Majority of COVID-19 cases in Bali are imported: official
Imported cases still make up a huge portion of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Bali as officials announced two additional cases yesterday, bringing the provincial tally to 152.
Bali province’s regional secretary, Dewa Made Indra, told a live press conference yesterday that the latest death was of an Indonesian citizen, who recently returned from overseas.
The patient died on Tuesday night after undergoing treatment at Sanglah General Hospital.
This brings the total number of deaths to four in the province, comprising two foreign nationals and two Indonesians.
Indra said that the total cases in Bali comprise eight foreign nationals and 144 Indonesian citizens.
“The number of those who were truly infected in Bali because of interactions, or local transmission, are 29 people,” Indra said, adding that of the 144 Indonesian cases, 115 were imported cases.
This latest data suggests that Bali will not be implementing the central government’s Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) protocol, which is essentially a partial lockdown, any time soon, as the perceived lack of local transmission has previously been cited as a reason not to do so.
Last week, Bali Governor Wayan Koster said that the province still has a “long way to go” before implementing PSBB.
On Monday, traditional village authorities in Denpasar proposed that the city implement the protocol, citing a high number of positive COVID-19 cases compared to other regions in Bali. However, that proposal has reportedly been rejected at the provincial level.
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