Tuesday, December 1
Cases skyrocketing, Minister Luhut orders Jakarta & Bali to ban crowds + Testing & Tracing pushes active cases back towards 1,000 + "Digital health certificate" for air travel coming soon + more!
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Weather & Waves
Today’s Weather for Southern Bali
*NOTE: BMKG Bali has issued a warning for 5 regions in Bali to be on the alert for heavy rain accompanied by strong winds and lightning: Tabanan, Badung, Gianyar, Bangli, Denpasar.
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. And in case you missed it, check out Sunday’s update for a summary of last week’s overall totals, with perspective on how they stack up against previous weeks + detailed breakdowns of the virus’ spread on a Regency-by-Regency level.
The Big News
VIRUS IMPACT REMINDER: As testing continues to ramp up and the number of cases discovered each day continues to rise (see below), we’re all feeling the strain of so long under travel shutdowns and health protocols. Provinces are beginning to debate when they can reopen schools, and talk of travel corridors and reopening to tourism are everywhere. While the first vaccines to complete their late stage testing hold great promise for getting the world back to normal sometime in 2021, it’s more important than ever to keep those masks on and maintain social distancing until then. Check out the video below to catch a powerful glimpse of how Covid is affecting the healthcare system to understand why we need to redouble our efforts to get through these next few months without it collapsing under the strain of new cases:
"The DKI-Bali Covid Case Increases Significantly, Luhut: Agree No More Crowds!" from Detik (Indonesian): Coordinating Minister for Marves, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, highlighted two provinces, Bali and DKI Jakarta, because of the significant increase in Covid cases. Luhur emphasized that there should be no more crowds for any reason. "I want all of us to agree that there should be no more crowds for any reason for the foreseeable future," Luhut said. Luhut emphasized this to regional heads, including Pangdam Jaya, and Kapolda in DKI Jakarta and Bali in virtual coordination meetings. In Bali, the number of confirmed positive cases rose to 823 cases on 25-30 November, up from 386 cases in the period 28 October-3 November.
(Ed. Note: The number of new cases in Bali during the first week of November was 417, which is an average of 60 cases/day. Last week, the island saw 669 new cases, or 96/day.)
"Number of Patients in Covid-19 Care in Bali Nearly Touches 1,000, Regional Secretary Speaks Up" from The Bali Tribune (Indonesian): The Regional Secretary of the Province of Bali, Dewa Made Indra said that the high number of patients being treated was due to his party having carried out massive testing and tracing. "In accordance with our plan, which will start to open the tourism sector, we have to properly prepare the testing , tracing and maintenance. Therefore, we are starting to push back, implementing tasting and tracing," he said. Meanwhile, testing is currently underway for the implementation of elections, including KPPS in rural areas. "Every time we do more testing and tracing, a lot of positive cases will be found. Indeed, there are consequences, but that's okay, because through more massive testing and tracing, something that was originally hidden can be changed by being treated."
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Other Headlines
"Pass Touted As Quarantine Alternative" from The Bangkok Post: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) says it is in the final development phase of the IATA Travel Pass, a digital health certificate that will support the safe reopening of borders and contribute to a speedy recovery of the airline industry worldwide from the Covid-19 pandemic. The Travel Pass will verify the secure flow of necessary testing and vaccine information among governments, airlines, laboratories and travellers... The Travel Pass incorporates interoperable modules which include a contactless travel app which enables passengers to create a "digital passport"; receive test and vaccination certificates and verify that they are sufficient for their itinerary; and share testing or vaccination certificates with airlines and authorities to facilitate travel. (h/t Stuart McDonald - Ed.)
"Tabanan Hospital Gets Help with Another PCR Machine, Can Check 248 Samples" from The IDN Times (Indonesian): To speed up the examination of COVID-19 samples, the Provincial Government (Pemprov) of Bali again provided assistance in the form of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machine to the Tabanan Regional General Hospital (RSUD). This machine is capable of checking a maximum of 248 samples a day. The Director of Tabanan Hospital, Dr. Nyoman Susila, said that the PCR machine was received by his party in the first week of November 2020, was prepared for the second week, and officially operated in the third week. Currently, the average sample vole is 190-200 samples per day.
"Covid in Buleleng Reappears, A Cluster of Finance Companies Appears" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): The confirmed positive case of Covid-19 in Buleleng Regency has been sloping for the past month. But yesterday (29/11) the number of positive confirmed cases emerged again. Within a day the Buleleng Regency Covid-19 Handling Task Force announced an additional 22 new positive confirmed cases... The trigger for this significant addition came from the emergence of a new cluster. Namely the cluster in one of the finance companies in Buleleng Regency. There are 8 employees recorded at the office who must be quarantined. The task force also requested that the company's offices be closed for the next two weeks.
"PUPR Badung Will Install Lights" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian): The installation of the lighting is in line with the plan for the beach attraction to be open 24 hours. Regarding the 24-hour opening plan, Kuta Traditional Village as the manager of the tourist attraction welcomed it well. Head of the Public Works and Spatial Planning Office of Badung Regency Ida Bagus Surya Suamba, explained that the arrangement of the Kuta Beach tourist attraction was carried out as a whole. Starting from the arrangement of sand, toilet facilities and arrangement of merchant stalls along the coast. With this arrangement, the face of Kuta Beach in the future will be tidier than it is today.
"Bali Island Will Have Railway Tracks, Observer: Rail-Based Transportation Is More Land-efficient" from Sindo News (Indonesian): The island of Bali, which has been so famous for tourism, will have rail-based transportation. The government plans to build a train line from Badung to Buleleng. This means that it connects South and North. The plan is stated in Presidential Regulation (Perpres) Number 109 of 2020 concerning National Strategic Projects... In comparison, the land requirement for the toll lane is at least 50 meters wide. As for the rail, it only takes 20 meters. It's double track. Transportation observer Djoko Setijowarno explained that the development of public transportation in Bali is better based on rail. Currently, for urban areas, Bali already has Trans Metro Dewata. There are 105 buses serving 4 routes, one of which is Ubung Terminal (Denpasar) - Central Parking Monkey Forest (Ubud).
"Desperate to Open, A Number of Entertainment Places Suspected of Ignoring Prokes" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian): Many entertainment venues have ignored health protocols (Prokes). Based on the observation of NusaBali, there are several entertainment venues that are already operating in the midst of the pandemic. Some of them have actually been operating since the last month. One of them is seen in a discotheque in the West Denpasar area... "It's been open for more than a month, bro," said the Grab driver who usually stays in this area, Saturday (28/11) night. In this entertainment place itself does implement health protocols for every visitor. Among them are body temperature checks and mandatory masks when entering entertainment venues. However, after being inside the entertainment venue which was open until 03.00 WITA, there was almost no monitoring of health protocols.
"Ignoring Prokes, 10 Culinary Entrepreneurs in Buleleng Are Fined Each Rp. 1 million" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian): This sanction was given to entrepreneurs who sell in the Singaraja City area because it was proven that the parties ignored the health protocol (prokes) resulting in a crowd of customers. The inspections were carried out at several hangout spots on Penimbangan Beach, Camplung Beach, and Jalan Serma Karma... From the results of the investigation, Kompol Santika said that health protocol violations were mostly found in the east of Penimbangan Beach. Many visitors were found jostling and not wearing masks. The visitors were immediately provided with guidance to comply with health protocols during the pandemic, then were forcibly dispersed.
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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