Bali may technically be under new tightened restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus, but it appears that people are still leaving their homes and going around town as per usual, as pointed out by one of Indonesia’s senior ministers yesterday.
Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Pandjaitan said during a press conference that Bali has yet to show any significant changes in mobility, even when the Emergency Enforcement of Restriction on Public Activities (Emergency PPKM) have been in force for several days now.
“Up until July 6, we see many ‘black’ regencies and cities in East Java and Bali. The reduction in mobility is not yet significant, this requires even more attention, the key is in tightening [restrictions],” Luhut, who is overseeing Emergency PPKM, said.
Luhut said officials are hoping that mobility will be reduced by at least 30 percent to help scale down infections, while adding that 50 percent reduction is more ideal.
According to data provided by his ministry, the least amount of progress in terms of reducing mobility was seen in Karangasem regency, while Badung regency and Denpasar city seem to be faring better. However, even the latter two have only managed to reduce mobility by less than 11 percent up until Tuesday.
Bali Governor Wayan Koster has promised to increase monitoring so as to limit mobility.
The province reported 505 cases yesterday, inching closer to the highest daily new infections the province has seen during the pandemic, which was 542 cases on Jan. 26.
Koster said Bali has increased tracing by 200 percent compared to before Emergency PPKM, which amounts to about 3,000 people per day. According to the governor, this has led to the recent case spike.
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