Tuesday, February 9
"Ineffective" PPKM oversight shifted to villages + Ban on foreigners entering country extended for 2 weeks + Ombudsman says Bali's vaccination program isn't tracking results properly + more!
Good morning! Welcome to The Bali Beat for Tuesday, February 9. 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
*NOTE: Bali’s weather service has issued a warning for severe weather across the island over the next few days, citing the potential for "heavy rain accompanied by strong winds."
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: There was more volatility with Bali's numbers yesterday. New cases dropped, while recoveries shot up and deaths rose. Some good news is that the number of people in treatment is finally below 3,000. Unfortunately, the month's record-setting fatality rate is continuing (66 so far in February vs. 60 by this point last September).
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
"Even Though It Is Called Ineffective, the PPKM in Bali Is Still Being Extended" from The IDN Times (Indonesian): The village head will synergize with the Bendesa Adat [Traditional Customs Head] to form a Mutual Cooperation Task Force for Handling COVID-19 based on a Traditional Village. In addition, they also activated the Command Post (Posko) for COVID-19 Prevention Based on Traditional Villages. The TNI, Polri, and pecalang (security officers) are expected to carry out more intensive disciplinary operations.
Context: You can see the original text (in Indonesian) of the governor’s circular on the provincial government’s Facebook page here. You can read a breakdown of the specific restrictions listed in the central government’s order by clicking here. A more detailed list of policies being rolled out across Bali can be seen in the Badung government’s announcement here. Even though the new regime sees the enforcement of health protocols devolved to the 1,495 local traditional villages, testing requirements for travel between provinces remain in effect. These can include negative PCR or antigen tests before flights and antigen tests before boarding some long distance trains. be sure to check with your travel agent/airline before heading off to the airport..
"Indonesia Extends Border Closure, OKs Coronavac Emergency Use" from Kyodo News: President Joko Widodo "approved to extend the barring of foreigners from entering Indonesia...for...14 days," Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto told reporters, citing the new variant as one reason. Last month, the government barred all foreign visitors, except for ministerial-level government officials and long-term residents, from entering the country, as it tries to keep out a potentially more transmissible variant of the coronavirus.
"Bali Deputy Governor Proposes ‘Free Covid Corridor’ Plan to Attract Chinese Tourists" from Coconuts: Bali’s deputy governor today said that a “free COVID corridor” program for tourists from China is being proposed to the central government, in what appears to be part of the latest idea to speed up recovery for the province’s battered tourism industry. The “free COVID corridor” plan, Cok Ace says, comes after seeing the mass vaccination drive in China. According to a report from Bloomberg, the country has administered more than 1 million coronavirus vaccines by Dec. 19, and had announced plans of distributing more. “So we’re asking for the central government to prioritize vaccines for Bali businesses so that we can attract Chinese tourists to Bali,” Cok Ace said.
Context: You can see the full interview from CNBC Indonesia by clicking here.
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Other Headlines
"PPKM Mikro in Bali Delays Face-to-Face Learning in Buleleng" from iNews Bali (Indonesian): "According to the governor's direction yesterday, learning still has to be online," said Buleleng Regional Secretary (Sekda), Gede Suyasa. He said Buleleng was also affected by the implementation of Micro PPKM in Bali. "So the regent assigned the education office to notify schools to stay online," he said.
Context: This announcement comes one day after education officials in Buleleng, Karangasem & Klungkung all said that they were in the midst of testing their health protocols at some schools and in the process of certifying their buildings as being safe for reopening.
Prokes & Patrols
"Tens of Millions of Violators Netted During PPKM I & II" from The Bali Post (Indonesian): Safrizal SA, Director General of the Territorial Administration Development at the Ministry of Home Affairs, said that authorities were not lacking in giving sanctions in the form of reprimands, fines and social work sanctions. "The number of actions will be meaningless if not all parties participate in implementing health protocols," he said. Safrizal said the 29 million people who were being prosecuted were probably only those caught in the streets or shops.
More...
Buleleng: "PPKM Micro Scale Has Not Been Implemented, Buleleng Imposes Curfew" from Bali Express (Indonesian)
Buleleng: "Not Using Masks, American Foreigner [Sanctioned] by Yustisi Team" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian)
Denpasar: "PPKM's Saturated Community Understand, PP Police Are Upset That There Are Still Crowds" from Radar Bali (Indonesian)
Denpasar: "The Yustisi Team of Denpasar City Nets 8 Prokes Violators in Padangsambian Klod Village" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian)
Denpasar: "The Denpasar City Government Sprays Disinfectant in Public Spaces to Suppress Covid-19" from Antara (Indonesian)
Jembrana: "Jembrana Implements PPKM Micro" from The Bali Post (Indonesian)
Tabanan: "First Day PPKM Mikro in Tabanan Implemented in Two Villages" from Bali Express (Indonesian)
"The Distribution of Mount Raung's Volcanic Ash Reaches Jembrana" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian): The spread of this dust was felt by a number of residents in the western part of Jembrana Regency. Although not so thick, the spread of volcanic ash carried by the wind was found stuck to the terraces and leaves around the residents' yard. “Initially, I didn't realize that it was volcanic ash. After sweeping on the terrace, I saw that there was black dust. Just now there was information, if the ashes of Mount Raung were reported to have reached Jembrana, I checked the leaves around the house. Apparently there was black dust too. It's a bit thin, but the color is clearly different from ordinary dust, "said Gusti Ngurah Ady Widya Pratama, 22.
Vaccination Update
"ORI Called Vaccination Data Collection in Bali Less Updated" from Bali Express (Indonesian): Regarding vaccination, the Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia (ORI) Representative of the Province of Bali, Umar Ibnu Alkhatab, said Monday (8/2) that the number of health workers who have been vaccinated should be updated to avoid confusion with existing data. The data must be real and the application must be fixed. "Implementation is already high, but the application is still low. If it is published, it will create confusion, so it will not run smoothly. For the second stage of vaccination, data collection will be even better,” he explained. Meanwhile, as long as his party was monitoring during the implementation of the vaccine, there were no urgent issues found. "Technically it is smooth, there are no obstacles in the vaccination. It's just that when we monitored, not all health services had adequate equipment. Data issue is also difficult, fulfilling applications," he continued.
More...
Nation: "Motorcycle Taxi Drivers Considered for First Vaccine Jabs Among General Public in Indonesia" from Coconuts
Nation: "Ministry of Health: 814,585 Health Workers Have Been Vaccinated Against Covid-19" from Antara (Indonesian)
Nation: "Around 17,000 Journalists Have Prioritized Covid-19 Vaccination" from Antara (Indonesian)
Island: "Vaccination Of The Elderly To Be Conducted, Prioritizing Healthcare Workers Over 60 Years Old" from Bali Prawara (Indonesian)
Badung: "Vaccination of Health Workers in Badung Reaches 84.95%" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian)
Karangasem: "Hundreds of Karangasem Health Workers Fail to Pass the Screening, Cancel Vaccines" from Bali Express (Indonesian)
Klungkung: "12.5% of Health Workers in Klungkung Have Not Got Vaccines" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian)
Tabanan: "The Tabanan SMDK Covid-19 Vaccination Is Targeted to Be Completed on February 24" from Suara Bali (Indonesian)
"Tanah Ampo Jetty Finally Operates, Plans for Cruise, Realization of Collecting Port" from Bisnis Bali (Indonesian): Tanah Ampo Pier, in Manggis District, Karangasem, which has been abandoned, is finally operational. However, the dock that was originally used as a berth for cruise ships turned into a collecting port. The collecting port serves domestic sea transportation or inter-provincial ship mooring. In contrast to the pier which serves cruise serves as the main port for serving inter-country ship mooring. The operation of the Tanah Ampo jetty took place on Friday (5/2/2021) by serving one ship, namely Mutiara Ferindo VII with a size of 32,548 Gross Tonnage (GT) and 9,764 Net Tonnage (NT). The operation of the ship at the Tanah Ampo Pier is still in the evaluation stage until now.
Of Interest
"Lunar New Year: Inter-city Travel Banned for Govt Staff" from Antara
"Chinese New Year Holidays Are Predicted Not to Increase Tourist Visits to Bali" from Bisnis Bali (Indonesian)
"The Distribution of Mount Raung's Volcanic Ash Reaches Jembrana" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian)
"Severely Affected, Ministry of Transportation Asked to Give Stimulus to Airlines" from The Bali Post (Indonesian)
"Hotel Entrepreneurs in Karangasem Have Low Room Occupancy" from Radar 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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