COVID-19

https://es-la.facebook.com/SaludPublica … mp;theater

You will find the province by province numbers in the MoH daily report.

For Puerto Plata the totals have changed over the past days since daily MoH reporting began on 23rd March as follows:

3    5    5    7    11    13    16    16    28    28    30    33    34    34    38    38    42    52    54    56    73

Puerto Plata province reported 7 new deaths yesterday and that suggests deeper problems with total cases, so stay safe and locked in, all you guys in that province.

My personal grim opinion about DR and the provinces, having been watching numbers develop across the country and test rates, is that this place will explode with cases if there is any attempt to ease back on the international, national, provincial and municipal controls and business operation other than essential and curfew for curfew for a long time. The extension of emergency powers and curfew to the end of the month will not be enough. The controls to date have not been enough so far to stifle the spread and the opportunity to have a 24 hour curfew was missed. It would be suicide for the country to relax until the numbers are firmly, area by area, under control and only then open up cautiously. Personally I don't see that starting to happen until June at the earliest. And frankly that would be the sensible non experimental approach, and WHO guidance, for most countries and a few are informing their public clearly about how long this will last.

I have to agree with you.  They need to crack down on all breaking of the rules.  From the barrios where many congregate to expats meeting at the beach for a drink!   

Stay at home!   That means your home. Not going to your boyfriend's because you are bored.  Not going to the neighbors for coffee or hanging at the damn colmado.  It means social distancing when you HAVE to be out!

I went to pricemart early this morning for food.  All good until I [link moderated] the vegetable area.  I had to step away as no one was respecting social distancing! 

Every one of us has to do what we can.  Today I shopped for me an a high risk neighbor!  I will continue to follow the rules even the ones I don't agree with! 

Stay at home!

Apparently the municipality of Santiago has declared a state of emergency for  100 days.    They are taking this very seriously.

There is some confusion as to whether the  provincial and municipal roadblocks are in force for only Semana Santa  and whether they are lifted today.  I can find nothing on this OTHER than that the "committee" now includes members from both provinces and municipalities and that each are empowered to make decisions.

From what I have seen online both Dominicans and expats are feeling there is no need to follow the rules.  Well that just means more people will die and more will suffer from being stuck at home.  Nice!

Todays update:

Total confirmed cases: 3167      Increase: 200
Total deaths:                     177      Increase: 4
Total recovered:               152      Increase: 21
Active Cases: 2838
Total Tests:                      10075    Increase: 800
Total in Intensive Care: 155

In detail:

DN                                    +27
SD                                     +34
Santiago                          + 40
Duarte                              +27
La Altagracia                     +5
La Romana                        +9
Puerta Plata                      +14
La Vega                              +8
MTS                                     +2
Hermanas M                      +5
SPM                                     +3
Monsignor N                      +1
Espaillat                              +5
Sanchez Ramirez               +3
San Cristobel                      +5
Hato Mayor                        +1
Azua                                    +3
Valverde                             +1
Peravia                                +4
Monte Cristi                        +3

For expats living in Puerto Plata province, we are seeing a spike in cases and deaths. We should be seeing more confirmed cases based upon the deaths confirmed in the province.

You don't have to look far in the online in DR media (Puerto Plata Digital) to find that there have been deaths of people living in Sabaneta, Sosua, Montellano and Puerta Plata itself including taxi and bus drivers.  We also know that there have been confirmed cases in other parts of the North Coast in Gasper Hernandez and Rio San Juan and WW has confirmed cases in Cabrera.

Unfortunately there were people who ignored the stay at home order for Semana Santa in this province and other provinces in the Cibao where there is a sharp increase in cases (La Vega, Jarabacoa, and Bonao to mention a few) and went to rivers as is the norm every year.

The northern part of the country is now beginning to show more cases than the capital, but it is too early to be comfortable with cases also increasing to the west and north in San Cristobel province, Peravia (Bani) and Azua, and to the east in SPM, La Romana and La Altagracia (Higuey and PC)

I hear banks are back to full day from 1/2 day

only 2 people at a time inside

This is not good news for the people of the province of Puerta Plata.

Is there a way for an expat to get tested?  If so how does it work.  I contacted my local doctor but he will not do any house visits (understandable).

As far as I am aware there is only one hospital in Sosua, near Super Pola but frankly terrified to go there as I'm not sure how testings works-All I know is you have to pay for the test.

Thanks

Ducketts

You cannot get tested unless you have at least two symptoms and a doctors prescription for the test

Thanks, strange though as you can have the virus but not show any symptoms for 20 days.

Ducketts

Honey you can have it and NEVER have symptoms. That is why queda en casa is so important.

Análisis del crecimiento del COVID-19
en la República Dominicana    INFORME #21

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jR5MM9 … 1UvKX/view

Nuts!

Curfew remains unchanged; lift ban on displacement between provinces

https://noticiassin.com/toque-de-queda- … rovincias/

SANTO DOMINGO.- The Minister of the Presidency, Gustavo Montalvo reported that the curfew remains unchanged, continuing to be from 5 in the afternoon to 6 in the morning.

He also indicated that during the rest of the day people can move to carry out essential activities or purchases, either within their locality or outside their locality.

¨ The curfew remains unchanged. It is still from 5 in the afternoon to 6 in the morning. During the rest of the day people can move to carry out essential activities or purchases, either within their locality or outside their locality, "he said.

Montalvo explained that the prohibition on moving to the interior was only taken to prevent large groups of people from taking advantage of Easter for the trips and regular recreational activities of those dates.

Bulletin #26

Total Cases Confirmed: 3286  Increase: 119
Total Deaths:                     183  Increase: 6
Total Recovered:               162  Increase: 10
Total in intensive care: 155
Total Tests: 10,448
Total Active Cases: 2941

In Detail:

DN                                                  +11
SD                                                   +18
Santiago                                        +36
Duarte                                           +15
La Altagracia                                 +1
La Romana                                    +2
Puerto Plata                                  +6
La Vega                                           +9
Maria TS                                         +1
Hermanas M                                 +3
Monsignor Noeul                         +7 tbc
Espaillat                                         +10 tbc

For those asking about  residency and renewals and cedulas,  I asked Lishali (the lawyer) and this is what she sent me:

To all those interested in migratory processes:

The Dominican Republic -and the world- is in an unpredictable moment. The immigration authorities have suspended appointments at the migration headquarters since March 23rd, 2020. All those who had appointments scheduled after this date will be exempt from paying the price for attending outside the date granted by migration.

The files that have already been submitted are still being evaluated with some limitations, however, the offices continue to be closed to the public in general, until after the State of Emergency.

Regarding residency renewal and expiration date during the State of Emergency, the migration department has not said yet if the late fees will be exempted in this case. We will remain vigilant of any news to keep everyone updated.

I have further encouraged her to join us here on Expat and we will start a thread specifically about this.

Análisis del crecimiento del COVID-19
en la República Dominicana        I N F O R M E # 2 2   

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H-2oki … Pr2fB/view

Not good reading

The gardener explained to me that in many communities it's impossible to respect social distancing.

Which coefficient do you think is the most sensible one to adapt?

Thanks again for excellent post

Ducketts

It's becoming more and more difficult here.  And with transportation options reopened getting worse not better

Bulletin #27

Total Cases: 3614     Increase: 328
Total Deaths: 189     Increase: 6
Total Recovered: 208   Increase: 46
Total Active Cases:  3217
Total Tests:   11,741
Total in Intensive Care: 124

In detail:

DN                                                  +44
SD                                                   +57
Santiago                                        +24
Duarte                                           +35
La Atltagracia                                +12
La Romana                                    +11
Puerto Plata                                  +9
La Vega                                          +13
Maria TS                                         +9
Hermanas Mirabel                        +25
SPM                                                 +11
Monsignor N                                  +11
Espaillat                                           +1
San Juan                                          +1
Sanchez Ramirez                           +15
San Cristobel                                 +24
Azua                                                 +5
Valverde                                          +9
Peravia                                             +1
Monte Plata                                     +2
Monte Cristi                                     +2
Santiago Rodriguez                        +6
San Jose de Ocoa                            +1

Public Health recognizes social distancing measures are not enough to control COVID-19
Sánchez Cárdenas declared that "more restrictive measures are required if we want results in less time."

Well clearly they need to do more not less to fight this.  Put the interprovince travel on lockdown.  Municipalities with more cases, lock em down!

https://listindiario.com/la-republica/2020/04/15/613345/sanchez-cardenas-pide-al-presidente-medina-arreciar-medidas-de-aislamiento-y-distanciamiento-social

Sánchez Cárdenas asks President Medina to strengthen isolation and social distancing measures

The Minister of Public Health, Rafael Sánchez Cárdenas, asked President Danilo Medina to "increase" the isolation and social distancing measures, given the high circulation of people during the day.

"In this way we ask the Presidential Commission and the President of the Republic to increase the isolation and social distancing measures, beyond the curfew that we currently have, due to the high circulation and contacts that are generated during the day throughout the national territory, ”said the minister.

Likewise, it asked the population to maintain the use of masks during the trips made to places of sale of food, beverages or social activities.

"Personal hygiene measures and also for the home must be maintained," emphasized Sánchez Cárdenas.

In another article in Dairio Libre , the 24 hour curfew is mentioned again.

Ministro de Salud Pública sugiere toque de queda por 24 horas
Sánchez Cárdenas declaró que “se precisa de medidas más restrictivas si queremos resultados en menor tiempo”.

More relevant is that the MOH modelling indicates the virus will not be contained until after June unless more rigorous measures are taken:

The studies that the ministry is carrying out indicate a prolongation that exceeds the month of June in the curve that is managed if more aggressive measures are not taken, according to the head.

Análisis del crecimiento del COVID-19
en la República Dominicana       I N F O R M E # 2 3

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13O789R … eTEsK/view

1293 tests (figure 16) 328 positive. 1 in 4.

Stay well everyone. This too shall pass. It may not seem like it now. But it will. God bless and keep each of you, no matter what your situation is right now.

Bulletin #28:

Total confirmed cases:  3755     Increase:  141
Total Deaths:                     196     Increase: 7
Total Recovered:               215     Increase: 7
Total Tests: 12,229
Total active cases: 3344
Total in IC: 121

In detail:

DN                                                      +12
SD                                                       +6
Santiago                                             +13
Duarte                                                +5
La Altagracia                                      +4
La Romana                                         +4
Puerto Plata                                       +16
La Vega                                               +39
Maria TS                                              +1
Hermanas M                                      +1
Monsignor N                                      +2
Espaillat                                              +22
Sanchez Ramirez                               +3
San Cristobel                                      +4
Barahona                                            +4
Valverde                                              +1
Monte Plata                                        +1
Monte Cristi                                        +3

I don't see any good news in this other than Samana hasn't seen a new case since 2nd April.

The testing number has dropped from the 1300 yesterday to 400, today so don't read too much into today's numbers and spread (there should be worse to come when testing gets to over 1000 a day again or more).

Why has testing dropped so much?

This is really grim news

Ducketts

Most regional countries including South America are taking their lead and implementing policies from PAHO (Pan America Health Organization) during this covid19 pandemic.

Some of the Caribbean islands and a couple of South America states are also being advised by the UK, Netherlands and France.

A press release the other day makes it clear where PAHO stand on dealing with and then planning forward in this pandemic:

https://www.paho.org/en/news/14-4-2020-covid-19-paho-director-calls-extreme-caution-when-transitioning-more-flexible-social

COVID-19: PAHO Director calls for “extreme caution” when transitioning to more flexible social distancing measures

........
“Implementing the measures required to stop COVID-19 can be disruptive but failing to do so will risk prolonging this crisis. Interrupting recommended social distancing too early could have the opposite effect – and lead to a second wave of COVID-19 cases, extending suffering and socioeconomic uncertainty over the long term in the Region of the Americas,” she said..........

Get ready for the long haul. Part of this will be isolating our countries from reinfection from others and so any transition will start with the domestic economy and domestic tourism before slowly expanding to other countries with covid19 beaten.

I don't see much opening up in DR until June and for any meaningful foreign travel until late this year.

ducketts wrote:

Why has testing dropped so much?

This is really grim news

Ducketts

Grim news yes. because we know we have more cases but not some of the stupid numbers that are bounded about on social media yet. But some places in the country look in trouble whether there is 1300 daily tests of 400.

You should always look at figures over a period of days and that balances the delays in numbers coming in to the MoH from the provinces.

A classic example of this was the Easter holiday in the USA when the daily figures reported dropped but quickly picked up again after, but not before there were people saying the peak had been hit.

This virus is not going to recede quickly anywhere and could easily come back in second and third waves. Remember even China has not got this beat yet too.

A vaccine is the only solution to getting back to where we were before. Testing is good so you know where the infections are, but if you can't trace all the contacts of each and very infected person, it's value is far less.

I don't think it has sunk in to many of the gravity of the problem and the media is sloshing around to find good examples of part containment in any country that they can find. When Europe as a whole shows no new cases or no new deaths it will be significant. Ditto when the USA has only a hundred new daily cases across the whole 51 states. Will we be there in August? I doubt it.

Will countries try to open up? Sure but they will be back at the beginning if they rush this.

US only has 50 States, not 51. But yes, the virus is morphing at a similar rate to those that came before. Social Distancing, masks, gloves and staying at home are all helping reduce the number of new cases and deaths as the infection ability rate decreases. Our current plans are to return to the D.R. in September. Some Expats are not going to return though. Missing a great opportunity for themselves and the D.R. I imagine.

I think you are being realistic.

Any flights from countries still with active cases is going to be restrictive, if and when DR gets clear, and my thinking is autumn will be the earliest for visitors/tourists. Unless some reliable internationally accepted pre-flight medical check appears. A covid19 blood test was not sufficient for returning Dominicans to avoid government controlled quarantine probably because we don't understand incubation periods sufficiently yet.

This whole thing is such a mess it is unclear when it will ever return to normal. We bought one place and were set to buy a second place... BUT... who knows. We shall see I suppose.  September 5-ish was the earliest we were planning to move.  Now we aren't sure. Thanks for your updates.

Análisis del crecimiento del COVID-19
en la República Dominicana     INFORME #24

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xKX-kB … Y2PEa/view

Its a strange situation here.  Our numbers are not  "flattening" and the increase is higher then reporting. We have a lack of testing and the very sick cannot get assistance. Many are dying at home.  I am told this helps keep the numbers down.Its just plain cruel. I was told this by a senior member of the red cross.

While this is going on they loosen travel restrictions inter provincially.

They reject out of hand, calls for  more restrictions.

Just looking on social media you can see how many many Dominicans are taking all this and some expats as well.  Breaking the curfew and rules needs to have strong consequences. Maybe they want to go in and retrieve dead bodies? Maybe they want to  bury these poor unfortunate people? Clearly making them clean garbage and clean the beach isn't harsh enough.

I am personally disgusted by those making videos taunting the police, those fighting the police and those making light of being in jail!  You do not like the rules,  tough.  For expats who dont like the rules, you can call your embassy and find a flight going home!  Otherwise  follow the rules.

This is an interesting article about a temporary hospital set up in La Vega which looks high risk of more cases:

https://www.diariolibre.com/actualidad/ … HC18294993

Still not in use but not needed as there is plenty of capacity in the main local hospital:

While from the local branch of the Dominican Medical College (CMD) they explained that so far the need to use this area has not been presented , because they have sufficient spaces in the public and private sector hospital centers of La Vega.

El Morillo King, the main hospital here for patients affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, has almost 50 percent of its income capacity available.

"In the hospital -Morillo King- they are only using 32 of the 65 beds available," explained Dr. Julio Garib, local president of the CMD.

Interesting. I read another article.on one of the new pop up hospitals, people said covid would not kill them they would cook in the new hospital! 

We certainly have some unique needs!  It's gotten darn hot. 

I like they are planning for the expected capacity!  I hope it's not needed.

Is it only expats causing the problems? Here in the US, most people are following the rules. A couple of notable exceptions are in states with ridiculous rules. One where you cannot buy seeds or garden tools but you can buy Pot to get high and forget your problems.  It's a  crime to plant a garden. So people protested in an orderly manner.

Most of the states have handled the lock down well. Since in the D.R., much of the money that increases the living conditions in the country comes from an influx of expats, I hope a peaceful solution that continues to welcome them can be found. Rather than asking  the few of them causing trouble to go home.

Of course not.  Arrests happen every night of people flaunting the curfew.  Videos are online of parties, gatherings, police chases etc.  Daily we see.massive lineups at banks, wester union, grocery stores with little social distancing.

As expats, residing here legally and illegally we do not have a say in the laws but we must abide by them!

All slightly ironic....

they restrict business hours in many case to half day
Naturally, lines form for the shorter openings

In SD, they have little room and many people...

Here in Cabrera - Caribe Express, banks , etc the lines are monitored well... good spacing

How well they monitor the 5pm curfew in the hills & campo is doubtful
not at all possible to do so

The general Dominican population is ignorant of the issues -
ignorant meaning too little education and little to no grasp of the severity of the situation

That's how I see it

You are absolutely  correct.  The lack of education is showing.  You cannot blame the people for that!   The proliferation of disinformation is a serious issue.

And imagine locals seeing expats doing what they want,  uploading videos at the beach etc etc.  Do they think well its okay for the foreigner it must be okay for me?   Do they  feel bitter when  they are denied access but foreigners with money do what they want? 

There is more to this than just not obeying the laws,  What we do effects others in many different ways.

Yes in SD its a big deal  with shortened hours of operation.   We had line ups before this and it has only gotten worse. It will continue to be bad as long as people need to feed their families!

The Ugly American. Old story about that exact attitude. Shame on them.

Also ugly canadians,  brits,  french, italians..... it is not restricted these days honey!

Bulletin #29:

Total Confirmed Cases: 4126     Increase: 371
Total Deaths:                     200     Increase: 4
Total Recovered:               268     Increase: 53
Total IC: 146
Total Tests: 13,282 increase of 1053
Total Active Cases: 3658

In Detail:

DN                                                   +63
SD                                                    +46
Santiago                                          +61
La Romana                                      +3
Puerto Plata                                    +7
La Vega                                            +19
Maria T S                                         +10
Hermanas M                                   +10
Samana                                            +4     First cases in 2 weeks
SPM                                                   +2
Monsignor N                                   +22
Espaillat                                           +13
San Juan                                           +7
Sanchez Ramirez                            +32     Cotui!
San Cristobel                                   +6
Barahona                                         +6
Peravia                                              +1
Monte Plata                                     +2
El Seibo                                             +1
Baoruco                                            +3
San Jose De Ocoa                            +1

It is always worth looking at the increases over a few days. La Vega clearly has a big problem now as do all the provinces surrounding Duarte.

The averaged increase over recent days is still quite flat for the capital (where one third live) but that can change very quickly.