Hi,

I am wondering how safe it is at the Moment to book a trip to Bali in regards to the corona Virus. It seems pretty astonishing that there is not one case at the Moment, even though Indo is no1 Destination for chinese People and they banned flights only from the 5th of february. So that means, that from the first discovery of the Virus (xmas 2019) there were every day arriving 5000 chinese People on the Island for 6 weeks. Can't believe that.
Am I paranoid...?
Can anybody on the Island tell me the actual Situation. How do People (locals and Visitors) behave?
Thanks for informations.

Hmmmm. We are supposed to go there in end of March..

Lombok in May. Can't wait +1 above

Tough call given the daily changing statistics/updates. Hard to believe Indo has no cases which casts doubts on other stats imo.

I have got a mate there now and he was also over in Dec....

He is saying that it is busier now than in Dec and no weird goings on.... No doubt business as usual over there.

7news.com.au/travel/coronavirus/coronavirus-scare-in-bali-as-chinese-tourist-tests-positive-on-return-home-two-in-isolation-c-694816

I'm in Bali ,only heard of one case but the indo government would keep the truth under wraps to avoid a downturn in tourism which has already takin a massive hit due to no Chinese allowed to leave China, it's the quietest I've seen the place. Remember the numbers of Chinese visiting Bali last year was higher than Australians.

Don't think a SUP forum is the best place to find info on public health matters...
However, I heard that Indonesia is not actively testing for Covid19 (novel corona virus), so numbers of cases there may never be accurate. Because it is a new disease, the advice on suspected symptoms and what precautions to take from WHO and the health department is changing daily. I head to Bali myself with the family at the end of May, so will be keeping an eye on developments ??

micksmith said..
Just asked some friends ( Balinese ) in Bali if they have any knowledge on the subject and they said they have not heard of any confirmed reports, one of these friends is a nurse and another a small business owner. That's not to say it hasn't raised its ugly head just hasn't been confirmed.

Correct not one case confirmed here in Bali.

This from ABC news this week stating confirmed case in Bali but a "don't panic, keep travelling from health authorities;
www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-13/first-case-of-coronavirus-reportedly-linked-to-bali/11962910
There's another abc article from the 8/2 where china was offering it's Bali citizens a free trip back to Wuhan
Holy fk
www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-08/china-offers-citizens-return-flight-bali-to-wuhan-coronavirus/11945554

Update , from Bali. Arrived yesterday, from Melbourne.
Only people wearing masks at Airports were heat sensors people checking temperatures and a handful of passengers.
I got pulled aside at Melbourne as I was still hot from lugging boards to over Size checkin .
Bali is quite, they are missing the Chinese for shopping/spending. Great for us to speed shop.

Wife and friends just came back from Bali,said there was no problem.Just take normal Bali precautions, hygiene ,wipe your hands with baby wipes,stay hydrated and as here in Oz don't let people cough sneeze or spit on you.

Everyone is panicking, especially the media. Currently travel bans for Iran and China but although Italy has one of the largest outbreaks outside China you are ok to go to Venice, strange that ??. Basically it's going global and I guess there is nothing we can do about it. Won't stop my Lombok Trip that's for sure, in fact just back and going again 8 weeks

Looks like the biggest danger at this point is being in some place that can be easily cut-off and quarantined (boat, hotel, plane, hospital, jail ...), and being stuck for days if somebody cough, transforming it into a giant Petri Dish managed by incompetent authorities (Iran, US, China, North Korea, ... all the autoritarian regimes caring more about propaganda than actual actions) making all inside contaminated.

The problem I see is not the mortality rate per se, but the amount of people that will need heavy medical equipment and qualified personnel to survive (artificial respirators). So as long as you can have access to these facilities the lethality seems "only" around 10-20 times the one for the flu, but things may get ugly (riots) if there are more critically ill people than available equipment.

With the flu, the critical cases are spread thin upon a lot of hospitals. Plus the medical personnel is vaccinated against the flu and can handle quickly and efficiently sick people without the need for protective gear and without becoming a major infectious vector themselves.

Compare the current figure of 5% of cov-19 infected people needing artificial breathing, and for instance in the UK "A senior consultant from north London added the NHS was prepared for the odd one or two cases but anymore would mean a major incident"
www.independent.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-uk-deaths-nhs-intensive-care-flu-wise-men-protocol-a9361916.html

Mask indicator,
When I left Bali early yesterday morning , people wearing masks were mainly staff in high traffic areas with some aircrew also. Seemed a personal choice as with small number of passengers.
Where as Bangkok airport workers, taxis drivers are nearly all masks. Again Low usage with passengers. 1st time here so I don't know if masks are the norm.
2 confirm cases for Indonesia on John Hopkins map site today.

Back to Bali today for Salt water therapy to be on the safe side