Tuesday, October 13
Travel corridor w/Singapore to open Oct. 26 + Tabanan adds 100 isolation beds at hotel as part of push to convert 13,000 hotel beds nationwide + Muted observance of 2002 bombing + more!
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Weather & Waves
Today’s Weather for Southern Bali
Today’s Tides
Surf Outlook
*NOTE: BMKG Balai Besar Region III Denpasar has issued a High Wave Warning for today and tomorrow. Ocean waves as high as 0.25-2 meters are estimated to occur in the northern waters of Bali, 1.5-4 meters in the southern waters of Bali, 1-4 meters in the Bali Strait, and 1-4 meters in the Lombok Strait.
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 at the Regency level.
The Big News
"Indonesia Creates Essential Business, Diplomatic Travel Corridor with Singapore" from The Jakarta Post: Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said at a press conference on Monday that the arrangement, dubbed the Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL), would come into effect on Oct. 26. “Trips [via the corridor] may be available within several days in accordance with Indonesia’s e-visa application process and Singapore’s safe travel pass [application process],” Retno said. She added that the travel corridor was limited to pressing diplomatic and business trips and did not cover tourism... According to the ministry, Indonesian citizens seeking to enter Singapore via the corridor will be required to have official sponsors from Singaporean state agencies and enterprises, in addition to a safe travel pass. Likewise, Singaporean nationals traveling to Indonesia will be obliged to have official sponsors from Indonesian state departments and business entities, in addition to a visa.
"Tabanan Prepares Self-Quarantine Places for COVID-19 Patients at Hotels" from The IDN Times (Indonesian): The head of the Tabanan Health Service, Dr. Nyoman Suratmika, said that the Tabanan Regency Government had prepared 100 beds for this self-contained quarantine facility starting Monday. The quarantine places prepared are hotels in Denpasar City. Later, Tabanan residents who are confirmed positive without symptoms or mild symptoms will be quarantined there... Four health workers are being sent to the independent quarantine facility. They will work in shifts of two people. Their job is to monitor and care for Tabanan residents who are undergoing self-quarantine at the hotel. "One person has one room, unless they are in the same family, such as husband and wife or parents and children," said Suratmika.
(Ed. Notes: Tabanan’s opening of hotel rooms as isolation centers is part of a wider effort to fight the spread of the virus by putting asymptomatic people into quarantine until they are no longer contagious. Most regencies in Bali have done this, or are in the process of doing it, with the government announcing yesterday that 15 hotels have been made ready with over 2,500 beds. Media reports yesterday count more than 13,000 hotel rooms as having been converted into isolation wards across the country.)
"Workers, Students Stage Another Round of Protests Against Job Creation Law" from The Jakarta Post: Members of labor unions and the general public have once again taken to the streets nationwide to protest the controversial Job Creation Law. Workers affiliated with the Confederation of Indonesian Prosperity Trade Unions (KSBSI) staged protests to oppose the jobs law in front of the Presidential Palace in Central Jakarta on Monday afternoon... “Labor unions and workers will continue the protests in a structured manner according to the Constitution,” KSPI chairman Said Iqbal said on Monday as reported by kompas.com. He said the unions would make sure that the planned protests would not result in violence.
(Ed. Note: There have been very few media reports about the protests that took place yesterday, and there were none of any gatherings in Bali. The only event mentioned was a meeting between the Tourism Workers Union and Bali Governor Koster. He urged those opposing the new law to focus on the "substance of the contents of the law" and to see the positive side of it, while promising to convey “aspirations to improve its implementation” to the central government.)
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Other Headlines
"After the Reject Omnibus Action, Positive Cases of Covid-19 in Bali Decreased" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): On 8 October 2020, the massive action carried out by groups of students, laborers and other people in Denpasar did not cause a surge in positive cases of Covid 19 in Bali. This can be seen in recent days, cases of Covid-19 transmission in Bali have indeed persisted but tend to decline. Meanwhile, cases recovered are actually increasing... As data presented by the Covid 19 Handling Task Force in Bali, on Monday (12/10), or four days after the big demonstration, positive cases of Covid-19 experienced a sharp decline. Where the number is below 100. Exactly as many as 93 people.
(Ed. Note: The incubation period for Covid-19, the time between when a person contracts the virus before symptoms begin to present themselves, "is on average 5-6 days, but can be as long as 14 days." By that measure, Bali is just entering the time when people who may have been exposed at the protests would start feeling ill, and they may not for another 9-10 days. The fact that the overwhelming majority of people at the demonstrations were students means that up to 80% of those who may have contracted the virus could be asymptomatic carriers. Young people who show no symptoms have been seen in some studies to have viral loads even higher than people with symptoms, and have been primary contributors to recent outbreaks in the US. On the other hand, protests held outdoors, where crowds are moving, and the preponderance of participants wear facemasks, have not been shown to create so-called "super spreader" events, per Ashish Jha, former Director of the Harvard Global Health Institute and Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.)
"Schools [in Buleleng] Are Asked to Prepare Health Protocol Facilities" from Berita Bali (Indonesan): The Education, Youth and Sports Office of Buleleng Regency has not planned to implement face-to-face learning in class. A number of parents of students are still worried about the transmission of COVID-19 to students, especially since Buleleng is still in the orange zone. However, the Buleleng Education Office has asked all schools in Buleleng Regency to provide health protocol facilities, as well as provide masks and subsidies to students... Buleleng Regent, Made Astika, stated that face-to-face learning must also obtain permission from the local government based on scientific studies from the task force unit handling COVID-19. "So far it is still online. In order to meet face to face, there must be a study from the task force regarding territorial zones, as well as the readiness of parents first," he explained.
"18 Years of the Bali Bombing Tragedy" from Antara (Indonesian): A number of residents, tourists and families of victims of the incident that killed 202 people came to the monument area to pray and lay down flowers, even though official activities with joint prayers, flower sowing and candlelight meetings which were usually held to commemorate the Bali bombing this year were eliminated to prevent the spread. (Ed. Note: Read more about the subdued commemorations here.)
"Pandemic Hits Bali's Tourism Harder Than 2002 Attacks" from The Jakarta Globe: “The situation is much worse today than 18 years ago,” I Nyoman Depu, who runs a scuba dive business in Denpasar, told the Jakarta Globe. “But the impact from the pandemic is much worse. Only a few people have come to my place since June. Sometimes many weeks passed by without a single guest so I depend on charity from my friends to support the family.”... Acknowledging that it's unlikely to get the tourism business back to any semblance of where it stood last year, Rizki said the government is focusing on encouraging national travelers to visit Bali and making the best preparations possible until the global travel business fully reopens. “We focus on our own market and we have talked with our friends in Jakarta and Bandung on how to bring them to Bali," said Deputy Tourism Minister Rizki Handayani.
"Tightening the Prokes for Driver Partners, Grab Introduces Geofencing Technology" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): Grab, the leading all-in-one application in Southeast Asia, is helping the government and the people of Bali to adapt in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic that is increasingly spreading by becoming the first online application in Indonesia to introduce geofencing technology that can detect and alert Grab driver-partners who are clustered in an area. This technology was introduced to ensure driver partners maintain a safe distance according to government advice, and also to maintain their health. Driver partners who are detected are crowding, will receive an alert via text message or pop-up on their driver-partner app.
"Floods Inundate Several Hundred Houses in Jembrana, Bali" from Antara: A flood, triggered by incessant heavy rains, submerged hundreds of houses in Jembrana District, Bali, particularly Pengambengan, on late Sunday. "The floodwaters began to encircle the area at around 11 p.m. WITA (middle Indonesian standard time), with the peak at around 1 a.m. WITA," Mas Kariman, a resident, whose house got submerged by floodwaters in Munduk Hamlet, Pengambengan Village, Negara Sub-district, Jembrana, stated. The hamlets of Munduk and Kelapa Balian bore the maximum brunt of the flooding, with hundreds of houses inundated until Monday morning.
"Foreign Property Ownership Discussion on Omnibus Law" from Indonesia Expat: Ownership of apartments by foreigners is stated in Article 144 (1) of the Job Creation Law, which says that ownership of apartment units (Sarusun) can be given to foreigners who have permits in accordance with the provisions of laws and regulations. This article is considered unclear and has the potential to cause prolonged discussions on terms... So far, legal experts have been debating the issue of apartment ownership by foreigners because the apartment stands on jointly owned land. According to the Executive Director of Indonesia Property Watch (IPW) Ali Tranghanda, the discussion of property rights in article 144 (1) is unclear and contradicts the regulation of the Minister (Permen) of Agrarian and Spatial Planning and Head of the National Land Agency (ATR/BPN) number 29, year 2016.
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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