no trace back of corona virus spike in bali to the extended holidays - health officials

 Luhut Pandjaitan, Minister of Coordinating Maritime highlighted the recent spike in Island's corona virus cases and warned against allowing crowded gatherings. He on Monday pointed out the weekly average of Bali increasing 

from 386 cases between Oct. 28 and Nov. 3, to 823 cases between Nov. 25 and 30.

“I want all of us to agree that there should be no more crowds for whatever reason for the time being,” Luhut said.\

However the Top Health Officials of Bali says COVID-19 cases in the province have not been linked to extended holidays. I Ketut Suarjaya, The Chief of Bali’s Health Agency was quick to note the link  between potential crowds and extended holidays, but said that coronavirus cases on the island have not been traced back to recent long weekends, such as the one in late October.

“We have seen, after about a week or two after long holidays it turns out cases in Bali did not increase,” Suarjaya told reporters yesterday. 

“Based on our analysis. [Case spikes] are firstly from traditional ceremonies in Bali. I am not blaming anyone, it’s just the reality. There’s been a lot of traditional ceremonies, it’s the season for weddings, funerals, and the likes.” 

In the further explanation he mentioned that the rise in the cases is from the hospitals, office clusters and with confirmed cases among the election officers due the upcoming elections in the region. Suarjaya also said that traces of contact from the confirmed covid-19 patients have also contributed to the provincial caseload.

A cancellation of three collective leaves between New Year and Christmas this year have been announced by the officials with the concern of spike in corona virus cases during the extended end of year break.