COVID-19

While.this discussion is interesting I will remind all this forum is the DR.  Let's.limit the discussion to DR.

Countrywide lock down and military check points on all but essential travel:

Examples:

[i]Police prevent visitors from entering Puerto Plata to prevent coronavirus

https://listindiario.com/la-republica/2 … oronavirus

They put checkpoints in eastern towns to prevent the displacement of people

https://www.diariolibre.com/actualidad/ … HA18090896

.....Since 8:00 in the morning of this Saturday, checkpoints have been observed at the entrances and exits of cities such as Salvaleón de Higuey, La Romana, San Pedro de Macorís, Hato Mayor del Rey and El Seibo, which has deprived protests among people going to jobs or to the doctor.......

Few vehicles cross the toll of the Duarte Highway after prohibiting trips to the interior

https://listindiario.com/la-republica/2 … l-interior
[/i]

Enriquillo Region protects itself from COVID-19 regulating entry and exit to its territorial space

https://listindiario.com/la-republica/2 … erritorial

San José de Ocoa authorities control entry to prevent expansion of COVID-19

https://www.diariolibre.com/actualidad/ … GA18091373

Totally fail to understand your comment.  It seems to allege that someone/country is responsible for this virus!

Ducketts

and we wont be going there. The virus is here, its spread.  So we wont be doing the blame thing. 

Yes lots of military out there stopping the flow of traffic!

DR      1488    first case 1st March (Population of the DR 10.77 million)
USA    299,861   first case 24th January (Population of the USA 355 million)

That makes the DR only a fraction of the size of the USA
If you use a standard math formula you will see that the percentage of cases in the 2 countries is about the same per capita.

If you are going to try to make a case for how much safer you are there than we are here, you need to compare the numbers of people on both places. And remember that  we have had it here for over a month longer. It might not end so well for you when you are 5 weeks farther along the road. Don't cheer until the plane safely lands.

It appears we will be strictly limited how far we can travel even within the capital.

Haina Mayor's Office limits access to the municipality by COVID-19

https://noticiassin.com/alcaldia-de-hai … -covid-19/

They send back at tolls people who try to travel to the towns without just cause

Diario Libre just now if you want the link see next post

Many were returned, mainly from the toll of the Las Américas highway.

https://www.diariolibre.com/actualidad/ … IA18092947

Bulletin 16 for the new cases for yesterday just posted:

Total confirmed cases is now 1578 which is daily increase of 90.

Deaths are now at a total of 77 which is an increase of 9. 17 recovered so 1484 active cases.

The distribution of new cases is:

DN                       +36
Espillat                +2
La Romana         +1
La Vega                +3
Maria Trinidad    +1
Peravia                 +1
Puerta Plata        +1
Hermanas Mir     +1
San Cristobel       +2
Santiago               +17
Valverde               +2
Santo Dom rest   +23

file:///C:/Users/Julia/Downloads/Boletin%20especial%2016%20-%20COVID-19.pdf

3 day increase is 294 which is an average of 98

it is taking over 7 days to double in DN but now less time in Santiago (5days) and Santo Domingo E,N &W (4.5days). Puerta Plata province is worth watching in the next week

Now all the anglophile DR social media expat expert statisticians and doom mongers need to start playing with their calculators and forecast new graphs and models. Early days but....

I read elsewhere from a lawyer that the travel restrictions are interprovincial... not inter municipality

Alfredo Guzman writes

The curfew has been extended for 15 more days effective yesterday April 3rd. All traffic and movement of people will be prohibited from 5pm until 6am, with certain exceptions.

The government has also announced that begining yesterday April 3rd all inter-provincial traffic, regardless of the time, will also prohibited during the Easter Holidays.

Google mobility report to 29th March for DR:

https://www.gstatic.com/covid19/mobilit … ort_en.pdf

With a few comparisons:

USA
https://www.gstatic.com/covid19/mobilit … ort_en.pdf

UK
https://www.gstatic.com/covid19/mobilit … ort_en.pdf

Spain
https://www.gstatic.com/covid19/mobilit … ort_en.pdf

Canada
https://www.gstatic.com/covid19/mobilit … ort_en.pdf

DR will have less reference points than in Europe and NA and as they say this is a new tracking technology tool but at least it shows some trends.

The changes made include limiting interprovincial and municipal travel.  Those decisions are in the hands of municipalities.

According to the news many are restricting travel.  Haina, la romana, San Pedro de macoris, Higuey, Santiago, Distrito Nacional etc. 

Be aware and be safe.  It looks like numbers are going in the right direction.

I am now deleting anything political and anything not tied to the DR.  Comparisons are fine.  Only focusing on one country other than DR is not.

I was very worried when I heard about a flight coming from New York with Dominicans who had asked to be repatriated.

My fear was that they would be allowed to meet family and go back into Dominican society for Semana Santa  and perhaps be carrying infections. And my guess is that they expected a warm homecoming to.

But no.

They were taken to Boca Chica and put in isolation and are complaining.

Right on DR. this has to be the way forward and I hope they sent the Dominican crew that disembarked the cruise ship in La Romana into isolation too. This is also an indication how DR may protect it's recovered status, if and when, from imported cases from countries with active cases.

https://www.diariolibre.com/actualidad/ … DA18095305

The Dominicans who returned this Saturday on the Delta flight at 12:00 noon, were isolated at the Los Tanquecitos barracks in Boca Chica, in really inadequate and unhealthy conditions.

At 6:00 pm yesterday, Saturday, and since their arrival, they had only been provided with a small bottle of water. Later, some were given a scant dinner. The sanitary services have water just 20 minutes a few hours.

Yes the cruise liner crew members were taken into isolation too....Listin Diario......

Authorities from the Ministry of Public Health landed 32 Dominicans aboard the Marella Discovery 2 Cruise Ship, in the Port of La Romana, under strict hygiene and safety measures.

The Creoles who had requested the landing asking to return to their country instead of continuing the navigation journey to Europe, got off the cruise and were disinfected together with their luggage and got on a bus to be transferred to a quarantine social isolation center.

That is good management by the authorities.

What I fail to understand is there is a flight today from POP-BRU and the airline-TUI Fly Belgium have failed to notify stranded passengers.  What on earth is going on!

Ducketts

http://puerto-plata-airport.com/departures.cfm

This is DR relevant because DR has in the past few days purchased a quantity of cholorquine as a treatment for people with serious covid19 symtoms.

https://dominicantoday.com/dr/local/202 … e-country/

We are told DR has approved it's use in the article yet Europe has not approved the use of this drug and there has been extensive research carried out on the potential of this drug since the outbreak started in China and amongst Chinese scientists who first saw the possibilities at the beginning of February:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41422-020-0282-0

I tend to take information that is found in the highly reputable 'The Lancet' medical magazine as the very best source of good information on medical science so please read this before wondering if this is a good solution for DR:

Caution and clarity required in the use of chloroquine for COVID-19

As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak continues to spread rapidly, efforts are ongoing in China and around the world to develop effective treatments. Among the drugs being tested for COVID-19 in China is chloroquine, which was reported on Feb 4, 2020, to inhibit severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in vitro. The drug was rapidly pushed to clinical testing as an experimental treatment in China; on Feb 15, 2020, it was included in the sixth version of the COVID-19 treatment guidelines by the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China. This guideline established the use of chloroquine nationwide for patients with COVID-19, at a recommended adult dose of 500 mg twice per day for no more than 10 days.1
The lethal dose of chloroquine in adults is about 5 g.2 In the human body, chloroquine has a large volume of distribution with an elimination half-life of 20–60 days and a tendency to accumulate in metabolically active tissues at higher levels compared with the plasma concentration.3,  4 In view of these properties, the recommended dose of 500 mg twice per day can quickly approach danger thresholds with sustained use. At the maximum course of 10 days, this regimen is substantially more aggressive than recommended regimens for the use of chloroquine as an antimalarial. The effects of chloroquine poisoning are well documented and include retinopathy and immunosuppression, with contraindications in several conditions including pregnancy.3 On Feb 26, 2020, the treatment guidelines were revised, shortening the maximum course to 7 days while recommending a lower dose for patients weighing less than 50 kg and highlighting contraindications including pregnancy.5 It is encouraging that an appropriate adjustment with improved consideration for the toxicological properties of the drug was made so quickly given the urgency of the situation. However, we advise continued caution in bringing new treatments to clinical use in such a rapid manner. Recommended doses should be established with close reference to pharmacological profiles and side-effects must be closely monitored. The less toxic hydroxychloroquine should also be considered as an alternative. Finally, the potential toxicities of experimental treatments should be meticulously reported in peer-reviewed publications to avoid potentially misleading accounts and the risk of dangerous self-medication by the public. The rapid identification and development of such novel treatments is encouraging and will be instrumental in the battle against COVID-19, as long as prudence and rigour continue to be practised in both implementation and reporting.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanr … S2665-9913(20)30093-X/fulltext

Our health matters so be aware if you live in DR that you may be prescribed this drug if you are unlucky enough to get serious covid19.

This is interesting and a good source of info.  And yes treatments and possible treatments are relevant. 

The issue is that people will self medicate!   And of course there will be a shortage.  I read.another article about the possibility of a lice medication being effective but again too early to really know.

Yes the quarantine of all arrivals is appropriate!  But damn, give them food and water and decent conditions! 

Ducketts - no one but you is responsible for knowing about flights.  You are the one who needs to find out when flights are coming.   The airlines are not going to.  Your embassy is not going to.  It's in your hands! 

Get on Facebook and Instagram, get on every possible airline webpage, get on the embassies websites.  Ask your friends and family to help you keep updated!

Jailed in curfew pick up trash

https://noticiassin.com/apresados-en-to … en-basura/

Excellent!!!

Thanks Planner

Done ALL of what you suggested.

The airline said all flights cancelled till the end of April and suddenly there's a flight today.
The embassy has said the same.

Ducketts

Total of 1747 confirmed cases for yesterday and increase of 169. Deaths up to 82 and increase of 5 and recovered up to 24. 1641 active case therefore

DN                                      +41
Santo Domingo rest        +33
Santiago                             +1
Duarte                                +20
La Altagracia                      +5
La Romana                         +3
La Vega                               +13
Hermanas Mirabel           +1
SPM                                     +1
Monsignor Noeul              +2
Espillat                                 +14
San Juan                              +3
Sanchez Ramirez                +7
San Cristobel                      +8
Barahona                            +1
Peravia                                +2
Monte Cristi                       +1
Santaigo Rodriguez           +13

Spreading in the Cibao.

Testing rate has gone up since yesterday. 600 tests in the past day up from about 350 daily. Up to 500 per million and more rapid tests too in use.

No explosion yet..............and the affected areas are now isolated!!!! .......through the provincial and municipal controls.

Duckets get.on the airport.pages as well.

Not good today's increases!  Damn.

This is beginning to look like the DN is being cut off from rest of Santo Domingo - in this case from the barrios around Villa Mella. i wonder if Miximo Gomez has check points?

Military block entrance to the Capital by Jacobo Majluta avenue

https://www.diariolibre.com/actualidad/ … OA18096796

If this is a developing isolation in SD Greater, it would not surprise me if the Alcades for SD East, North and West start doing the same along with Piedra Brand etc. We saw Haina take action yesterday and that is part of San Cristobel which is seeing new cases every day.

And La Victoria prison in SD East has confirmed cases/deaths. Not nice and will add to the numbers.

I hope & pray what I'm seeing is gov't zeroing in on the hotspots -
giving them extra & special attention

Doing that will hasten the 'fix'.... in my uneducated opinion

Its municipalities cutting off others entering a d bringing more disease,.or.so they hope.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1B06BXo … aaN9p/view

Now this is what we need daily in DR. Great report about covid19 statistics for DR.

Yes and it's always been available honey.

If I'm reading these stats correctly they are forecasting over 55,000 cases in a few days time!

Ducketts

ducketts wrote:

If I'm reading these stats correctly they are forecasting over 55,000 cases in a few days time!

Ducketts

No.

He has assessed the factor of inspection spread based on the current to date which 1.11 - each infected person has passed onto 1.11 others and then two other scenarios with greater transmission.

The 55k result he says is most unlikely (poco probable).

if we maintain the 1.11 transmission factor we will have 2,940 cases on the 10th April. If we go to 1.29 we get 6,234 cases on 10th April and so on. You now have a guide when you see the daily figures

Scroll down and you see the transmission factor to date in the various provinces:

Duarte 1.18, SD 1.15, La Vega 1.14, DN 1.07 and Santiago 1.04.

He also posts the trending of the infection rate in DN alongside and how it is lowering ans steadying.

Good for your Spanish Richard.......

It is also worth noting that if the transmission rate is high it soon begins to be impossible to trace all the contacts of the new cases and you quickly will lose control even if you are testing widely. this is why South Korea were so successful in their fight because they had a plan and were ready and started testing big time form the first case and then traced all the contacts. Whilst other countries   had no plan and started testing belatedly, and then it became an impossibility to track all the contacts because there were so many new cases each and every day and so it spreads.

Many thanks

Just heard Boris is in hospital for Covid-19

Ducketts

Can cats have and transmit covid19?

There has not been much testing but a small study in China found evidence of high susceptibility and inter cat transmission.

On 2 April a Chinese study showed that cats are "highly susceptible" to coronavirus and it can easily be passed between them. But only five cats were involved in the experiment.

This follows the news that a cat reportedly contracted coronavirus in Belgium but health authorities in the country said it was an "isolated case" and not "the rule".

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-styl … 76926.html

And there is the Hong Kong dog who tested weakly for the virus.

But now we have tiger testing positive in Bronx zoo.

https://www.foxnews.com/science/tiger-b … oronavirus

Perhaps if you are a cat lover in DR, it is time to reassess where you keep and handle your cat.

hahaha

tell that to the cat !!!

Dominican Journalism at it's very worst!

https://listindiario.com/la-republica/2 … oronavirus

Unfortunately the headline number is total tests divide by days since first case.

The real facts are that DR has been increasing it's testing numbers as the outbreak develops and testing only to the WHO protocol of persons showing two or more symptoms. And with more and quicker test kits now available, we are moving in the right direction.

The facts are as follows for the past ten days using the numbers given in the daily reports published online:

5th April       641
4th April       342
3rd April       182
2nd April       316
1st April         447
31st March    299
30th March    366
29th March    437
28th March    423
27th March     403
26th March     282

A much better testing rate assessment is provided by the 'worldometers' website which assesses the rate of testing based upon a minimum threshold of cases. and it scores us a 419 per million.

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavir … eAdvegas1?

There are now 1828 cases confirmed which is an increase of 83.  (Statistician predicted  1937 using 1.11 transmission rate)

The death total is up to 86 which is an increase of 4.

There are 33 recoveries reported.

1709 active cases.  new tests. 259.

DN                  +31
SD rest           +17
Santiago         +10
Duarte             +9
La Romana      +1
La Altagracia    +4
Puerto Plata     +4
Maria T S          +2
Hermanas M    +1
Monsignor N    +1
San Juan            +1
Sanchez Ramirez  +2

No home isolation if you (only some Dominicans right now) come from a country with live cases:

Dominicans who wish to return to the country must comply with protocol and isolation

https://listindiario.com/la-republica/2 … islamiento

Dominicans who return to the country must comply with the proper protocols and isolation, on all those who come from areas with a high incidence of Covid-19.

The Minister of Public Health, Rafael Sánchez Cárdenas, indicated that the Dominican institutions continue making efforts and expanding the structures so that Dominicans who wish to come, continue to do so without major inconveniences.

"Those people who have entered the country have been placed under surveillance and have been subjected to it many times ... we are now trying to see with the ambassadors and the consuls that before leaving the laboratory test is carried out so that we have, and many Reports of these tests have done so, but we are also doing rapid tests, especially those who present any symptoms, "said the minister about the recent arrival of Dominicans by sea and area. 

He explained that many of them are requesting that they be allowed to do isolation in their homes, but that this possibility is limited, so he asked for patience and that they comply with the special measures.

He noted that so far everything is under control regarding the health of these travelers, and that none have presented complications.

https://listindiario.com/la-republica/2 … ilo-medina

Senate has approved the extension of emergency powers by 25 days from April 13th when the current mandate runs out, which would take it  to May 8th and now it goes to the Chamber of Deputies for them to approve too.

I guess we are all getting confused with these overlapping dates.

Emergency powers currently run to April 13th and if the Deputies approve the additional 25 days it would run to 8th May.

The current curfew was previously extended from April 3rd for 15 days that would be 6 am April 18th?

Last Thursday, April 2, President Danilo Medina made the decision to extend the curfew for 15 days starting on Friday, April 3, from 5:00 pm to 6:00 am

"It extends for fifteen days (15), starting on Friday, April 3 of the current year, the Curfew Established by Decree number 135-20, of March 20, 2020, and its modifications, from 5:00 in the afternoon 6:00 in the morning throughout the national territory, "says the decree issued this Thursday.

An interesting morale boost for the populace here in Moca. Two military (army air) choppers just flew around the city, one with a very large DR flag hanging down. They land and take off from the Sports complex field just across the way from us. They must be flying elsewhere right now. WOndering if this was being done anywhere else......even here in this small residencial area it brought adults out with the kids to watch from their yards....

2VPSoldier it appears this has been happening in several places

https://youtu.be/6FItS2Mr7is

https://www.facebook.com/listindiario/v … 219367315/

And the Dominican training frigate was sailing close to capital with flags amast.

Total cases confirmed now 1956 which is a day increase of 128 (statistician predicted 2150 at infection rate of 1.11 two days ago and 1916 at infection rate of 1.05 yesterday).

Total deaths is now 98 which is an increase of 12.

The total recovered is now 36 an increase of 3

DN                                + 26           
SD                                  +40   La Victoria prison will distort figures
Santiago                       +28             
La Romana                   +2
MTS                                +7     
Hermanas M                +3       
SPM                                +2
Monsignor N                 +8     
Espillat                            +2
San Juan                         +1
San Cristobel                 +2
Azua                                +1
Peravia                            +3
Valverde                          +1
El Seibo                           +1

About 465 tests

As suspected the extra covid19 cases in SD today in part come from La Victoria in SD East. There are about 190 prisoners so expect more confirmed cases in the next few days.

There are 21 positive coronavirus prisoners in La Victoria, in addition to two
deaths

https://www.diariolibre.com/actualidad/ … CL18132330

Análisis del crecimiento del COVID-19
en la República Dominicana

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hG1URl … FClIs/view