was valued at US$2,618 million. Deputy Director of Bank Indonesia Representative Office for Bali Province, M. Setyawan Santoso, said that Bali's foreign exchange sources come from two types of exports, namely goods and services. Service exports contributed a higher share of foreign exchange at 90%, the rest was goods exports. Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), foreign tourist visits to Bali fell 83% YoY in 2020 and domestic tourists fell 56.41% YoY in 2020.
More...
"Peak Electricity Load in Bali Decreased During the Covid-19 Pandemic" from Radar Bali (Indonesian)
"Rice Productivity in Bali is High, But Land Functions Become Obstacles" from Bisnis Bali (Indonesian)
"To Build an LNG Terminal in Bali, PLN Signs an MoU with BUMD" from CNBC Indonesia (Indonesian)
"Biznet Expands Its Network in Badung and Denpasar, Bali" from Kontan (Indonesian)
"The Problem of Tunnel Findings in the Tamblang Buleleng Dam Project, This Is the Head of the Bali Archeology Center" from Tribune Bali (Indonesian): The Tamblang Dam construction project in Kubutambahan, Buleleng Regency, found a tunnel. The tunnel was found accidentally and its location is in Tukad Aya. I Gusti Made Suarbhawa, head of the Bali Archeology Center, Suarbhawa suspects that the tunnels were used for water regulation by the ancestors long before the current generation. The reason is that this tunnel has a year number that is almost the same as the one in Sangsit Village, which is around 933 caka or 1071 AD. "If you look at the number of years, it is the reign of King Anak Wungsu. It is a concern that is quite interesting, the tunnel was why in the 11th century there were numerous attempts of making the tunnel," he explained.
Of Interest
"Two Days of Flooding, 400 Families Affected in Pengambengan" from The Bali Post (Indonesian)
"Allegedly Fighting [Over] Boyfriend, Viral Videos of Underage Fighting on Social Media" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian)
"Lawyer [to Supreme Court]: Free Jerinx" from Antara (Indonesian)
"Alcoholic Beverage Market on the Island of the Gods, Some Consumers Turn to Bali Arak" from Bisnis Bali (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.
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.
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