Tuesday, May 19
Crime falling in Denpasar thanks to PKM + All migrant workers who returned before March 22 ordered to take rapid test + Thousands of non-Balinese streaming off of island every day + more!
Good morning! Welcome to the COVID-19 Update for Bali for Tuesday, May 19. Please subscribe and share it with others in the foreigner community on the island. I happily put this daily newsletter together as a public service, and it will be free so long as the current emergency lasts. *A paid subscription is NOT required to access this content.* When signing up, select the "None" option and you'll get it delivered to your Inbox each day. But if you would like to support my work, please consider taking up a voluntary subscription at US$5/month. Thanks!
Status Update
National Numbers:
Bali Numbers:
Today's Regency Numbers
Overall Confirmed Cases Distribution:
Key: Red = Infected | Green = Recovered | Black = Died
Bali 30-Day Trends:
More details on the locations of positive cases within each Regency, as well as the number of suspected cases ("ODP") and people under in-patient observation ("PDP"), can be found in charts & infographics on the websites of each Regency's COVID-19 Task Force:
Badung | Bangli | Buleleng | Denpasar City | Gianyar | Jembrana | Karangasem | Klungkung | Tabanan
Sources:
The national update comes from the Indonesia National Disaster Management Agency: @BNPB_Indonesia
The Bali Numbers infographic comes from the Bali Provincial Government COVID-19 Task Force (link).
The Total Confirmed Cases Distribution map & Regency Numbers figures come from the Bali Provincial Government's data collection department (link).
The 30-day trend charts have been compiled using daily government data.
How You Can Help
Each weekday we'll let you know about an organization or a person who is trying to make a difference for the people of Bali in these difficult times, and how you can pitch in.
The Kolewa Foundation: Operating in Indonesia since 2010, the goal of the Kolewa Foundation is to give children who cannot participate in their local community because of physical inabilities a chance for a reasonable place in their society. During the Covid-19 crisis they are distributing food packages to families in Denpasar, Jimbaran, and Karangasem who have children enrolled in their programs (deaf children, cleft-lip children, scholarships for special education, and parents with newborn babies)- a total of 120 families. They are also offering online classes in sign language and distributing water filters. You can learn more about their work and their history on their website here, you can see updates on their work on their Facebook page, and you can donate directly to their foundation here.
Please visit this page to see a list of all of the efforts that we've featured so far. If you know anyone who is raising funds, delivering food, organizing volunteers, or otherwise trying to rally people to the cause of assisting our neighbors here in Bali, please let us know by sending an email to newsletter@migrationmedia.net.
The Big News
"Crime Falls in Denpasar Thanks to PKM" from The Bali Post (Indonesian): Last week there was a decrease in the number of criminal acts by 50% accoring to the Head of Denpasar Police Ops, Kompol Nyoman Gatra. According to him, with stringent inspections at a number of Denpasar border points, this filters out people who have no clear purpose entering the city. It makes criminals think twice about entering the Denpasar area... Nevertheless, the Police and his staff continue to improve security. This needs to be done in order to anticipate things that are not desirable. "We continue to coordinate and work together in monitoring posts. But we are still focused on efforts to fight COVID-19," Kompol Gatra said.
"Migrant Workers Who Arrived In Bali Before March 22 Ordered to Take Rapid Test" from Detik (Indoesian): The Bali COVID-19 Task Force has re-counyted all Indonesian migrant workers (PMI) who arrived before March 22 to assess the risk of local transmission and speed up testing among them... "PMI who returned before March 22 have been re-enumerated by the customary village-based Mutual Assistance Task Force. The results of this re-survey have found 4,800 PMI who had returned before that date. As we know, we did not do rapid tests for everyone before March 22, because the rapid kit didn't exist yet," said Bali Regional Secretary Dewa Made Indra. "Therefore, the PMI who returned before March 22 are being called to take a rapid test," he added.
"Local Transmission Still High, Governor Delays New Normal Preparation" from Bali Express (Indonesian): With recent trends showing relatively low infection rates and increasing recovery rates, the Central Government has noted Bali's success and declared the situation to be under control recently appreciated the development of the Covid-19 case in Bali which is claimed to be under control. President Joko Widodo has even noted that Bali is expected to be the first region that will be ready to start living life under a "New Normal" set or circumstances... Nevertheless, the Governor of Bali, Wayan Koster, is still delaying preparations in that direction. This is because the positive cases triggered by local transmission still show an increasing trend. "The Central Government indeed encourages Bali to be the first region to have a normal life. That is, economic activity is reopened. But the Governor is still delaying it with the reasons as I mentioned earlier, local transmission figures still occur," said Bali's Regional Secretary, Dewa Indra.
Other Headlines
"Although Prohibited, Thousands Of Travelers from Bali Arrive At Port Of Ketapang Every Day" from Kumparan (Indonesian): In recent days, the wave of passenger arrivals at the Ketapang Port which is dominated by pedestrians has reached 1,000 people per day. On average they return home because there are no more jobs on the Island of the Gods. "I can't work anymore, so I returned to Banyuwangi," said Kusnia, one of the passengers from Rejoagung Village, Srono District, Banyuwangi... "On average, more than 1,000 passengers arrive in Ketapang Port each day," said General Manager of PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry Ketapang, Fahmi Alwaeni. Fahmi said the surge in passengers occurred at night. "It is relatively quiet during the day. On average, passengers come from Bali to Java. While from Java to Bali is very rare," he said.
"Bali Tourism Office Developing 'New Normal' SOPs for Tourist Destinations" from Antara (Indoesian): Head of the Bali Provincial Tourism Office, Putu Astawa, said that the government is in the process of developing SOPs for fixed health procedures to deal with the "new normal" that will come after the COvid-19 crisis abates. He said that in its application there must be an understanding or skill in maintaining health security. The key words are "clean," "healthy," and "safe" - or CHS... "Now is the time to make preparations for the new normal era, where interactions occur with the use of masks, people maintain distance, and health procedures are used in hotels, restaurants, tourist destinations and all other points- we must all know these standards to protect each other," Putu Astawa said.
"Number of Furloughed Balinese Workers Reaches 69,567 people, Layoffs Hit 2,485 people" from The Bali Tribune (Indonesian): The number of formal sector workers in Bali who have been furloughed and laid off due to the Covid-19 pandemic continues to grow. The Head of the Bali Province Manpower and Energy Agency, Ida Bagus Ngurah Arda, explained that the companies that have let workers go mostly operate in Badung Regency, with several in Gianyar Regency and Denpasar City... The provincial government of Bali, he said, has yet to have a program or plan for Balinese workers who are furloughed or laid off. "Everything is being prepared according to the existing budget," said Arda.
"Number of Flights at Ngurah Rai Airport Down Almost 100%" from The Bali Post (Indonesian): Since the imposition of travel restrictions on May 7, 69 flights have been served by Ngurah Rai Airport. Of these, 52 were regular flights and the remaining 17 were repatriation flights... According Andanina Dyah Permata Megasari, Public Relations Officer at Ngurah Rai Airport, most flights arriving in Bali have been from Jakarta, with a few from Lombok Praya, Kupang, Makassar and Waingapu. "There are also cargo charter flights, but the calculations are different," he added. For the number of passengers, the total numebr fo passengers served was 3,565, with most, 63%, being repatriated passengers. The rest were regular travelers. Overall, flight operations are down 97% compared to last year.
Non-Covid News of Note
"Agricultural Land In Gianyar Shrinks by 2,000 Hectares Over Five Years" from Bali Express (Indonesian): Gianyar is the Regency with the second largest area of agricultural land in Bali. However, from 2014 to 2018 the land has been depreciated every year, from 15,000 hectares to 13,000 hectares. It happened because the diversion of agricultural land was rife in Gianyar which was turned into hotels, industries and other forms of permanent buildings... To reduce the shifting function of agricultural land and food more severely, the Regional Regulation on the Protection of Sustainable Agricultural Land (LP2B) in Gianyar Regency was passed on Monday. "I am committed to the conditions of agricultural development. If there are three things that are focused, effective, efficient and independent. Starting from the development, application, mechanization of agriculture before and after harvest. Specifically also in developing human resources. I do not want the younger generation to be more inclined to tourism alone, but so there is a balance between the tourism and agriculture sectors," Gianyar Regent Made Mahayastra said.
Resources
Important information for foreigners who are staying on the island, such as designated COVID-19 hospitals and emergency contact numbers, can be found by following this link.
The government has cancelled its visa-on-arrival process and rolled out enhanced entry requirements for people traveling to Indonesia; they have also granted automatic extensions to most foreigners who are still in the country on temporary stay visas. You can see a (translated) list of all of the relevant regulations on the Directorate General of Immigration & Ministry of Law and Human Rights' website here.
The British Embassy in Jakarta has recently posted a great summary of the Indonesian government's travel restrictions on their Facebook page. You can read it here.
If you are trying to plan travel anywhere, here are some of the best up-to-date resources that can help you:
IATA Travel Center Update - The International Air Transport Association is the global lobbying body for the aviation industry. Their Travel Information Manual Automatic (Timatic) database feeds into airlines' reservation systems, so it is the most reliable list of flight restrictions around.
Revolver Maps' Travel Restrictions Database - This list pulls directly from IATA's Timatic database and arranges the countries in lists that are easier to navigate and creates share-able links for every country. NOTE: This is a third-party service and they warn that the updates to their system can be delayed by several hours for certain countries.
Al Jazeera Travel Restriction & Border Shutdown Tracker - A companion list that includes less technical summaries of each country's travel restrictions, beyond just flights and airport access.
Common abbreviations to be familiar with:
PMI: Indonesian migrant worker
PSBB: Policy of extreme social distancing. Officially restricts forms of transportation and prohibits certain types of business from operating. Requires any permitted businesses to enforce strict social distancing guidelines.
OTG: Possible cases, with no symptoms.
ODP: Suspected cases, being monitored. People with fever or respiratory symptoms such as congestion, sore throat, cough, travel in countries or areas with local transmission, or contact with a confirmed case of Covid-19. Tracked and placed under out-patient observation.
PDP: Probable cases, under observation. People with acute respiratory illness with at least one symptom such as cough, sore throat, congestion, light or heavy pneumonia, and travel in countries or areas with local transmission, or contact with a confirmed case of Covid-19. Usually placed under observation in an isolation ward at a designated hospital pending swab testing results.
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 will polish the excerpt and/or write a short summary in proper English to help clarify the details.
For any questions, comments or tips, please contact us at newsletter@migrationmedia.net.