My mother in law who is currently abroad received a phone call from a travel agent. She has been using the services of this particular travel agent for more than a decade. She was offered a ticket to Bali with great news!
“Bali has 0 new cases of corona! You can go there whenever you want. Oh and yeah, buy my mask for your travel only [insert expensive amount] of dollars.”
My mother in law called me soon after. “Is it true that there are no new cases of corona”? I was wondering where she got this information from. It’s not hard to Google to find out this is actually not true.
Of course for the travel industry has been hit hard on all fronts: any accommodation, travel and even bloggers. For online, I keep losing traffic and I think this also shows the disinterest people have for looking to go on vacation to one of the more popular tourist destinations: Bali.
Current status for traveling to Bali, Indonesia from foreign countries
When I heard the news that a travel agent tried to sell my mother in law a ticket to Bali I knew that traveling for her to Bali could not be possible. Even how eager she is to see us (and her grandbaby), It was not allowed to travel to Bali.
I checked how and what and combine with what I currently know:
- Traveling to Bali requires a procedure to gain a QR-code
- A negative rapid test result is required not older than 7 days
- You need a KTP/KITAS to travel to Indonesia
- Bali is thinking about opening for: China, South Korea, Japan and Australia (Source: Temp.co). Even this will require some time.
So with all this, my mother in law cannot travel to Bali. Wondering if the travel industry would provide “non-refundable tickets” making it, well not nice situation.
I also explained that it would not be possible to travel to Bali for a holiday.
New Corona Cases in Bali
In one of my last posts I made 3 weeks ago: When will Bali reopen for tourism? it shows that Indonesia has 20796 confirmed cases 5057 recovered and 1326 deaths. Now for in Indonesia and Bali it shows that the spread is only speeding up
3 weeks ago Bali had 380 confirmed cases, 284 recovered and 4 deaths. Now We have almost doubled in 3 weeks going to 741 Confirmed cases!
Notice that the peaks are getting higher, as well as the lows. This means that the velocity of the coronavirus is spreading faster!
The Travel agent was lying about no new cases! Look at these statistics, if it would double every 3 weeks we’re nowhere close for reopening!
The people want to do something
Several days ago Old Man’s, A bar/outdoor beach club in Canggu, tried to reopen. Marketing through social media about having a party and not to forget to tag their friends.
This went totally sideways. Police raided the party and Old Man’s. The reports were: Social distancing was ignored, people wear no masks. It can be a disaster when we find out later that people were infected (we still have to wait due to incubation time of the virus)
Not only a party but the beaches as well were opened for one day alone. Due to the massive income stream of people, the beaches were closed after only one day (source: The Jakarta Post)
Badung Market and the Corona Virus
Baliprawara.com reported about coronavirus at the Badung Market (Pasar Badung). A popular and busy market even with social distancing, the virus managed to spread there. Now multiple vendors are being tested for the virus.
What I am trying to say is that the virus is now in local transmission. It used to come from tourists, but now it also just comes from locals as they can carry the virus around.
I am sorry for my mother-in-law who has to wait to finally meet her grandbaby, but with the local transmissions, we should not risk it.
I hope we all can stay safe and endure this hardship! If you are in Bali in need of help do check these charities in Bali that help.
Prevent local transmission in Bali by the following
Maintain social distancing, I know it’s hard and after a few months nothing happened. Well, keep on applying and teaching people to social distance.
Do not go out when you don’t need to, unnecessary contact should be kept to 0. This prevents the risk of the virus spreading.
Wear a mask and wear it properly. Read more about the DIY masks! Do not use vacuum filter masks.
Use hand sanitizers and wash hands when touching money or objects (especially metals). This will kill the sanitizer. Do NOT Consume these as this is poisonous for the body to ingest. You can also make your own hand sanitizer that kills the corona virus.
When you have to work, take safety measurements like a face shield. This is to help you STOP touching your face.
If you are eager to reopen Bali as the rest than show everyone in the world we can stop this virus! We need to slow it down first and takes small steps. Everybody needs to help with this.
Hi I am Dwi. I am a blogger, travel agent and a mom of a lovely daughter and wife to a supportive husband. I customize and plan tours in Bali and islands nearby for a living and have been doing this for more than 14 years. Get in touch via contact [at] taletravels.com