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Bali relies on local customs in facing COVID-19 outbreak: Governor
People in Bali have been strictly obeying local customs and wisdom to curb the COVID-19 outbreak, Governor I Wayan Koster has claimed.
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Several pecalang (Balinese traditional guards) stop a motorist caught driving without a face mask at Intaran traditional village in Sanur, Denpasar, Bali, on April 27. (Antara/Fikri Yusuf)
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nsisting against implementing large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) to slow the spread of COVID-19 across the resort island, the Bali administration has been relying on local customs to fight the ongoing outbreak.
Bali Governor I Wayan Koster claimed the island had been successful in curbing the disease because residents had strong ties to the local values and culture.
He also acknowledged the role of 1,493 traditional villages across the island in preventing outsiders from entering their respective areas, thus preventing them from contracting the novel coronavirus.
"Our residents are more disciplined thanks to their local customs, which they strictly obey. Traditional villages also have their own ancestral customs for rituals that can be enforced amid the outbreak,” Koster said.
Read also: Bali puts entire village on lockdown after hundreds tested in Bangli regency
He added that the provincial administration had initiated several measures to prevent the outbreak from worsening across Bali, including preparing health facilities.
“We have been following COVID-19 management procedures since the first case was recorded in our region on March 10,” the governor said.
The island has 13 COVID-19 referral hospitals with 392 beds and equipped with isolation wards and skilled medical workers.
The administration will continue to improve healthcare measures across the island by, among other efforts, providing swab tests using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method in several hospitals and medical facilities, Koster went on to say.
According to the government's official count, there are 328 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Bali as of Tuesday with only four patients died of the disease.
