Wednesday, November 11
Clinical trial of main vaccine for Indonesia halted in Brazil after "adverse incident" + Jembrana expands mass swab testing to all govt workers + Guv says tourism won't recover until 2023 + more!
Good morning! Welcome to The Bali Beat for Wednesday, November 11. (Happy Veteran’s Day / Remembrance Day / Singles Day!) 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
NOTE: Due to technical issues, the Weather Forecast graphic is not available. You can see it by clicking here.
Today’s Tides
Surf Outlook
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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
VACCINE UPDATE: Yesterday, Sinovac, the Chinese pharmaceutical firm, announced that it had paused the Phase 3 test of its Covid-19 vaccine in Brazil after a "severe adverse incident" occurred with one of the trial volunteers. 1,620 people in Indonesia are participating in this trial. Since the first reports, doubt has been cast on whether the “incident” that occurred involved a volunteer or a worker at a hospital where the test was being administered- or if it even had anything to do with the test at all. There are complicated and acrimonious local politics involved. While the Indonesian government has signed agreements to obtain other vaccines, large down payments for purchases of Sinovac’s vaccine have already been made, and vaccination plans in this country are being made with it at the center of them. (Note: Vaccine pre-purchases are common practice and allow private companies to conduct their research with some financial certainty. Learn more about how it works here.)
In late October, the Butantan Institute, one of Brazil’s leading biomedical research centers, which is carrying out the Phase 3 tests in that country, released preliminary results of the trial there and said that of all of the vaccines being studied in Brazil, Sinovac’s was ”the safest, the one with the best and most promising rates.” As recently as last week, the company had provided a safety update to the Indonesian government on the trial being conducted here and noted “no major red flags” so far.
As noted above, Sinovac’s vaccine is the one that Indonesia has been betting on, and Bali has been designated as a top priority region in the country’s fight against Covid-19. Extensive planning for mass testing and vaccinations is already underway here. I will continue to monitor any developments with the Sinovac trial and relevant updates about the situation will be carried here.
"Bulk Swab of Jembrana Regency Government Employees Planned to Start Wednesday" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian): The mass swab in an effort to strengthen the handling of Covid-19 will be carried out in conjunction with the mass swab of Jembrana Police personnel. Spokesperson for the Covid-19 Handling Task Force Jembrana, Dr. I Gusti Agung Putu Arisantha, said that the swab of the Jembrana Police personnel, which began last Monday (2/11), is currently still ongoing. As of early this week, around 200 Polres personnel have been swabbed. "There are still a lot of Polres. Total Polres personnel, if I'm not mistaken, yesterday we received data, there were around 800 people," said Arisantha... According to Arisantha, regarding the schedule for implementing the swab for the police and district government officials, it is scheduled 3 times per week. The implementation also includes swab tests on residents who had close contact with Covid-19 patients. However, for the time being, those who were in close contact with the ranks of the apparatus were separated. "The day before (yesterday), there were 75 people who were swabbed. Among them are 37 people who are in close contact, and 38 members of the National Police,” said Arisantha.
"Bali Governor Says Tourism May Not Recover Until 2023" from The Bali Sun: Bali Governor I Wayan Koster said that Bali is in need of more financial support from Central Government so businesses that rely on international tourists can survive. "We predict that the tourism industry will bounce back around 2022 or possibly even 2023, so for now businesses are expecting to get a loan with low interest rate to avoid bankruptcy which will cause even more job loss,” Koster said... “While waiting for the international travel to reopen, we want Bali to focus more on developing the agriculture and fishery sectors. We also hope that the domestic tourism will start contributing to the financial recovery for the island,” said Wimboh Santoso, Head of Financial Service Authorization Commission.
>> Classifieds <<
Business is tough in the best of times, but these days- Wow. Thankfully, there’s a supportive spirit among the foreigners who remain in Bali; this newsletter is proof. If you’ve got a product or service that needs local support to succeed, let this community know about it here.
Other Headlines
"Occupancy of Covid-19 Patients at Wangaya Hospital Decreased" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian): Occupancy in the Wangaya Hospital isolation room has now decreased. The Denpasar's Covid-19 Task Forcer stated that the decrease in cases treated reached 60% from its peak, where over 100% of its 50 beds were occupied. Task Force Spokesperson I Dewa Gede Rai said that because the number of cases in Denpasar City tends to decrease, the occupancy is also certain to decline.
(Ed. Note: The Provincial Government does not regularly release hospitalization, intubation, or ICU admission data. The “In Treatment” number that is disclosed every day includes any person who has been diagnosed and has not yet recovered. Patients in this category could be in an isolation facility for asymptomatic people, such as a hotel, or in a hospital’s Intensive Care Unit; the government does not provide a breakdown of where people are being treated. For this reason, it is difficult to ascertain the level of strain on the healthcare system at any given point. However, for the last month, daily infection rates have been declining, and the people who became infected during the last major spike in August and September have been recovering, so the “In Treatment” number has been declining rapidly. The precise effect this has been having on hospitals is unclear, but the general trend indicates that there should be less pressure on these facilities.)
"Ahead of the Pilkada, 10,818 KPPS Officers in Bali Join the Rapid Test" from The IDN Times (Indonesian): Towards the implementation of the Simultaneous Election Voting for the City of Denpasar which will take place on December 9, 2020, Wangaya Denpasar Regional General Hospital (RSUD) is holding a rapid test for Voting Organizing Group (KPPS) officers. The rapid test has started on November 6 and will run until November 14, 2020. As many as 10,818 KPPS officers spread across four sub-districts are scheduled to take the test. "Of course this is an effort to provide a sense of security and comfort and to ensure that the Pilkada does not become a cluster for the spread of COVID-19," explained Plt. Managing Director of Wangaya Hospital, Dr. Dewa Alit Parwita.
"Head of BMKG: Be Aware of Peak Rainfall in December-January in Bali" from Antara (Indonesian): "What needs to be considered is the rainfall that has increased by almost 50% this rainy season, partly due to the influence of La Nina and the Madden Julian Oscilation or MJO (wet air movement) phenomenon that will pass through Bali," said Dwikorita Karnawati, Head of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG). "The central and southern areas of Bali are estimated to have the most potential to experience high and almost even rainfall," he said.
"Garuda’s Losses Remain Sky High in Q3 2020" from Bali Discovery: PT Garuda Indonesia suffered a further US$1.07 billion in losses in Q3 of 2020. Reflecting on the dramatic reversal of fate for the aviation industry as a whole, Garuda’s loss of US$1.07 billion compares to a profit of US$122.42 million for Q3 in 2019. Faud Rizal, Director of Finance and Risk Management for Garuda Indonesia, blames the massive losses on the Airline’s lack of income and vastly reduced flight schedules precipitated by the global Pandemic.
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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