Wednesday, December 2
Year-end holiday cut by 3 days + Govt official says vaccines won't be mandatory + 7-day avg. hits new record nationally as island's hospitals reach capacity & govt scrambles to find more beds + more!
Good morning! Welcome to The Bali Beat for Wednesday, December 2. 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
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.
The Big News
"Indonesia’s End-of-year Break Officially Shortened by 3 Days Amid Rising COVID-19 Cases" from Coconuts: The government has officially cancelled three collective leave days between Christmas and New Year. Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy made the long-awaited announcement this evening. “There will be a reduction in collective leave by three days, namely on [December] 28, 29, 30,” Muhadjir said. “We hope that this decision will not create controversy or outrage, so the greater good can gain its benefits.” As it stands, the government is mandating collective leave days on Dec. 24 and Dec. 31, which may serve as some consolation to those hoping for a rare extended end-of-year break.
"COVID-19 Vaccination Will Not Be Compulsory: Thohir" from Antara: The Indonesian government will not compel people who refuse to participate in COVID-19 immunization to get vaccinated, chief of the COVID-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery Committee (KPCPEN), Erick Thohir, said on Tuesday. A survey has shown about 66% of Indonesians trust COVID-19 vaccines and are keen to get vaccinated, Thohir said. “But some 16% are refusing to have the vaccine, we cannot force them,” Thohir, who is also the Minister of State Enterprises, said... According to Thohir, the government will maintain data on vaccine receivers as the COVID-19 vaccine would have to be taken twice. Therefore, the minister would ensure integration of data from the Health Ministry, the Communication and Informatics Ministry, the Indonesian military, and police. "Because we realize that personal data privacy must be protected by the government, this program will be conducted under direct coordination of President Joko Widodo. The data will be kept by the government and it will be protected," he assured.
(Ed. Note: The central government has yet to roll out the details of its plan to distribute any of the Covid-19 vaccines that it has purchased so far. Information has been coming out in drips and drabs. This is the first time that anyone in the central government has talked about whether people would be required to take a vaccine. Last month, several Governors were said to be considering local legislation to enact penalties for anyone who refuses a vaccine once it becomes available. It is unclear how the central government’s apparent position would effect any such laws. In addition to this unresolved contradiction, the date when any vaccination program will start is still not known. President Widodo has said that it would commence in late December, but the head of Indonesia’s food and drug agency, BPOM, has insisted that it could not start until late January. In addition, yesterday, the Regional Secretary of Buleleng, Gede Suyasa, said that in the first meeting of provincial leaders about distribution planning, funding sources had yet to be confirmed, logistical responsibilities were still being worked out, and even the number of initial vaccines to be given to each Regency hadn’t been decided upon, though it looks like Buleleng’s first tranche would be for 400,000 doses. Stay tuned.)
"Seven-Day Average of New Covid Cases Sets Record for 9th Day in a Row" from The Jakarta Globe: The surge in newly coronavirus cases has extended the run of record-breaking seven-day average for the ninth day in a row on Tuesday, after hitting the 5,000 mark for the first time since the outbreak two days ago. Indonesia has been averaging 5,382 cases in the last seven days, bringing the total number of cases to 543,975, according to the Health Ministry data. An additional 136 Covid patients have died in the last 24 hours to take the total death toll to 17,081, or 3.1% of overall cases. The weekly death toll also saw a new high for the third consecutive day, with an average of 139 deaths.
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Other Headlines
"Indonesia in Talks with Pfizer on Covid-19 Vaccine And Cold-chain Storage" from The Straits Times: Indonesia has begun talks with officials from US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer to secure the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine to ensure sufficient supplies before a massive roll-out of a vaccination drive next year in the world's fourth most populous country. The talks involved the health ministry earlier this week and will continue next week with officials from BPOM, Indonesia's equivalent of the US Food and Drug Administration, two government officials said on condition of anonymity. "Pfizer offered to help provide the required cold-chain facility to ensure proper distribution of their vaccines," one official told The Straits Times.
"Covid-19 Cases Soaring, Bali Provincial Government Prepares Additional Isolation Sites" from iNews Bali (Indonesian): While the currently available isolation rooms are 1,308 beds and 140 ICU rooms. "If cases increase to 70 percent, we will add isolation rooms," said the head of the Bali Health Service Ketut Suarjaya. The plan for additional isolation rooms, said Suarjaya, is at the same time to anticipate a spike in Covid-19 cases during regional elections and year-end holidays. Suarjaya said that it would still be prioritized in a number of hospitals that had been used to treat Covid-19 patients, namely Bali Mandara Hospital, Udayana State University Hospital and Army Hospital.
"107 Jembrana Residents Are Positive for Covid-19 in One Week, 31 Patients Recover" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): In the past week, since November 22, 107 Jembrana residents have been confirmed positive. The number is the highest in a week since the Covod-19 pandemic in Jembrana. In fact, additional cases are increasing every day, as what happened [Monday], when 14 people were confirmed positive. "Crowds without implementing health protocols have a high potential for infection," said Agung Putu Arisantha, Spokesperson for Jembrana's Covid-19 Task Force.
(Ed. Note: The rapid rise in new cases in Jembrana has resulted in nearly all of its Covid isolation beds being filled. There are only 5 left as of yesterday. The Regency is currently in talks with a private hospital to make more beds available.)
"Head of the Bali Health Office Says Spike in Covid-19 Cases in Bali Not Because Of A Long Holiday" from The Bali Tribune (Indonesian): Head of the Bali Provincial Health Office, dr. Ketut Suarjaya, said that for Bali itself during a long holiday (28/10/2020) to (1/11/2020) in one to two weeks of long holiday, it turns out that positive cases of Covid-19 in Bali have not increased. "Why does this [spike in cases] happen? According to our analysis, it is because there are many traditional ceremonies in Bali. For example, wedding ceremonies, Ngaben and so on, and what we see is not all people are disciplined. Which results in many cases without symptoms," he said. In addition, his party has also overseen an increase in tracing and testing, especially in government offices, hospitals, and of election workers.
(Ed. Note: Bali Regional Secretary Dewa Made Indra had the same message yesterday, attributing the recent rise in cases to increased testing and tracing identifying more people who have been infected at mass gatherings.)
"To Prevent Covid-19 from Spreading, BRSUD Tabanan Has Prepared A Screening Isolation Room" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): The Regional General Hospital Agency (BRSUD) of Tabanan is not only preparing an isolation room and handling Covid-19 patients, but also an isolation room for screening. This room is prepared for general patients so that they can do initial screening and treatment before being tested for Covid-19. In order not to mingle, new patients come with other patients who had been treated at BRSU Tabanan. General patients who have just arrived with the reactive results of the rapid test will automatically proceed to the swab test. And, if the swab is positive, the patient will be transferred directly to the Covid-19 isolation room.
"Bali Urges Central Government to Hold Events on the Island" from The Bali Sun: The Provincial Secretary of Bali, Dewa Made Indra, urged the Central Government to prioritize Bali when arranging national events and government conferences. He explained that this would help Bali recover from the crisis. “We appreciate the government holding more meetings in Bali. We hope that major events from the President’s Cabinet and Institution will also be held here to help our economy, which has been devastated since the pandemic” said Indra. The Secretary also stated that hosting key events in Bali would gain trust from international tourists.
"ITDC-Bali to Create its Own Travel Bubble" from Bali Discovery: the Nusa Dua Complex (ITDC) in South Bali is now preparing to become a “green zone” free of COVID-19. Managed by the State-Owned Indonesian Tourists Development Corporation (ITDC), The Nusa Dua Complex aims to introduce more pervasive and thoroughgoing health protocols to provide a comfortable and safe destination for domestic and international visitors to Bali. The proposed zone will serve as a “travel bubble” where both the people visiting Bali and those helping them during their stay practice a stricter form of physical distancing.
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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