Tuesday, August 4
Recoveries pass 3,000/85% & island sees 11th straight day with no deaths + 12 Denpasar villages enter Green Zone, will have restrictions eased + Police dragnet for traffic scofflaws continues + more!
Good morning! Welcome to The Bali Beat for Tuesday, August 4. 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 (8:00am - 6:00pm)
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 from our evening update.
The Big News
IMMIGRATION ALERT: Last Friday, the Directorate of Immigration published their new policies concerning Visas on Arrival, Emergency Extensions, and Online Renewals on their social media accounts. The biggest news is that they’ve extended the deadline for getting new visas until August 20. Check Friday’s newsletter for a breakdown of what they laid out, or read the full post for yourself on the Directorate’s Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts. The new online application system came online yesterday and can be accessed here: https://visa-online.imigrasi.go.id/
"Buleleng GTPP Diverting Covid-19 Patients to Buleleng Hospital" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): Buleleng's Covid-19 Task Force (GTPP) has made changes to its patient care scheme for those who have tested positive for the coronavirus. Now treatment of patients with moderate and severe symptoms will be performed at Buleleng Regional Hospital. This shift has forced management of the hospital to re-prepare their treatment room... Until now, patients had been treated primarily at Giri Emas Primary Hospital. But, accoridng to Gede Suyasa, Sectrtary of Buleleng GTPP, "Our experience so far has been that there have been a number of cases when a patient in the suspicious or positive category was confirmed, if he had severe comorbidities, the accompanying illnesses received less action at Golden Giriri. Because there is concentrated in handling Covid."
"Rapid Test Prices Will be Cheaper Starting Mid-August" from Bali Plus: The cost of the Covid-19 rapid test provided by PT Kimia Farma, a state-owned enterprise, has been criticized for being too expensive. Now, following directives from the Ministry of Health, pricing has been set at Rp 150,000 per test. PT Kimia Farma Production & Supply Chain Director Andi Prazos revealed that the company would reduce the cost of the rapid test even further, to below Rp 100,000... The state-owned pharmaceutical company will reduce costs after the development of facilities to produce rapid tests in Denpasar, Bali are complete. PT Kimia Farma plans on launching an inexpensive version of the rapid test in mid-August, in hopes of helping the public with affordable testing costs.
"Covid-19 Kills Indonesian Doctors at a Far Higher Rate Than in the US" from The Jakarta Globe: At least 72 doctors have died from Covid-19 in the five months the health workers battling with the increasing number of cases in the country, putting Indonesia among the countries with the highest death rate among doctors in the world, the Indonesian Doctors Association, or IDI, said on Sunday. Losing a high number of doctors also meant hundreds of thousands of Indonesian might lose access to doctor service over the next decade... Mohammad Adib Khumaidi, IDI Executive Board's deputy chairman, said today the Covid-19 death rate among doctors in Indonesia reached 2.4 percent. That was six times higher than the United States — currently the country with the highest number of Covid-19 cases — that only recorded 0.37 percent of the death rate among its doctors as of July 13, he said.
Other Headlines
"12 Villages in Denpasar Have Entered Covid-19 Green Zone" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian): The 12 villages that have entered the green zone namely Penatih Dangin Puri Village, Kertalangu Kesiman Village, Sanur Kaja Village, Sanur Kauh Village, Sumerta Kaja Village, Renon Village, Dauh Puri Kelod Village, Dangin Puri Village, Dauh Puri Kauh Village, Kelurahan Ubung, Tegal Harum Village, and Serangan Village... Based on this, Denpasar is now easing restrictions on operating hours for areas that enter the green zone. In addition, as many as 30 villages and sub-districts are still in the yellow zone and one village, Peguyangan Kaja Village, is still an orange zone.
"Operation Obedient Lempuyang, 80% Socialization, 20% Law Enforcement" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian): The Denpasar Police's Traffic Unit is intensively conducting socialization and traffic monitoring across the city and has been busy giving helmets to motorcyclists, carrying out pre-emptive and preventive actions. Motorists who pass by them who are wearing udeng and headscarves but do not wear helmets, are intercepted and given helmets... According to Kasatlantas Denpasar Police AKP Adi Sulistyo Utomo, this year's Operation Obedient Operation Lempuyang has prioritized pre-emtive and preventive activities, with around 80% of people stopped receiving warnings, while 20% have been given repressive activities or action in the form of speeding tickets. "This is done to foster motorists' awareness of the importance of maintaining safety in driving," he stressed.
"Lion Air Group Reaches Rapid Test Cooperation Agreement with Dompet Dhuafa to Offer Testing in Denpasar" from The Bali Tribune (Indonesian): Lion Air Group passengers can conduct Rapid Covid-19 health tests at the SOS Gatotkaca Clinic, Jalan Gatotkaca No.21, Dangin Puri Kauh, North Denpasar District, Denpasar City, Bali 80116. Service time Monday-Friday from 09.00 - 16.00 WITA, and Saturday at 09.00 - 12.00 WITA. While Sunday and national holidays are closed... The presence of the new facility is a complement the airlines' services that are already running in Bali. Services can also be done at the Lion Air Group Branch Office Jalan By Pass Ngurah Rai No.8, Simpang Siur, Kuta, Badung Regency, Bali 80361.
"Rice Harvest in Badung Drops" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): The rice harvest from January-June 2020 in Badung Regency, Bali was recorded at 54,200 tons, dropping by 13,337 tons, or 19.7%, compared to the same period in 2019, which saw 67,537 tons harvested. Head of the Badung Agriculture and Food Service, I Wayan Wijanasaid, the decline in rice production was caused by the delay in planting due to drought and also the improvement of irrigation channels in the flow of the river Ayung, Abiansemal, Badung.
"Without Medical Assistance, Mother in Bali Gives Birth in Police Car" from iNews Bali (Indonesian): A mother in Gianyar Regency, Bali gave birth to her baby in a police patrol car at the Blahbatu Police Station. The mother named Sri Wenti Misa (22) gave birth without medical assistance... Blahbatuh police chief, AKP Yoga Widyatmoko said, the mother was originally going to be taken to the Sanjiwani Hospital (RS) by its members who were on patrol. But on the way, the baby finally came out of the mother's stomach.
"Bali Named Fourth-most Popular Global Destination on TripAdvisor" from The Jakarta Post: Bali has been recognized as one of the most popular destinations in the world, according to travel platform TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Awards of 2020. Winners of the awards are chosen based on the quantity and quality of user reviews and ratings, and are now honored as “Travelers’ Choice Best of the Best”, Trip Advisor’s top 1 percent of listings. TripAdvisor also recommended three attractions on the island, namely Kelingking Beach, the Sekumpul Waterfalls and Luhur Batukaru Temple.
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.
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 try to polish the excerpt and/or write a short summary in proper English to help clarify the details.
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