Thursday, October 1
Large Immigration patrol targets Kuta + Media calls for daily testing data as scientist says tourist reopening has caused cases to double + Badung Police promise much more health enforcement + more!
Good morning! Welcome to The Bali Beat for Thursday, October 1. 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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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 national numbers infographic and a Regency-by-Regency breakdown of yesterday’s local numbers + trendlines in our evening update.
The Big News
"Bali Must Do A Minimum of 4,000 PCR Tests On Patients Per Week" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): Seeing cases that have not yet entered the descending phase, radarbali.id is looking for data regarding the number of PCR tests conducted by officers. This data, held by the Bali Provincial Health Office, shows that a total of 95,190 specimens have been examined from March 25 to September 27. And specifically for September, there were only 18,180 specimens tested making for an average per day of only 673. However, World Health organization (WHO) guidelines call for a minimum standard of 1:1000; this means that if the population of Bali is 4 million people, then 4,000 people need to be tested per week, not 4,000 specimens. This would require a testing rate of 571 people per day. In the calculation of the Bali Provincial Government, the repeated specimens are included in the specimens that are examined per day. This means that it is mixed with someone who has just been tested, for example because of the tracing results. As a result, the data provided were not purely the number of PCR tests people per day.
"UI Epidemiologist: [Infections] Increase Twofold Because Domestic Tourism is Opened" from The Bali Tribune (Indonesian): Epidemiologist from the University of Indonesia (UI) Pandu Riono has assessed the need to limit population mobility during the Covid-19 pandemic. "In Bali, it happened after people went on vacation when Bali was opened for domestic tourism. The case in Bali has doubled and is now still increasing even though no one has gone on vacation there," said Pandu. Pandu also said, if there is continuous transmission of Covid-19, it will actually create a situation where health facilities are full. Thus, hospitals will find it difficult to accommodate other patients.
"Joint Immigration Team Checks the Residence Permits and Identities of Foreigners" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian): The Ngurah Rai Class I Special Immigration Office carried out a joint operation of the foreign surveillance team (TIM PORA) in the South Kuta area, on Tuesday. During the operation, the joint team did not find any violations committed by foreigners living in Bali. The patrol includes checking residence permits, abuse of immigration residence permits, and implementing health protocols during the Covid-19 pandemic. In its implementation, this joint operation checks the passports and residence permits of foreigners and conducts interviews to gather information related to potential abuse of residence permits.
(Ed. Note: This story does not say if this was the start of a new effort and/or whether any more Immigration patrols should be expected in the near future. However, this story says that Badung authorities are scheduling twice-a-day health protocol patrols, with a focus on areas that foreigners frequent, such as bars and nightclubs. They’re also promising to follow-up on tips sent in to them by locals.)
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Other Headlines
"Covid Cases Increasing, 4 Tourist Attractions in Tabanan Are Temporarily Closed" from Kompas (Indonesian): Head of the Tabanan Tourism Office I Gede Sukanada, has confirmed several tourist attractions have been closed again due to an increase in Covid-19 cases there. "We have never issued a letter to close down a tourist attraction in Tabanan, but because of the considerations below, both the health protocol facilities are incomplete and due to considerations in the area that there are residents affected by Covid," said I Gede Sukadana. The following is a list of four tourist attractions in Tabanan that are temporarily closed:
Tide Tibubiu Kerambitan Beach
Beraban Village Beach
Kelating Beach
Alas Kedaton
(Ed. Note: These closure confirmations come after last week's announcement by Tabanan's Regent that all public spaces, including "tourism objects, cafes or restaurants, and other public facilities," were being closed as a result of growing infection numbers.)
"Indonesia Sees Highest Monthly Numbers in Covid-19 Cases, Deaths" from The Jakarta Globe: The country has added 112,212 cases throughout September, a 69 percent rise from the previous month, for a total of 287,008 cases -- beating its own record in daily cases eight times in the process. The death toll jumped by 130 on Wednesday for a total of 10,740. Indonesia has recorded 3,323 Covid-19 deaths since Sept. 1, the highest monthly death toll since the outbreak in early March. The September death toll is 45 percent higher than the previous month. More often than not, the daily death toll has been hitting three digits since the beginning of the month.
"Public Resistance Hinders COVID-19 Tracing Efforts: Task Force" from The Jakarta Post: “The biggest obstacle right now is tracing, because there is a lot of resistance in the community due to the stigma against COVID-19 patients [who they believe] should be avoided," task force spokesman Wiku Adisasmito said. He said unreliable information circulating among communities eliminated “the feeling of trust” in COVID-19 patients as the subjects of contact tracing. Five provinces have exceeded World Health Organization (WHO) standards for testing capacity, but the national testing rate has not, he said. The five provinces are Jakarta, West Sumatra, Bali, South Sulawesi and Papua.
"Arguing With Officers, Foreigner Not Wearing A Mask Sentenced to Push Ups" from iNews Bali (Indonesian): A Russian citizen was caught by health protocol raids in the Kuta area, Bali . After arguing with officers, the Russian citizen named Philip finally agreed to undergo a push-up sentence. Philip was caught by health protocol raids in the Kuta, Badung, Bali area on Tuesday (29/9/2020) night. He was stopped by joint officers who carried out the raid because he was driving a motorcycle without wearing a helmet and mask. "A bit of a complaint earlier. But it doesn't matter and he's cooperative," said Bali Immigration officer, Dodi Hari Wibowo.
"Denpasar Prepares 2 Hotels with a Capacity of 200 Rooms for Positive Covid-19 Quarantine, from Mild Symptoms to No Symptoms" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian): In order to make more efficient use of isolation rooms at referral hospitals, Denpasar City Government has prepared two hotels to quarantine positive patients with Covid-19. Later, this hotel will be used to quarantine positive patients with mild to no symptoms (OTG). Until now, there is one hotel with a capacity of 100 rooms. "We are still in the process of looking for another hotel with a capacity of 100 rooms. So we have prepared 200 rooms for quarantine," said Dewa Rai, spokesman for Denpasar's Covid-19 Task Force.
(Ed. Note: This process of converting hotels into quarantine facilities is playing out across the island, but not always without hitches. In Buleleng, for example, the local head of the Hotel and Restaurant Association is unhappy that staff at potential quarantine sites are not being given proper training. Read more on that here.)
"Data Shows 189,257 Foreigners in Indonesia As of Sep 18" from Antara: The number of foreign nationals in Indonesia as of September 18, 2020 has been recorded at 189,257, according to the Foreign Ministry's database on the movement of foreigners amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The figure is lower compared to June this year, when the number of foreign nationals was recorded at 192,000... As of September this year, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry has provided hotline services to 301 foreigners, issued 209 flight clearances for evacuating foreign nationals, and assisted in the repatriation of 13,514 foreign nationals to their countries of origin. The ministry has also issued 4,780 documents for exit permits only and stay permits for diplomats and officials, and various discretionary services related to humanitarian cases.
(Ed. Note: This story did not break down the numbers by Province. On a semi-related note, local media also reported yesterday that there are 107 foreign nationals who are registered to vote in this December’s election in Badung, thanks to their status as being married to a local.)
"4 Volcanic Earthquakes Recorded At Mount Agung" from Berita Bali (Indonesian): Deep Volcanic Earthquakes were recorded 4 times on the body of Mount Agung in Karangasem. These Inner Volcanic Earthquakes were recorded on the same day when an earthquake measuring 3.9 on the Richter scale rocked the northeast region of Karangasem Regency 17 kilometers away. When asked whether the 3.9 magnitude earthquake that rocked the Karangasem Regency area that night was related to the emergence of a volcanic earthquake in the body of Mount Agung, Head of the East Region Volcano Mitigation Sub Division, dr. Devy Kamil Syahbana revealed that so far there has not been a clear trend that Mount Agung's volcanic activity has increased.
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
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