Bali celebrates massive prayers for reopening of coronavirus blockade

KARANGASEM, Indonesia (Reuters) – Bali held massive prayers on Sunday as the Indonesian tourist island prepares to reopen tourists left out due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than a thousand people attended a prayer at the Besakih Hindu temple in the city of Karangasem, expressing their gratitude for handling the new coronavirus on the island and seeking blessings for the beginning of a “new normal”.

Bali has reported 1,849 coronavirus infections and 20 deaths so far, while Indonesia as a whole has recorded 63,749 cases and 3,171 deaths since early March.

The idyllic Southeast Asian island will gradually open this month to domestic tourists, while maintaining a “strict health protocol” to prevent the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19, the Bali provincial secretary told reporters, Dewa Made Indra.

The local government hopes to reopen Bali to foreign arrivals in September.

Tourism is the main source of income for Bali. Travel restrictions due to the pandemic have affected the local economy.

According to data from the Bali Bureau of Statistics, the occupancy rate in Bali star hotels fell to 2.07% in May, from 62.55% in December before the pandemic and fell from 51.56% in May 2019. I hope it is the best for Bali and. “All tourists will come to Bali and everyone will be happy and healthy again,” Robin Tesselar, a Dutch citizen who remains in Bali, told Reuters after attending Besakih’s prayers.

Tourism-related companies are preparing for the reopening by implementing health protocols, with the goal of improving them until Bali reopens for international tourists, hospitality executive Yoga Iswara said.