We read today that Indonesia is energetically marching in the wrong direction, COVID-wise, having on June 21st surpassed the two million infections mark and recorded a new all time high for daily new COVID-19 infections at 14,536 cases.
The new wave of infections, as I've mentioned before, comes in the wake of the Eid al-Fitr holiday season during which millions of Indonesians blatantly ignored the nationwide Mudik travel ban, bringing COVID to their home towns or bringing it back with them, many carrying the new Delta variant which is now on the advance worldwide.
Large scale restrictions remain ruled out by the government due to fear of economic collapse.
In the meantime, in Denpasar, which is experiencing its own uptake in number of infections, rapid antigen tests are being administered on "random" people, which may someday include me, as I'm pretty random, I'm a person, and I'm fairly often in Denpasar.
Since the beginning of the year, seventy-eight Bali tourists have been deported from Indonesia, with Russian nationals dominating the list. Deportations have been carried out for a variety of reasons. There are some who have repeatedly violated COVID restrictions, while some have been deported for violating their stay permits or working illegally in Bali. A few were deported for inappropriate social media posts or, as mentioned in a previous post, for taking part in and advertising illegal sexual activities.
Tirta Ganga Water Palace, well known for its hundreds of colorful Koi fish and large water ponds, has recently lost about half those fish due to flooding triggered by intensive rains. The waterpark management is offering 5.000 rupiah per returned fish ((35 cents), however Koi fish go for many times this price on the free market. What would you do? Especially if you were living in a crumbling economy.
A 37 year old man was beaten to within an inch of his life by an angry mob of Denpasar residents after being caught breaking into a local shop. The police arrived, according to the Sanur Weekly, "to arrest the perpetrator who was luckily still alive but definitely needed some medical attention." The man had reportedly been jailed for the same offense twice before. Rule of thumb: Don't be a thief in Bali. And most aren't, for obvious reasons.
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