Thursday, May 7
Transport bans still in effect, but are being slightly modified + Bali gets 2 more testing labs + Q1 GDP numbers out & they're not pretty + more!
Good morning! Welcome to the COVID-19 Update for Bali for Thursday, May 7. (Happy Waisak Day / Buddha Day!) If you find this information useful, please subscribe and share it with others in the foreigner community on the island. Also, if you can contribute US$5/month to help me keep the lights on, that would be awesome.
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Status Update
Country-wide Numbers:
Source:
Indonesia National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB Indonesia): @BNPB_Indonesia
Official updates are available from the Indonesian Government here.
Bali Numbers:
Confirmed Cases Distribution:
Key: Red = Infected | Green = Recovered | Black = Died
Bali 30-Day Trends:
Sources:
Infographic comes from Bali Provincial Government COVID-19 Task Force (link).
The geographic breakdown comes from the Bali Provincial Government's data collection department (link).
Charts have been compiled using their data.
More details on the locations of positive cases within each Regency, as well as the number of suspected cases ("ODP") and people under observation ("PDP"), can be found in charts & infographics on the official websites of each Regency's COVID-19 Task Force:
Badung | Bangli | Buleleng | Denpasar City | Gianyar | Jembrana | Karangasem | Klungkung | Tabanan
How You Can Help
Each day we'll let you know about the people who are trying to make a difference in these difficult times, and how you can pitch in.
Bali Animal Food Bank: With a large portion of the foreign resident population departing Bali, the primary support systems for animal rescue & shelter operations have all but collapsed. Furthermore, the mass numbers of people who've lost their livelihoods can often barely feed themselves, much less their pets or the strays that they normally look after; and hotels and villas are closed and not throwing out food scraps for animals to feed off of. Bali Animal Food Bank is a new organization co-created by Sourcing Asia (Andrew De Jong), Bali Beach Shack (Robby Reid) and Bali Pet Crusaders (Deb Banfield). to help get food to the dogs, cats and other animals who have been abandoned or are suffering from neglect because of the Covid-19 crisis. They've set up drop-off stations where you can leave food donations, or you can make financial contributions on their GoFundMe page. Follow their work on their Facebook page.
If you know anyone who is raising funds, delivering food, organizing volunteers, or otherwise trying to rally people to the cause of assisting our neighbors here in Bali, please let us know by sending an email to newsletter@migrationmedia.net.
The Big News
"Ministry of Transportation Clarifies That Homecoming Ban Remains In Place" from Antara (Indonesian): The Ministry of Transportation emphasized that homecoming was still prohibited, and that there were absolutely no exceptions. "We emphasize that there are no changes to regulations. Keep the ban on Idul Fitri going home and restricting people from leaving PSBB areas. Exceptions exist for special interests whose criteria and conditions are determined by the Task Force for the Acceleration of Handling COVID 19," Transportation Ministry spokesman Adita Irawati said... Adita added that all passengers who are allowed to travel according to the criteria set forth by the Task Force will be regulated by restrictions and application of health protocols. "The Ministry of Transportation provides transportation in all modes both on land, sea, air and train, of course by implementing health protocols in accordance with government mandates. Service fulfillment will take effect starting Thursday, May 7, 2020 at 00:00," said Adita.
"Bali Has Two New Corona Test Labs, Can Test 300 Specimens A Day" from Detik (Indonesian): Bali Governor I Wayan Koster inaugurated new Coronavirus PCR laboratories at PTN University Udayana Hospital (Unud) and the Warmadewa Medical Faculty. The addition of these labs will accelerate the handling of COVID-19 in Bali... Koster hopes that the presence of these two labs can accelerate services for Corona management, especially those that are quarantined, both those who are declared negative and those who are positive for Corona. "The Unud can test approximately 300 samples per day. So I it's a great addition to our capacity to monitor the spread of the virus, as until now only Sanglah Hospital had the capability to run tests," said Koster.
"Bali's Economic Growth Declines" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian): Bali's economy in the first quarter of 2020 experienced negative growth, declining 1.14% compared to the first quarter of 2019. Likewise, compared to the previous quarter (4Q 2019) Bali's economy contracted quite sharply, namely minus 7.67%. The decrease was due to the Covid-19 pandemic... Some indicators that influence the economic growth of Bali include tourism, trade, export-import, and others. For tourism, foreign tourist visits dropped 35.14% compared to the previous quarter (4Q 2019) and minus 21.82% year-on-year. "The first quarter is low season. But the Covid-19 global pandemic affects foreign tourists visiting, both on a quarterly basis and year-on-year, thus affecting the hotel occupancy rate," said Bali BPS head Adi Nugroho.
Other Headlines
"With Local Transmission In Bali Increasing, Govt Requests Discipline to Prevent Coronavirus Spread" from iNews (Indonesian): While imported cases still dominate the transmission of Covid-19 in Bali, infections due to local transmission shows an increasing trend. "The number of positive numbers in Bali is still largely dominated by imported cases. Even so, local transmission is also quite high," said Bali Province Covid-19 Task Force Chief, Dewa Indra... According to him, the increase in local transmission cases in Bali indicated that many residents did not follow the government's call to prevent the spread of Covid-19. He said, residents began to neglect the Covid-19 protocol such as wearing masks, washing their hands, and maintaining distance or physical distancing . In fact, this is one of the keys to breaking the chain of distribution of Covid-19.
"I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport Serves 4.7 Million Passengers from Jan-April" from Bali Puspa News (Indinesian): During the first found months of the year, there were 36,490 aircraft movements and 4,761,786 passengers passing through Bali's airport, a very significant decrease from last year... "We note that there is a significant decrease compared to last year. For aircraft movement statistics, there is a decrease of 35%, while for passenger movements it has fallen by 53%," said General Manager of PT Angkasa Pura I (Persero) I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport - Bali, Herry AY Sikado.
"Nearly 5,000 Indonesian Migrant Workers 'Return to the Village' via Bali" from CNBC Indonesia (Indonesian): Nearly 5,000 Indonesian workers from various countries returned home in the past month from various countries via 27 special charter flights that landed at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport... "It is estimated, this number will continue to grow along with the addition of unscheduled rescue flight requests," said Vice President Corporate Secretary of PT Angkasa Pura I (Persero). Handy Heryudhitiawan... With this many passengers, he explained that anticipatory steps had been taken, especially related to the handling of passenger checks. The officers from the Port Health Office (KKP) as well as from the COVID-19 Task Force Team are always on standby. "All steps have been taken in accordance with applicable provisions and SOPs, including handling passengers who show symptoms of illness," he continued.
"Legislator: 11,000 PMI Not Yet Arrived, Rapid Tests Must Not Run Out" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian): Commission III of the Bali Legislature has requested that the government maintain rapid tests stocks and stay vigilant, as there are still an estimated 11,000 Indonesian Migrant Workers (PMI) who have yet to return to Bali. This reminder was conveyed by Gek Diah, a politician from Jembrana, during his inspection of the procedures, flow and mechanisms for PMI arrival at Ngurah Rai airport.
"Condition of Apes In Alas Kedaton After Collapse Of Tourism In Question" from The IDN Times (Indonesian): As with other tourist sites during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Alas Kedaton Tourist Attraction Area (DTW) in Marga District is closed. But with no money from tourist coming in, what will happen to the site's iconic monkey population?... The Secretary of Kukuh Customary Village, I Dewa Nyoman Suarta, said that the need for feed for monkeys at Alas Kedaton DTW is still in a safe condition, at least for the next two months. "In the provision of monkey feed at Alas Kedaton DTW, it is part of the obligations of the Adat Village. It is possible that Adat village will still be able to hold it for the next two months," he said.
"Bali Mangosteen Exports to China Keep Going Despite Coronavirus" from Merdeka (Indonesian): Even though the Covid-19 pandemic struck, mangosteen fruit farmers in Bali can still export mangosteen fruit to China. Although, exports of mangosteen are not as much as before the corona outbreak... Head of the Denpasar I Class I Agricultural Quarantine Center Putu Terunanegara, said that the total mangosteen fruit exported to China from January to April 2020 was 789,161 kilograms with a value of Rp63.14 billion.
The View from Outside
"Bali's Covid-19 Defenses Start to Wash Away" from The Asia Times: The swab results from the state-run Sanglah Hospital laboratory are in: What was widely perceived to be a cluster from hell in Abuan has turned out to be nothing of the kind. According to officials, none of the 442 were positive for the virus. Despite the apparent all-clear, Bali Governor Wayan Koster says Abuan will remain in a 14-day lockdown as a precaution, along with another two villages in the district of Buleleng in northern Bali, where there have been at least 16 confirmed cases... There are fears of a spike in infections as workers return to their villages across the island to wait out the pandemic and the recovery of a US$46.5 billion industry that has given them a secure livelihood for years. Many are men and women in their 30s and 40s, young and healthy enough to be asymptomatic with no obvious signs of ill-health apart from possibly a sore throat or slight fever.
Resources
Important information for foreigners who are staying on the island, such as designated COVID-19 hospitals and emergency contact numbers, can be found by following this link.
The government has cancelled its visa-on-arrival process and rolled out enhanced entry requirements for people traveling to Indonesia; they have also granted automatic extensions to most foreigners who are still in the country on temporary stay visas. You can see a (translated) list of all of the relevant regulations on the Directorate General of Immigration & Ministry of Law and Human Rights' website here.
If you are trying to plan travel anywhere, here are some of the best up-to-date resources that can help you:
IATA Travel Center Update - The International Air Transport Association is the global lobbying body for the aviation industry. Their Travel Information Manual Automatic (Timatic) database feeds into airlines' reservation systems, so it is the most reliable list of flight restrictions around.
Revolver Maps' Travel Restrictions Database - This list pulls directly from IATA's Timatic database and arranges the countries in lists that are easier to navigate and creates share-able links for every country. NOTE: This is a third-party service and they warn that the updates to their system can be delayed by several hours for certain countries.
Al Jazeera Travel Restriction & Border Shutdown Tracker - A companion list that includes less technical summaries of each country's travel restrictions, beyond just flights and airport access.
Common abbreviations to be familiar with:
PMI: Indonesian migrant worker
PSBB: Policy of extreme social distancing. Officially restricts forms of transportation and prohibits certain types of business from operating. Requires any permitted businesses to enforce strict social distancing guidelines.
OTG: Possible cases, with no symptoms.
ODP: Suspected cases, being monitored. People with fever or respiratory symptoms such as congestion, sore throat, cough, travel in countries or areas with local transmission, or contact with a confirmed case of Covid-19. Tracked and placed under out-patient observation.
PDP: Probable cases, under observation. People with acute respiratory illness with at least one symptom such as cough, sore throat, congestion, light or heavy pneumonia, and travel in countries or areas with local transmission, or contact with a confirmed case of Covid-19. Usually placed under observation in an isolation ward at a designated hospital pending swab testing results.
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 will 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.