Tuesday, September 22
Central Govt forms new multi-province Task Force to stop infection surge + Country sees worst day of new cases & deaths yet + Bali opening 10 new isolation centers in hotels + more!
Good morning! Welcome to The Bali Beat for Tuesday, September 22. If you’re not a subscriber, sign up here to get this update delivered directly to your Inbox every Monday-Saturday 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
*NOTE: BMKG Balai Besar Region III Denpasar has issued an early High Wave Warning for today. Waves higher than 2 meters are likely to occur in the Bali Sea, Badung Strait, Lombok Strait, and the South Indian Ocean Bali.
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 complete breakdown of yesterday’s numbers + trendlines in our evening update. 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
"To Fight Corona in 9 Priority Provinces, Government Forms 'Task Force COVID-19'" from Detik (Indonesian): The government is working on 3T (testing, tracing, treatment) to reduce Corona cases in Indonesia. To implement this, the government has formed a new "Task Force COVID-19" (TFC-19) to reduce cases in 9 priority provinces. TFC-19 will take care of all technicalities in handling COVID-19. From reducing the mortality rate to synchronizing central and regional data. The 9 provinces that are prioritized according to Jokowi's direction are North Sumatra, DKI Jakarta, West Java, Central Java and East Java. Then Bali, South Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, and Papua... Jokowi ordered the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Menko Marves) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan and the Head of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Doni Monardo to reduce the death rate from Corona in 9 provinces. Jokowi gave a two-week target for Luhut and Doni to fix the condition of Corona in the 9 provinces.
"Indonesia Logs Record Single-day Infection Spike Of 4,176" from The Jakarta Post: Indonesia recorded 4,176 new coronavirus cases on Monday, a new daily record spike that brought the total number of infections nationwide to 248,852 so far. The spike, which continues the trend of increasing numbers of confirmed cases over the past month, came just two days after the Health Ministry reported the country's previous record high of 4,168 cases on Saturday. The archipelago also saw 124 new deaths from the disease, bringing the total number of fatalities to 9,677... Indonesia has reported one of the highest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases among Southeast Asian countries, second only to the Philippines which had seen 290,190 cases as of Monday, according to worldometers.info. It currently has the 23rd-most cases of any country in the world.
"Bali Provincial Government Prepares 10 Quarantine Hotels for OTG and Mild Symptoms" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian): The Chief Executive of the Bali Provincial BPBD, I Made Rentin, will prepare ten (10) hotels to be used as quarantine for residents who are confirmed positive with mild symptoms and people without symptoms (OTG). Of these ten hotels, one will be managed directly by the Province and the remaining nine (9) will be managed by each existing Regency and City... For now, of the 157 room capacities available from three (3) quarantine places, namely the BPK Pering Education and Training Center, Bapelkesmas, and Wisma Bima, 88 rooms are filled and the rest are scattered in 17 other referral hospitals.
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Other Headlines
"After 10 Days of Independent Isolation, Sekkab Jembrana Recovers from Covid-19" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): Jembrana District Secretary (Sekkab) I Made Sudiada, who was confirmed positive for Covid-19, was finally declared cured after 10 days of undergoing independent isolation. The Jembrana Sekkab recovered along with fourteen other patients who were previously confirmed positive for Covid... According to I Gusti Agung Putu Arisantha, Spokesperson fro Jembrana's Covid-19 Task Force, the results of the swab from the contact tracing of the Jembrana District Secretary have also confirmed that no other official or employee has been confirmed positive. "None of the contact tracing was positive, some of the employees and officials all of the results of the swab were negative," he explained.
"Regional Secretary Admits that the Trends are Concerning, Covid-19 Cases in Bali Tend to Increase" from The Bali Tribune (Indonesian): Bali Provincial Secretary Dewa Made Indra admitted that the spread of Covid-19 in Bali still shows a concerning trend. This is indicated by the growth of daily cases, the increase in mortality and the decline in patient recovery rates. He added that the application of discipline and enforcement of health protocol laws is a way to strengthen the prevention and control of the spread of Covid-19 in providing protection to the public from exposure to the virus... "Wearing a mask is indeed uncomfortable, but it will be even more uncomfortable if you get Covid-19. If all discipline uses a mask, I am sure that the potential for COVID-19 transmission will be prevented and controlled," said Dewa Indra. "It is not the goal of the fine that we put forward, but how to make the community more obedient. Remember one principle, your mask protects me, my mask protects you. Not just wearing, but must be used correctly to cover the mouth and nose area," he said.
"Covid Rises, Regent Suwirta: Face-to-Face Learning in Nusa Penida Canceled" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): Klungkung Regent I Nyoman Suwirta finally decided to cancel the plan to implement face-to-face learning systems in Nusa Penida District. Apart from the occurrence of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the sub-district, it was also due to the consideration of the Circular of the Governor of Bali, Wayan Koster. So it was decided to implement a face-to-face learning system in Nusa Penida District that would follow the situation in Bali Province in general. “I'm afraid that a little mistake will have a fatal impact. Better to be safe. So we followed what happened in mainland Bali. But the study is still ongoing," the Regent explained.
"Treatment of Covid Patients at Pratama Hospital is Stopped" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): The treatment of covid-19 patients in government-owned facilities will be transferred entirely to Buleleng Hospital. That means Giri Emas Pratama Hospital is no longer used as a care facility for patients with confirmed Covid. "The standard Pratama Hospital is still a first level health facility. So that from the financing side, it cannot cover Covid patients. So now it is centered in RSUD,” said Secretary of Buleleng's Covid-19 Task Force, Gede Suyasa. "We are currently designing additional rooms in the hospital. If deemed necessary, later we can make an emergency hospital. But it really depends on the situation. But so far, with room support from private hospitals, Covid patients can still be handled."
"The PCR Laboratory of Tabanan Hospital Officially Operates on 22 September" from The IDN Times (Indonesian): After waiting for about two months, the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) laboratory for COVID-19 examination at the Tabanan Regional General Hospital (RSUD) officially operates, Tuesday (9/22/2020). It is hoped that the PCR laboratory's COVID-19 test samples will be more numerous and examined quickly without waiting for days... For the first stage later, the PCR lab of the Tabanan Hospital operates one shift. Where in one shift , PCR instrument can work twice running. One running takes about three hours. "So one shift is six hours. So that the samples examined in one shift reach 60 samples," explained Dr. I Wayan Duta Krisna, Head of the PCR and Microbiology Lab at Tabanan Hospital.
"Aviation Industry Sees Setback in Recovery Amid PSBB, Public Fears" from The Jakarta Post: State-owned airport operator Angkasa Pura (AP) II recorded a 2.6 percent decline in passenger movements at the 19 airports it manages during the first two weeks of September compared to the same period in August. That follows a strong rebound between June and July... AP II data show that monthly passenger movement surged 466% month-to-month (mtm) in June, as the government lifted the Idul Fitri mudik (exodus) travel ban that had led to a sharp drop in air passengers in May. The uptrend continued in July with 135% mtm growth. However, the passenger growth rate slowed to 35.5% mtm in August, before contracting in the first two weeks of September.
"Cockfighting Arena in Bangli Demolished, Feared to Become a Source of Covid-19 Clusters" from iNews Bali (Indonesian): A joint team consisting of the TNI , Police and officers from the Bangkas Traditional Village visited the cockfighting arena in Bebalang Traditional Village. Head of Information at Korem 163 Wira Satya, Major Ida Bagus Putu Diana Sukerta said that controlling the cockfighting arena was part of a follow-up to the Bali Governor's Regulation Number 46 of 2020 which was recently issued concerning Tightening of Discipline and Enforcement of Health Protocol Laws. "This can at the same time prevent new clusters of Covid-19 from spreading because of the cockfighting which involves large crowds," 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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For all stories marked "Indonesian" I have used Google Translate to convert it from Bahasa. In most cases I try to polish the excerpt and/or write a short summary in proper English to help clarify the details.
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