Wednesday, May 20
Island govt says more banjar/village lockdowns coming if local transmissions continue to rise + Scofflaws dodging PKM checkpoints in Denpasar + more!
Good morning! Welcome to the COVID-19 Update for Bali for Wednesday, May 20. 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.
Ikan Kecil Amed Bali Food Bank and Community Centre: Meaning "small fish," IKAB is a licensed nonprofit that serves underprivileged families in North Bali. Born literally from the ashes of the Mt. Agung eruption and evacuations of 2017, they worked tirelessly with locals and local authorities to ensure that evacuees' needs were met in terms of shelter, first aid, communications, food, water, and sanitation. Their work has continued and grown through the creation of ancillary groups that focus on different areas of expertise such as Amed Bali First Aid, the Do Well Project, and Precious Plastic Amed Bali; and thanks to the Covid-19 crisis, the number of impoverished people in need continues to grow. To learn more about their work and to get information on how you can wire transfer donations to support them, visit their Facebook page.
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
"Provincial Government Will Isolate Localities If Local Transmission Increases" from Bali Express (Indonesian): The increasing number of positive cases of Covid-19 that occurred due to local transmission has become a serious concern of the Provincial Government of Bali. "According to the Governor's direction, wherever there is a high local transmission, decisive action is taken. Namely isolation of the region," said Dewa Made Indra, Provincial Secretary and Chair of the Covid-19 Task Force. He added, if the local transmission increases in a banjar, the banjar will be isolated. Likewise in a wider environment. Namely in the village. If the local transmission rate is high, the village will be isolated.
"Drive Thru-style COVID-19 Rapid Test Now Available In Bali" from Kumparan (Indonesian): The Drive Thru Rapid Test service is provided by the Siloam Nusa Dua BIMC Hospital located at the Arya Duta Hotel exit on Jalan Kartika Plaza Segara Kuta, Badung, Bali. "This drive thru rapid test allows the public and tourists to screen more quickly, easily and safely. Minimal physical contact between residents because they remain in the vehicle without the need to get out," said Fransiska, Drive Thru Rapid Test Coordinator... Patients can register first through WhatsApp number (0811-3896-113) by paying Rp 489,000. Then, write down your name, date of birth, mobile number, email, and photo ID card, then make a payment through OVO or QRIS, and do a rapid test in each car. The test results will be sent via WhatsApp and email the same day. So that people can go home immediately.
"Desperate To Avoid PKM Checkpoints, Scofflaws Take Back Road" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): Based on the monitoring of Radar Bali, many motorbikes and cars recklessly entered the city of Denpasar through a "rat route" to avoid inspection at the border post. Meanwhile, Denpasar City Kadishub, I Ketut Sriawan, said officers were not focused on finding violations in the PKM... He stressed that the efforts to stop the spread of the corona virus in Denpasar City must be fully supported by the community. Because, he said, mental health and safety only exist in the discipline of individuals to follow the government's recommendations for self-preservation. "If someone is looking for 'rat ways' to avoid a border post, it is clearly a self-inflicted wound. Because at the border post, a rapid test was prepared. If he wants to be healthy, wants to be safe, of course he does not find a way to dodge the checkpont, he comes to meet health protocol standards."
*NOTE: Reports spreading on social media yesterday about a pregnant nurse in Bali dying from Covid-19 appear to be inaccurate. According to The Jakarta Post, the victim passed in a hospital in Surabaya, and while the coronavirus is widely believed to have been the cause, a diagnosis had not been confirmed as of last night. (Link)
Other Headlines
"Bali Authorities In Traditional Costumes Turn Away Beach Visitors In Tabanan Regency" from Coconuts: Authorities in Tabanan regency are taking the task of monitoring closed tourist spots to the next level, with officers wearing traditional Balinese costumes and masks to turn away visitors... A video taken near Yeh Gangga Beach in Tabanan is circulating on social media today, showing two visitors on a motorbike approaching the entrance of the beach, only to be stopped by a group of officers in traditional costumes and clothing, telling them to "wash their hands" and "wear masks."
"Rough Week In Indonesia: 20% Of Coronavirus Cases Occur In Last Seven Days" from The Jakarta Globe: New confirmed cases of coronavirus infection in Indonesia have been consistently high by averaging 535 in the last eight days until Monday, more than double the daily average of 231 cases since the first cases were identified on March 2... The task force has changed the method in reporting probable cases by excluding those who have undergone swab testing, drastically reducing the number. As a result, the number of probable cases at hospitals dropped to 11,422 from 35,800 on Sunday. The number of persons under surveillance for suspected Covid-19 also fell sharply to 45,047 from 270,876. "We renew the way we update probable cases. We only report all probable cases across Indonesia based on the latest actual figure," task force spokesman Achmad Yurianto said in a video conference in Jakarta. Previously, the task force reported data on probable cases accumulatively without reducing the figure by the number of those who have tested for the virus.
"Health Protocols to Be Priority In Tourism Recovery Strategy: Officials" from The Jakarta Post: The Office of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister’s undersecretary, Ridwan Djamaluddin, said the government would soon establish a team to coordinate efforts to revive tourism alongside private companies and stakeholders. "We are currently formulating a strategy and raising funds to revive tourism. The ministry has proposed establishing a joint team to coordinate our efforts, as the government and private sector cannot work separately," he said... Bali's deputy governor Tjokorda Oka Arta Ardhana said the province planned to establish "tourism clusters," which would be exclusive tourist zones in which high-level health protocols would be implemented, so that tourists could be welcomed back without the risk of spreading COVID-19 to locals. "We don’t want to have a second wave of infections when we reopen. Therefore, we are currently discussing setting up tourism clusters around the island," he said.
"Bali Deports 48 Foreigners During Pandemic" from The IDN Times (Indonesian): During the COVID-19 pandemic, from January to May 2020, the Class I Immigration Office of the Special TPI Ngurah Rai has deported 45 foreigners. The data provided by Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Putu Surya Dharma, does not clearly specify the citizenship or types of violations committed by them... Then what about the deportation system during the pandemic, especially with the temporary closure policy for flights? Surya Dharma explained, the deported foreigners would be looking for connecting flights or staying in the detention room for a while. But it is still unconfirmed how many foreigners currently inhabit the detention room.
"Pandemic: Bali Economy Among Indonesia's Worst-hit" from Tempo: Bali experienced an economic slowdown of 1.14% in Q1, which is among the worst in Indonesia. "Bali's economy is among those corrected the deepest, along with Yogyakarta," kata Bank Indonesia's (BI) Bali Office head Trisno Nugroho said... Trisno said that in Q1/2020 Bali's economy slowed significantly because of the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly because the island heavily relies on tourism—contributing more than 55% to its income. Visits declined sharply because of the pandemic, and cancellations were abounding ever since February.
"Consumption Patterns and Lifestyles Change Since Covid-19 Outbreak" from The Bali Post (Indonesian): The community is more dominant in shopping for daily needs such as fresh food, instant food, home care products. In addition, people's lifestyles also change such as cooking themselves at home, watching TV more often and doing creative activities... With changing patterns of consumer activity, this automatically affects the proportion of household expenditure. Of the various components of household expenditure, spending on FMCG products and telecommunications increased. Conversely there are expenditure posts that have decreased quite a lot, namely transportation, benzine costs, tolls, public transportation, and education costs (school supplies, tutoring, extracurricular), leisure expenses (eating out, recreation, shopping for fashion needs).
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.