Tuesday, January 19
Badung Police report more foreigners violating mask rule, will randomly test people in crowds near tourist sites + Independent isolation to be banned + Covid Task Force admits data is flawed + more!
Good morning! Welcome to The Bali Beat for Tuesday, January 19. 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 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: Nationally, yesterday was the first day since Jan. 11 where the new case total (9,086) was under 10,000, and the first day since Jan. 4 where the number of recoveries (9,475) was greater than the number of new infections. Here in Bali, it was the first day of fewer than 250 new cases in over a week and the first day since Jan. 4 - and only the second time since Dec. 27 - that the number of active cases has gone down.
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
"Badung Performs Random Antigen Rapid Tests" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian): During the Enactment of Restrictions on Community Activities (PPKM), the Badung Regency Government is expected to consistently carry out rapid antigen testing. To carry out this examination, Badung will be provided with an additional 5,000 to 6,000 rapid antigen tests by the Bali Provincial Government. "We have received 1,000 rapid antigen tests. The province has provided another 5,000 to 6,000 rapid antigen tests for Badung, ”said the Head of the Badung Health Service (Diskes), Dr. I Nyoman Gunarta. According to the provisions, said Dr. Gunarta, the rapid antigen test will be carried out randomly. "Referring to the Regent's Circular Letter, it will be taken randomly at tourist attractions, both Indonesians and foreigners," said Dr. Gunarta.
Context: In another story, the head of Badung Police said that this step was being taken because quarantine facilities in Badung were “90% filled.” He also clarified that the initial focus of testing efforts would be in “South Kuta, Kuta, and North Kuta.” The Covid-19 Task Force in Tabanan has already announced that they have begun to visit restaurants, bars, and cafes where there are crowds to randomly test people. It is unclear if Badung officials will also follow this route, or if Tabanan’s efforts will expand to include popular tourist attractions.
"This Is a Step to Reduce the Surge in Cobid-19 Cases Bali, One of Which Is the Elimination of Independent Isolation" from The Bali Post (Indonesian): Bali Givernor Wayan Koster held a coordination meeting with regents/mayors in Bali in an effort to deal with Covid-19 Monday. In the coordination meeting, a number of measures to control the spread of the pandemic were agreed to be implemented jointly. One of these steps is eliminating the policy of self-isolation by implementing a centralized and integrated isolation. Also hold regular operations justice by the Joint Task Force to enforce Prokes discipline in tourist destination locations, public facilities and other strategic places. "The key is to be disciplined and serious. if you are not disciplined, you are not serious. So we will have to be disciplined in the Prokes and seriously implement it wherever we are," said Bali Deputy Chief Brigadier General Roycky Harry Langie.
Context: Buleleng was quick to announce yesterday that they will “prohibit” the independent isolation of all people who test positive for Covid-19, regardless of whether they are asymptomatic or not. In addition, they will follow Denpasar’s lead and reactivate their village-level task forces to better monitor the following of health protocols.
"Indonesia’s Daily Case Spikes Do Not Reflect Real-time Data: Covid-19 Task Force" from Coconuts: “The government is continuing to improve its data interoperability [between regions]. Recently, there have been delays in data input from regions because our integrated data management system is not functioning perfectly yet,” COVID-19 Task Force spokesman Wiku Adisasmito said. Wiku did not say if this means that Indonesia’s real-time caseload should be higher or lower than the official count... In November, the Health Ministry said lack of data integration between the central and regional governments, particularly during a long weekend holiday, caused a slight dip in the country’s daily cases count. True enough, Indonesia’s caseload spiked not long after and there have been no meaningful signs of it slowing down even until today.
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Other Headlines
"American’s Controversial Tweets Promoting Bali Travel" from Indonesia Expat: Kristen Gray, an American with Twitter account @kristentootie, has sparked a heated debate after making a thread about her “new life” on the island of Bali. The thread, written by Gray, tells of her experience with her girlfriend, who for the past year has been enjoying life in Bali. Some accounts that support Gray claim that the negative reaction is due to racism against her. However, those opposing her thread are worried that more and more foreign tourists will enter Indonesia illegally and stay without paying taxes.
Context: The writer has since deleted the thread and made her account private, but you can read all of the posts here. Last night, there were multiple reports that Imigrasi has opened and investigation into the writer’s immigration status. Bali Express confirmed that authorities had tracked down the writer’s visa sponsor and were confident that she lives somewhere in Nusa Dua, though they had not verified her name. Elsewhere, both Coconuts and iNews said that Imigrasi had “several teams” assigned to tracking her down, with the latter quoting an official who said that agents had already “visited several addresses” in the effort.
"Gov’t Reiterates Call for Increased Covid Patient Beds as Cases Hit 900,000" from The Jakarta Globe: The Indonesian government repeated the call for all hospitals across the country to increase quota for Covid-19 patients after the total number of cases surpassed the 900,000 mark on Sunday. The Health Ministry issued a circular last week appealing for hospital directors and owners to allocate up to 40 percent of beds for patients with coronavirus. “We don’t ask them to build new buildings or emergency wards or procure new beds. What we want is for them to convert between 30% and 40% of their beds into Covid beds,” Abdul Kadir, the ministry’s director general for health services, said in Jakarta.
Context: Locally, officials have said that bed occupancy rates at the island’s hospitals have passed 60%, with ICU capacity at 70%. As noted above, the head of Badung Police said yesterday that the regency’s quarantine facilities were “90% filled.”
Today’s Prokes Patrols
"Prokes Violators In Badung Are Dominated By Foreigners, Dozens Of People Are Subject To Fines" from The Bali Post (Indonesian): Kasatpol PP Badung I Gusti Agung Ketut confirmed that he had [cited] dozens of foreigners during the PPKM control. "From our records, from January 11 to January 17, there were 64 foreigners who were netted; in contrast, only two Indonesian citizens," he said. So far, many foreigners have complained because they often do not comply with the rules of the health program, using masks. This condition is often found by the Covid-19 Task Force in the Kuta, Legian, Seminyak, and Canguu areas.
MORE: In addition to this story, there was news yesterday of a sweep of nightclubs in Denpasar, as well as a tightening of patrols at the village level there, where local authorities have said they will extend the current restrictions until Feb. 18. Further reports included dispatches from Gianyar, Tabanan, Klungkung, Bangli, and Buleleng.
"Small Tornado Sweeps Beaches in Canggu, Damaging Dozens of Shacks (Video)" from Coconuts: A small tornado swept across Pererenan Beach as it headed towards Nelayan Beach in Canggu yesterday evening, surprising beachgoers and reportedly damaging beach shacks located in the area. A number of videos taken from various angles have been making their rounds on Instagram, showing the tornado running its course. One might think that people would run away from the tornado, but this didn’t seem to be the case as some braved the risks to stand by and watch.
Context: Radar Bali later reported that a total of 10 buildings along the beach were damaged in the tornado.
"Snacking in Siang Bolong, Dozens of CSWs in Denpasar Arrested" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): The Sat Pol PP of Denpasar City arrested 18 commercial sex workers (PSK) who were selling "slime" in broad daylight. A number of prostitutes were arrested on Monday (18/1) afternoon around the Lumintang area, North Denpasar. The Head of the Denpasar City Police PP Head, Dewa Sayoga said that when they were about to be secured, a number of masher men who were going to use the services of the prostitutes managed to escape, scampering away. "They (masher men) managed to escape," said Sayoga, Monday (18/1) afternoon. He explained that the control was carried out based on a report from the Head of Puri Kaja Village, North Denpasar.
"The Trans Metro Dewata and KSPN Vehicles Are Expected to Be Integrated, Opening Up New Opportunities for Guides" from The Bali Tribune (Indonesian): Bali currently has the Trans Metro Dewata mode of transportation, which is named Teman Bus. In addition, there are also vehicles that serve a number of routes to the National Tourism Strategic Area (KSPN). However, the two modes of transportation still operate independently in the sense that they are not integrated... Chairman of Commission III of the Bali DPRD Anak Agung Ngurah Adhi Ardhana stated, currently Teman Bus already has an application. Meanwhile, the KSPN vehicles still haven't. According to him, there needs to be an integration in one application to make it easier for passengers. Besides that, with the application, of course there will be interconnection of each line.
"Garbage in Drainage Piles Up, Blue Team is Overwhelmed by Transporting Garbage" from Bali Express (Indonesian): According to the Head of PUPR Denpasar City I Nyoman Ngurah Jimmy Sidarta, Monday (18/1), the Blue Team belonging to the Denpasar City PUPR Office carried 2 tons of garbage per day. "During this rainy season, a lot of garbage has accumulated. Especially plastic waste which reaches 60 percent," explained Jimmy Sidarta. With such circumstances, Jimmy Sidarta admitted, the Blue Team was overwhelmed by the high volume of garbage in Denpasar City. In fact, in order to be handled quickly, the Denpasar City PUPR Service has deployed hundreds of officers. "There are 300 officers, they work 3 shifts, morning, noon, and night involving 7 garbage trucks," he said.
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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