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BANGKOK / BALI, Indonesia – An increase in coronavirus infections on the Indonesian resort island of Bali and the first case broadcast in Thailand in a hundred days have struck new blows to Southeast Asia’s hopes of reviving major tourism industries.
Plans to reopen Bali to foreign tourists since September have been postponed indefinitely, while Thailand’s proposal for the cautious reopening of Phuket Island is questioned.
In addition to seeking to inspire the domestic tourism industries, some Southeast Asian countries are “travel bubbles” with others as a way to revive business.
Initially, Bali would be more resilient to the fitness crisis than other parts of Indonesia, which suffered the highest number of deaths in Southeast Asia, but coronavirus cases have increased after its borders were overtly over-opened to domestic tourism in late July.
“Increasing domestic tourism is a growing factor in Bali cases,” said Dr. Pandu Riono, epidemiologist at the University of Indonesia.
While Ketut Suarjaya, director of Bali’s fitness agency, said national tourism is not to blame for the increase in cases, others see Bali’s delight as a warning of the risks of reopening borders too soon.
Epidemiologists and public fitness experts said the arrival of tourists in Bali only caused the infection to most likely come from other parts of Indonesia, but they also highlighted the country’s shortcomings in the fight against the pandemic, namely the lack of evidence and recruitment.
Public fitness experts also reported that there is something else that is likely to contribute to the arrival of the most infectious mutation of the virus, known as D614G.
Bali on Friday published a record 196 cases of coronavirus, the fifth consecutive daily record. Daily cases on the holiday island have almost tripled on average over more than six weeks, while the number of deaths has doubled to 116 in this period.
Bali gift shop owner Kamil, who has only one name, as is not unusual in Indonesia, said he still doesn’t do a lot of business and is looking not to get too stressed.
“I leave this in God’s hands because we are waiting for the future,” he said. “All we can do now is run the business according to fitness protocols. “
Indonesia’s economy experienced its first quarterly contraction in more than two decades in the quarter of this time: Bali’s economy even more than the rest of the country at nearly 11%.
Thailand, where spending through foreign visitors accounted for more than 11% of GDP last year, has been further affected by the tourism collapse, despite tighter control of the pandemic; it has also contracted the highest since the Asian currency crisis. at the fourth moment.
The country suspended plans for a “travel bubble” agreement with some countries in August, as new cases of coronavirus increase in parts of Asia.
Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of thailand’s Official Tourism Authority (TAT), said Phuket’s cautious reopening of foreign tourists is likely to be delayed until the scheduled start date of October 1.
Yuthasak said he hoped the European winter, Thailand’s peak tourism season, would begin.
The reopening of local tourism in Vietnam, after getting rid of the virus in the first place, was also affected when a new outbreak was discovered on danang city beach in July, forcing it to pass under a strict lock that was not lifted until Monday.
Back in Indonesia, Kamil said he stayed as long as his store remained open.
“Maybe there’s a client,” he says.
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