Corona Virus Update #70    June 28, 2021

Cumulative number of reported cases: 2,135,998 (as of June 28)

  • Deaths: 57,561
  • Recovered: 1,859,96
  • Fatality rate: 2.69%

Rupiah to US: 14,472
Jakarta Stock Exchange Index: 5939

Reserves (US$ Billions): $136.398 (May 31)

Overview Daily Cases Doubled in a Week

Indonesia’s daily coronavirus cases doubled in only one week, climbing to 21,095 on Saturday, June 26, the highest level since the COVID outbreak began in March 2020 and is the highest single-day case number recorded anywhere in the world since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.

Rapid growth hit Jakarta and most other provinces except for East Java. Hong Kong has banned flights from Indonesia along those from UK, Brazil, India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, and South.

Some hospitals have been overwhelmed with COVID cases and have set up temporary wards under tents. Jakarta’s 7,000-bed Wisma Atlet Emergency Covid Hospital is full and authorities have placed more than 250 isolation cases in an annex that is not fully completed. Jakarta residents have been asked to donate supplies.

President Jokowi is maintaining that the current system of neighborhood “lockdowns” in areas designated as red zones is sufficient to contain the current outbreak. Some Indonesian epidemiologists differ and believe more regional mobility restrictions are necessary.

Other developments

  • Hong Kong has banned flights from Indonesia along those from UK, Brazil, India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, and South
  • Oxygen is reported to be sufficient by most authorities.
  • Indonesia will begin receiving 50 million Pfizer doses in August.
  • The seven-day moving average (7DMA) reached 14,817, the highest level recorded during the course of the pandemic.
  • Jakarta is accounting for a third of the recent spike.
  • Authorities said that 15 percent of the cases detected on 24 June occurred in children aged 18 or under – a new development that suggests the circulation of the Delta variant from India.
  • Indonesia’s Food and Drug Agency (BPOM) approved the COVID treatment Ivermectin for clinical trials.

Travel-

Indonesia is now banning travelers from India and Pakistan or who have traveled there. Check your airline regarding their route and landing policy.

Bali is now requiring negative PCR tests for all domestic travelers.

Indonesia has not yet opened access for visa-on-arrival and visa-free during the COVID-19 pandemic, except for foreigners with essential purposes such as businesses, works, or humanitarian reasons. Visit Indonesian Immigration (https://www.imigrasi.go.id) and the Indonesian Embassy (https://kemlu.go.id/washington/en) for updated visa and entry requirements as regulations may change frequently.

Port of entry for international flights remains Jakarta for most flights.

AICC Member, PT Cekindo can help secure business visas.

The current situation is that you need to have a local sponsor to obtain a visa and you have to undergo a 5-night quarantine but should new cases spike, especially those involving the Indian variant, Indonesia could lengthen them to 14 days.  The local sponsor applies directly to Indonesia’s immigration department. Jakarta is currently the only port of entry; you fly to other regions (i.e. Bali) from there.

AICC member PT Cekindo is currently arranged business visas if you do not have a local sponsor. Contact: Vincent Cellier vincent.cellier@cekindo.com

Economic

  • Bali Vaccine Tourism: The Minister of Tourism, Sandiago Uno, outlined a plan for the return of international flights to Bali and the reopening of the island for foreign tourists. He also proposed a plan where travelers could receive a COVID vaccination in Bali. If the “vaccine vacation” is successful it will be duplicated in other regions.
  • Less Reliance on Dollar: Bank Indonesia announced that Indonesia and China were closer to a reducing their reliance on the US dollar. The switch to local currency settlement (LCS) is expected to take place in the third quarter of this year. Bank Indonesia’s head of financial market development, Donny Hutabarat, said the move was part of Indonesia’s effort to diversify currencies used in trade and investment with bilateral partners. So far, Indonesia has agreed on LCS with Malaysia, Thailand and Japan. “So, we do not depend 100 percent on the US dollar anymore,” Donny told reporters during an online media briefing on Friday. “[LCS with China] will be implemented around July or [later in] the third quarter,” Donny said.
  • Home Ownership Even Harder: Homeownership in Indonesia has been dropping since 1999 as house prices have risen. Now, the affordability of homes is under further threat as a number of people face declines in real income as a result of the pandemic. The national share of households with a home of their own fell to just over 80 percent last year from nearly 85 percent in 1999, according to data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS). Jakarta recorded the lowest share last year. However, sales have since rebounded, growing 13.95 percent year-on-year (yoy) in the January to March period, according to Bank Indonesia’s (BI) latest survey of developers in 18 cities. The growth was driven by a rebound in sales of homes measuring 36 to 70 square meters.
  • Bankrupt Garuda Weighing Options: The beleaguered Indonesian national airline is trying to avoid a cash injection from the government, strapped as it is with funding COVID relief efforts. Its President Director announced the airline is considering several workout options including: relief from creditors via loan rescheduling, forming a new carrier while Garuda is being restructured or a conversion of debt to equity.

Foreign Affairs

US-Indonesia Collaborate on Maritime Center: Indonesia and the United States have broken ground on a new $3.5 million maritime training center in the strategic area of Batam, in the Riau Islands, Indonesia’s maritime security agency said. Attending the ceremony virtually on Friday, the US ambassador to Indonesia, Sung Kim, said the maritime center would be part of ongoing efforts between the two countries to bolster security in the region. “As a friend and partner to Indonesia, the United States remains committed to supporting Indonesia’s important role in maintaining regional peace and security by fighting domestic and trans-national crimes,” he said, according to a statement from Bakamla, Indonesia’s maritime security agency. The training centre, located at the strategic meeting point of the Malacca Strait and the South China Sea, will be run by Bakamla and houses classrooms, barracks and a launch pad, the agency said.

(sources: International and Indonesia news media, Bali Update (from balidiscovery.com), Reformasi Weekly, US Embassy website)