Wednesday, December 23
60 teachers in Badung test positive as Denpasar delays school reopenings until March + Police to be stationed at all Badung churches + Guv defends travel restrictions, calls them "middle road" + more!
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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
"Eighty Teachers Contract COVID-19 in Bali, Central Java" from The Jakarta Post: Sixty teachers have tested positive for the coronavirus out of 2,600 teachers who took part a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing program by the local COVID-19 task force in Badung, Bali. The swab tests were provided as part of the regency’s plan to reopen schools in January 2021. The teachers who had returned positive test results had been isolated and were receiving treatment. The agency will be testing a total of 6,248 teachers and 1,502 other staff at schools in the regency.
(Ed. Note: Badung reported 30 new Covid-19 cases yesterday. It is not clear if these confirmed positive results from teachers were announced after the 12:00pm reporting deadline - which would mean that they would be included in today’s numbers - or if some portion of the new cases were included yesterday and some will show up in today’s report.)
"Denpasar City Government Delays Face-to-Face Learning Until March 2021" from The Bali Tribune (Indonesian): Based on the data he obtained from the Denpasar City Health Office, the risk level for the spread of Covid-19 in Denpasar City was 26.3%. "This means that when tests are carried out on 100 residents, 26.3% will be positive for Covid-19," said I Wayan Gunawan, Head of the Education and Youth Office. And this condition is very dangerous especially for children at the elementary and junior high school levels. "Imagine if the children were positive for Covid-19, they had to be isolated or hospitalized without assistance, what about their psychological condition. So we prioritize children's health," said Gunawan... Gunawan also explained that he had held a meeting with PJ Regional Secretary of Denpasar City along with several related OPDs. "Based on the meeting, most of the OPDs concerned hoped to postpone face-to-face learning until March 2021. While waiting, face-to-face simulations were sufficient," said Gunawan.
"Operation Grand Candle 2020: Badung Police Secure Dozens of Churches, 1 Church Guarded by 5 Personnel" from Bali Puspsa News (Indonesian): In order to secure Christmas and New Year 2021 (Nataru), the Badung Police will guard 39 churches in the jurisdiction of the Badung Police. Each church will be assigned 5 personnel and assisted by church officials. Badung Police Chief AKBP Roby Septiadi said, the implementation of the Grand Candle Operation 2020 is currently still ongoing. For security on New Year's Eve, it will be strengthened by 2/3 the force, or about 500 personnel. Any congregation who will attend the service is obliged to check their luggage and check their body temperature. Badung Police Chief AKBP Roby Septiadi stressed that this new year celebration, the provincial government of Bali, had confirmed that there would be no parties and no crowds. The police will not issue an activity permit either. "As long as the activity is carried out with a strict prokes, we invite them. But when there is a violation we will take legal proceedings," he said.
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Other Headlines
"Admitting Dilemma Facing Covid, Koster: I Didn't Choose 2 Extreme Choices" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): According to him, the current situation is between two very extreme choices, namely: the first alternative, fully enforcing Covid-19 control by not opening tourism activities at all. Whereas the second alternative is to fully open up tourism activities by ignoring the handling of Covid-19. Several countries, such as the Netherlands, Germany, France, England, Italy, and Australia, chose the first alternative by limiting the travel of their citizens, and some even closed completely (lockdown)... "In facing this difficult and very dilemma situation, the Provincial Government of Bali did not choose the first or second alternative. The Bali Provincial Government chose a more wise and prudent policy solution, as a middle way between the two extreme options, namely: allowing tourism activities, by continue to prevent transmission and the emergence of new clusters of Covid-19 cases," he said on Tuesday.
(Ed. Note: The Governor’s press conference was a wide-ranging affair, where he touched on many issues. At one point, he had to say that he had no intention of “tormenting” the Balinese people by issuing his new travel restrictions. While declaring that all tourist attractions would be allowed to remain open so long as they enforced health protocols, he explained that if this holiday season was “successful” from a Covid point of view, then the central government - and other countries - would be open to allowing foreign tourists to return to the island. He also confirmed that he had delegated the authority to reopen schools to the Regencies, and said that he “appealed” to them to not go with 100% face-to-face, but to implement a hybrid system in order to mitigate the risk of spreading the virus.)
"Jokowi Announces End-of-year Cabinet Reshuffle" from The Jakarta Post: President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo reshuffled on Wednesday the Indonesia Onward Cabinet, following up on his intent in late June to replace any ministers who did not get “a sense of crisis” in the COVID-19 pandemic response. The refreshed Cabinet lineup, announced just three days before Christmas, would allow the Jokowi administration a fresh start as it embarks on its much-anticipated mass vaccination campaign next year... Budi Gunadi Sadikin, who previously served as deputy State-Owned Enterprises Minister, had been given the task of Health Minister, replacing Terawan Agus Putranto, who had been widely blamed by the public for the state’s lackluster pandemic response.
(Ed. Note: For a little bit of background on each of the new Cabinet officials, click here.)
"Passengers form long queues to take antigen rapid tests in Bali’s Ngurah Rai Airport" from Coconuts: Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport has not been spared from long queues following Indonesia’s new (and rushed) travel requirement for the year-end holiday. In the days since it was enforced, passengers ended up forming long lines to take the antigen rapid tests prior to their trips. Several videos from this morning alone are already making their rounds on Instagram, showing passengers waiting in line for the antigen rapid tests. Some of the clips show the absence of social distancing between passengers, and some wrote on their posts that they’ve been waiting for hours just to get queue numbers for the actual test.
(Ed. Note: Later in the day yesterday, the national Covid-19 Task Force issued advice that anyone traveling by air should get their antigen test before heading to the airport so as to avoid crowds and risk widespread transmission of the virus.)
"Domestic Tourist Visits to Bali Reach Over 100,000" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): Entering the end of December, domestic tourists increased by 100,000 In fact, there were 88 international arrivals. According to the Head of the Bali Tourism Office, I Putu Astawa, the latest data from December 19 counted 145,120 domestic arrivals [for the month so far]. He admitted that in such conditions the Bali Provincial Government did not target anything. "It is difficult for us to determine the target for this situation," he said.
(Ed. Note: Even though original estimates for passenger volume had indicated that the largest wave of tourists would come on December 25, the number of passenger arrivals for this holiday season may have already peaked, according to daily data. The Bali Ngurah Rai Airport Authority said yesterday that on Sunday just 6,239 people landed there, compared with over 13,000 who came in on Thursday. Monday’s numbers were even lower, with only 1,800 disembarkments. Officials say that the new & rapidly-shifting testing requirements “could” be having an effect on people’s desire/ability to travel.)
"More People in Indonesia Go Out Amid Pandemic: Apple, Google Studies" from The Jakarta Post: Despite a constant rise of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia, two new studies by Google and Apple have revealed an increase in the number of people in Indonesia going out of their houses. Google did the study nationwide, while Apple focused on Jakarta, kompas.com reported on Tuesday. The studies, which were conducted earlier this month, showed that several general stores selling food ingredients saw a 3% increase in visitors as compared to the baseline, or daily visitor numbers before the pandemic. In April, the figure had decreased by 24% under the baseline.
"10 Days, LHK Service Evacuates 80 Tons of Garbage on the West Coast" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian): During the last 10 days, the Badung Regency Environment and Sanitation Service (LHK) evacuated 160 trucks or the equivalent of 80 tons of trash from all beaches on the west coast. Of the total, 70% is tree branch waste, while 30% is plastic waste. "For about 10 days, we have been cleaning up garbage every day on all the beaches on the West side. Starting from Parerenan to Jimbaran," said I Made Gede Dwipayana, Coordinator of Marine Debris Evacuation Detection (Desalut), Badung Environment and Sanitation Service.
"BPPT Introduces MBSL-2 Technology to Bali for COVID-19 Testing" from Antara (Indonesian): The Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) through the Task Force for Research and Technology Innovation for Handling COVID-19 (TFRIC-19) introduced the Mobile Biosafety Level-2 (MBSL-2) laboratory variant of the bus for examining COVID-19 specimens. using PCR in Balinese society. "This 'roadshow' activity is to provide information to the wider community about appropriate technology innovation for the Level-2 Mobile Biosafety Laboratory to strengthen the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic," said the Head of BPPT Hammam Riza. While in Bali, MBSL-2 will serve PCR-based swab examinations at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, especially for airport officials. Governor of Bali Wayan Koster will propose to the central government in order to obtain a [permanent] mobile lab unit.
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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