Part 7/12:
There is concern that Indonesia hastily opened up tourism destinations such as Bali, despite ongoing high infection rates. The reopening aims to revive the economy but risks triggering new spikes, especially with emerging variants that may evade vaccine protection.
The patterns show that reopening Bali prematurely—before achieving sufficient herd immunity or controlling existing cases—caused subsequent increases in COVID-19 cases. The officials and local communities worry that even with high vaccination rates, the virus might persist due to residual infections and circulating variants.