COVID-19

The MoH daily reports show less daily numbers but many past tests results are still not being given apparently.

The new government promised 5 - 7 k daily tests from today. Let's wait to see if that happens and a clearer picture results.

As regards to today's low number from less tests, this comment recently posted on the MOH facebook site stood out and one wonders with PP province having regular high daily numbers if this is the case:

it is nice to see overall new cases dropping, but I am not getting to excited as this seems to happen every Monday. I am however concerned at the high numbers in Puerto Plata that do not appear to be going down. Could this be because of all the flights coming in from New York and Miami to support the sex trade. I have noticed in Sosua the bars that support this do not practice social distancing or wearing of masks.

I am not too excited about the "lower cases" its BS and they need to get their act together. This wont go away on its own.   They need to step the hell up and take care of things.

In order to see what is going on in Puerto Plata we need to know who is being tested and where.   And then of course,  CONTACT TRACING!  That is actually how we know what is going on. Doesn't seem  its being done at all.

Get the picture straight ! They only have i place here in S.D. that do the testing and they have only 5 qualified tester's. The lab that does the test's admits they have no way to test anyone but the people that come to the lab and pay for the test. So stop posting anything about cases of covis. The only way to get some straight news of how many expets died Is go to or call [lots of luck calling] no one answers the phone or replies to emails. Laboratorio clinico AMADITA. Calle abelardo rodrigues urdaneta102 gazcue Santo Domingo
809-682-5414  8809-621-5414
1-200-0544 sin cargos fax 809-686-6368
www.amadita.com

If yo find out anything form them it will not be accurate counts they admit that !
Good luck . It's nice liveing in paradise !
Ware masks social distance.

They had 4 private labs and the national lab. and the new president has added others:

Amadita is just one of the private labs as is Referencia in Santo Domingo. The national lab. which is in DN has been undertaking most of the testing work outside of  the private labs in Santo Domingo which both charge and cover under insurance as agreed with the previous government.

The national lab. fell a long way behind on being able to give test results promptly  - still a few weeks behind - due to the paper work then being manually handled and also lack of supplies - reagents for the tests. So much so that they stopped testing for maybe a week as did some of the hospitals in Santo Domingo - all as comprehensively reported in the local news.

It became a mess and the current figures are probably out of date and distorted by those paying for tests such as employers and those who can rather than the people who could be infected and show symptoms.

So.....

From the new government's heath plan which was announced 19th August:

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.- The Health Cabinet of the new government announced the action plan initiated to contain the expansion of COVID-19 that includes the supply of PCR tests and other necessary supplies, the hiring of 1,000 doctors, the authorization of 17 Public and private laboratories in all regions to speed up the application and reach more than seven thousand tests a day, the increase in the availability of beds and the inclusion and participation of municipalities and social organizations in the development of programmed activities.

In a presentation of the plan held at the National Palace with the participation of President Luis Abinader and Vice President Raquel Peña, also coordinator of the Health Cabinet, it was explained that the Ministry of Public Health will activate the 22 regular programs to address the incidence of different diseases and health actions that were paralyzed or with a very low level of activities.

The objective is to speed up the delivery of results and increase the taking of PCR samples per day from some 3,000 that are currently carried out to more than 7,000 and bring this service closer to the entire population, for which 7 private laboratories have been enabled and added to the 4 existing ones that offer this service. At the event it was also reported that the Government guarantees the purchase of vaccines, when available, through joint purchase mechanisms.

In the activity, the President and Vice President of the Republic were accompanied by Doctors Plutarco Arias, Minister of Health, and Vice Ministers Edward Guzmán and Ivelisse Acosta; Mario Lama, director of the National Health Service and Santiago Hazim, director of the National Health Insurance (SENASA), and other officials.

TESTING IN REGIONAL HOSPITALS In addition, to bring these services to all regions, Public Health (MSP) is equipping and enabling 10 laboratories, which will soon apply tests in regional hospitals Luis Bogaert, Mao; MorilloKing, La Vega; Cabral y Báez, Santiago; Antonio Musa, San Pedro de Macorís; Juan Pablo Pina, San Cristóbal; Taiwan, Azua; Luis E. Aybar, Sanitary City, Santo Domingo; Ricardo Limardo, Puerto Plata; San Vicente de Paúl, San Francisco de Macorís, and Jaime Mota, Barahona. Additionally, the management capacity of the Dr. Defilló National Laboratory is being strengthened to overcome congestion and delay in taking and processing PCR tests.

Hopefully you are straight now!

James you are somewhat mislead!  That is NOT correct information.,  Interesting your very first post is full of inaccuracies. 

We are here to help,  we do our very best NOT To mislead anyone and we call it like we see it.

For those that read the local press, you will see that daily case numbers have been dropping but also testing is dropping.

The new government were due to recieve 100,000 PCR tests yesterday and so the national laboratory and public hospitals will be able to resume testing again shortly.

The results we are currently seeing probably reflect delayed test results and the private labs where one can go and pay and get tested or use if you have insurance. Many employers are using these private labs to get employees tested. Many Dominicans don't have insurance so rely on the public health facilities for testing.

With more PCR tests shortly in use we should be able to start seeing the real situation around the country in week or so.

We shouldn't let our guard down yet even if some businesses are beginning to relax the recommended government measures.

Absolutely - we can hope that the results we start to get are correct. What we are getting is misleading and people are thinking its almost over.......

https://www.diariolibre.com/actualidad/ … BB21028678

It is not over but maybe slowing down a bit in places

Government doesn't think enough so 45 days more of state of emergency. I expect more curfew too.

Article raises a few points:

PCR tests should be for the general public with symptoms rather than those with deep pockjets who pay fro their PCR tests for peace of mind when they should be using sereology tests.

The current results are from the private labs and so there may well be a distortion in the positivity situation.

The national lab is in a mess with backlogs.

Good to see transparancy. It will be a couple of weeks before we see the real situation.

Country receives cargo of 100,000 PCR tests

https://eldia.com.do/pais-recibe-cargam … uebas-pcr/

SANTO DOMINGO.- The Minister of Public Health explained that 100,000 PCR tests for the detection of coronavirus in the country have been in customs since Tuesday.
Plutarco Arias told EL DÍA that as soon as the tests are cleared from customs they will begin to be applied to people.

“They would start to apply immediately; as soon as they arrive, we will make it available to the people ”, the minister told EL DÍA.

He said that initially they will do screening tests, and those people who test positive will do the PCR.

"We are not going to test those who are healthy, but the symptomatic with possibilities, yes," he warned.

On the authorization of the eight laboratories announced by Vice President Raquel Peña to carry out daily PCR tests and detect Covid-19 and that they would begin to carry out the tests when the necessary reagents were acquired.

Arias indicated that they are private laboratories, which are assembling their equipment for said tests.

Likewise, the head of Health referred to the thousand doctors who will join to fight the coronavirus, and pointed out that there are 2,000 applicants, of whom they will select 1,000.

"Doctors will be trained virtually for 15 days and then those with the highest qualifications will be appointed," said the minister.

Plutarco arias

- Complaint
“The National Laboratory needs a lot of support, we are aware of that; we have found very poor laboratories, I think we must improve, we have a bottleneck in tests "

National Laboratory with technical problems

Delays The Doctor Defilló National Laboratory presented technical problems that prevented the presentation of results of processed samples, which forced the Ministry of Public Health to offer bulletin 160 only with results of tests processed by private laboratories

The information was offered by Public Health through said bulletin, at the close of Tuesday at 4:00 in the afternoon.

"Due to technical problems at the Dr. Defilló National Laboratory, today only the results of samples processed by private laboratories are presented," says the note.
The processed samples registered are 2,585 cases, when in the previous bulletin, which included the National Laboratory, they were about 3,221 cases.

They are a mess. I just do not see any reason to believe cases are down, zero, none!  ( Note you have to read that last part with attitude)

Lennox - thank you for always giving us the latest updates.  It is always appreciated!

Bed pressure in hospitals due to Covid begins to decline

https://eldia.com.do/presion-por-cama-e … descender/

This has been a positive sign over the past several days. Both the bed ocupancy and ICU occupancy has diminished albeit the latter is still high.

This is perhaps an indicaton that the spike resulting from  the elections has passed it's peak.

It is also perhaps an indication that the curfew is working too. It is stopping the conglomerations of people after dark and anyone who nows dominican culture in towns cities and barrios will understand that. Those expats that complain ought to respect that the health of the country comes first and leave it to the new government to decide how to deal with this deadly virus.

But we should not drop our guard.

Testing at the national level at public institutions has dried up and only yesterday did the national lab. start testing again - 192 tests, 79 positive, positivity 41.2%.

This is still a long haul with the continuing curfew now confirmed as before, and unless modified it will be until mid October.

Happy to hear the beds are freeing up...

WillieWeb wrote:

Happy to hear the beds are freeing up...

Don't understand why this site blocks links - some links.

The above was an article from El Dia this morning:

Vacancy of beds
Vacancy of beds by Covid-19 patients in hospital centers in the Dominican Republic is 34 percent, so 66 percent of them are occupied, according to the closure of Bulletin 161 of Public Health Wednesday at 4:00 in the afternoon.

The decline in bed occupancy comes after a 94 percent occupancy of them had been reported.

The Ministry of Health indicates that the occupation of beds in intensive care units (ICU) is 54 percent, so there are 46 percent unoccupied.
The bed vacancy curve is reflected after the country presents for almost two months a significant increase in cases of the coronavirus and congestion in hospital centers.


and

The National Laboratory Doctor Defilló processed 192 samples, of which 79 were positive, for a positivity of 41.2%. In the previous bulletin it was reported that the laboratory had technical problems.

It blocks if its not a site  we regularly post from AND we block based on key words!   So beds may have triggered (In any language)

Good morning,  hope we soon see increased testing and reporting!  Supposedly they have the tests to start doing this,   supposedly some labs going to  24 hour operations. Lets hope we start seeing some actual results that are reliable. 

I hope that the  % of infected are dropping. I hope the numbers getting sick are dropping. I  hope the spread is slowing down! 

I desperately hope we can get back to some form of normal soon, for everyone's sakes!

With testing at the public labs beginning to ramp up again we should soon see a clearer picture and that s essential to be bale to manage the virus.

I doubt if community transmission has declined but rather that it has seen the 'election' peak and is happening where there is poor social distancing. The virus does not stop nor should you. Just demand and respect social distancing and all the other measures put in place by government.

Dominicans have learnt to use masks by and large and social distancing is begining to be understood better. The community is adapting.

The curfew has been and is by and large a success. It does stop social mingling at night albeit there are plenty exmaples of ignorance by youth mainly at weekends. It still needs better policing and more education within communities.

The reality now is that for the large part of DR there is plenty and almost back to normal economic activity during daytime before the curfew begins. Expats in tourist zones will see it differently but they are seeing a localized effect which does not represent the country as a whole. The package tourists who represented the bulk pre covid19 will see no difference. This is the new reality...the new norm. Bars and restaurants are getting repreive from electricity bills until January and that tells you that there is a long haul ahead.

Covid19 controls will be needed for a very long time such that we can all live well and 'almost' normally. It can't be ignored but can be managed.

The formal decrees have been issued with state of emergency extended for 45 days from today and the curfew is extended for 25 days at this time....up to 5am on 28th September.

Any updates with testing results?

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

still not testing enough and still the  positivity rate over  27%. We are not making progress.

Now that public testing is happening again, but not up to the numbers expected, we are seeing the number of new cases go back over 1000 (1002) with a positivity of 26.3% with a wide spread and numbers going back up in Santo Domingo.

There was also a record for deaths yesterday at 36.

For the North Coast readers, Puerto Plata continues to see a decent number of new cases every day and Santiago is still bad. La Altagracia numbers are going back up too.

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

and now we are seeing a bit of the reality here!

It appears the covid19 testing reporting in DR had become somewhat chaotic under the last government and the new regime is beginning to understand and tackling the problems:

National Laboratory registers more positivity than private ones

https://listindiario.com/la-republica/2 … s-privados

A marked difference between the positivity percentages of COVID -19 samples is registered in the country between those processed in public sector laboratories versus the private sector.

Yesterday 42% of those processed in the Dr. Defilló National Laboratory, the main one in the public network, were pos

tivas, while in the Reference Clinical Laboratory, the private diagnostic center that processes the largest number of samples, was 13%, according to official data to which Listín Diario had access.

After several days with a minimal report in processed diagnostic tests, the National Laboratory Dr. Defilló yesterday notified 1,223 samples, of which 496 were positive for a positivity of 42%.

Of the total of those samples processed, 1,181 were from first-time patients and 42 were from follow-up, that is, they corresponded to a second sample or more times that the same patient was sampled.

Meanwhile, the Reference clinical laboratory, the private center that performs the largest number of COVID diagnostic tests in the country, processed 3,934 samples yesterday, of which 506 tested positive for 13% positivity.

Of those samples, 2,623 were from first-time patients and 1,311 from second-time or follow-up patients.

The details are contained in an official report from the Ministry of Public Health, where for the first time the details of the separate public and private laboratory tests on first-time or new and follow-up or subsequent patients are publicly offered. According to the report, the total of tests processed together was 5,157, of which 3,804 were first time and 1,353 follow-up. The total of positive tests was 1002 cases for a total positivity of 19%. Samples from the National Laboratory are taken from people who go to public centers.

Public Health clarifies that 36 deaths reported yesterday by Covid-19 occurred between July and August

ANNOUNCES THAT THEY WILL HAVE A PLATFORM TO RECORD OCCURRENCES IN THE LAST 24 HOURS

https://listindiario.com/la-republica/2 … o-y-agosto

The Ministry of Public Health clarified this Friday that the 36 deaths reported Thursday by coronavirus do not correspond to a single day, but occurred between July 23 and August 23. Of that total, 32 people died from July 28 to August 10.

Ivelisse Acosta, vice minister of Collective Health, said that deaths are generally not reported on the day they occur, due to the verification that is required, and that you also have to wait several days to receive the death certificate to confirm that it was due to Covid-19 .

He said that he does not have a system to raise the deaths immediately occur, so there are days that no center has reported deaths from the pandemic.

"The death registry caused by the effects of the covid shows a downward trend during the month of August and these are cases that correspond to people admitted in the month of July and the first days of August," he said.

He indicated that the statistics and epidemiology team is working on the necessary changes to make the information process about the pandemic easier and that next week they will have a virtual platform full of news.

On that platform they will report, as he said, deaths caused by covid-19 in the last 24 hours and, in addition, those notified in the last four weeks will be reported in the surveillance system

Guaranteed that they will be quality, reliable and transparent information.

It was obvious last month something was amiss with the past MOH reporting and the real situation. We have to wait to understand the true reality.

No Bulletin today whilst the new authorities try and sort out what they have been and will be reporting!

Today Public Health has not issued the epidemiological bulletin with the update on the situation of COVID-19, to include technical adjustments.

This was reported at noon today by the ministry in a WhatsApp message in which they apologized. «My dear ones. We apologize for the lack of the newsletter. They inform us that work is being done to improve the technical part and it may not be broadcast today. Thank you for your understanding ", says the communication.

It occurs just hours before the press conference in which the vice minister of collective health, Yvelisse Acosta, and the national director of epidemiology, Ronald Skewes, clarified that the number of deaths reported yesterday occurred between July 23 and August 23 .

The intervention of the officials of the new government left more questions than answers and raised concerns about the reality of the pandemic in the country given that, according to the statements made today, deaths are never reported in the 24 hours following death , as always handled.

Now read this new article in Noticias Sin!

COVID-19 reports improvisation, negligence or diffuse processes?

https://noticiassin.com/reportes-covid- … s-difusos/

SANTO DOMINGO.- 168 bulletins and 1,801 deaths later, the Public Health authorities make a clarification that casts doubt on the reliability of the information that has been offered since March on COVID-19 in the country: the deaths reported daily do not correspond to the previous day but includes accumulated .

This situation occurs because to count a death as COVID-19 an investigation process must be opened that requires the issuance of a death certificate .

“ Generally, deaths from COVID are not reported the day they occur because the epidemiology team must follow a process of monitoring and verifying the cause of death. Added to this is that we have to wait several days, and we all know it, to receive the death certificate and with that is that the corresponding investigation is made in the health establishment, "said the vice minister of collective health, Ivelisse Acosta.

He explained it during a press conference called by Public Health to clarify that the 36 deaths reported yesterday - and that the media reported as a new record of deaths in one day - occurred between July 23 and August 23 , 10 days before its disclosure.

“In bulletin 168, corresponding to Wednesday, September 2, 36 deaths were reported. These deaths that were reported that day, because it is the day that they fell into the notification system, occurred between July 23 and August 23, "said the official.

But it was not an isolated case but rather, according to the explanations offered by Acosta and by the national director of epidemiology, Ronald Skewes, " the explanation in relation to these 36 is the same in relation to others because it is the same process ."

This means, according to the current authorities, that the bulletins have never reflected the daily reality of the deaths but of those that "fall" into the system .

In this context, it is valid to remember that on several occasions the former minister, Rafael Sánchez Cárdenas, drew the attention of the clinics and the provincial health directorates due to delays in the daily reports .

As the minister explained at the time, each bulletin reflected what happened until 4:00 in the afternoon the day before.

In fact, journalists sometimes asked him if the death of one or another person was included in the figures provided and his answer was that it was not, that it had occurred after the cutoff time and that therefore it would be in the bulletin the next day.

But on one occasion Sánchez Cárdenas clarified that there were delays reflected in a bulletin.

“In press conferences I have been ratifying clinics and hospitals that they have to abide by the regulations that establish 24 hours to make the report to the National Epidemiological Surveillance System. That gives effectiveness, that gives clarity and blocks the way for those who want to use this epidemic to make politics or any kind of opinion, "he said at the time, but did not say that it was the usual thing.

And there is more. Speaking today of the reason behind these reporting dynamics, Acosta said that the delays cannot be attributed to staff failures. However, when complaining about the faults of this type, Sánchez Cárdenas emphatically condemned the action and even said that it was a matter of staff lags.

" Being able to notify a death practically in real time implies an extraordinary effort and we all know the limitations that our health system has ," Acosta said today.

But he said that they are working to improve that, that the statistics team will make changes in the report to include lines that give greater clarity to the figures. "We are not going to spare the effort to provide reliable and transparent quality information", he promised.

The complexity of these clarifications is that they leave public opinion with more questions than answers about the data handled so far.

Among these concerns, it can be mentioned that it is not known for sure which months and days have been with the highest number of deaths from COVID-19 , because they explained today that when receiving a death report they include it on the day it occurred. so the published figures are constantly being updated.

That it is unknown what happens, for example, with the deaths that were not notified to the Central Electoral Board due to the closure that the institution had during the pandemic .

It is also not known how far behind the death figures today are.

And, finally, the question remains whether during all this time it was by omission or intentionality that the authorities did not clarify the situation and allowed the press to speak of daily deaths, knowing that, according to now, it is almost impossible to have such a report. updated.

Maybe there have been more deaths and for sure there have been more cases untested.

This absolutely dreadful

I view things differently. From a article I read recently

Up to now, a lot of us in the reality-based community have focused on the crimes perpetrated against the young, who have had everything that makes life fulfilling yanked away from them, and a socially distanced dystopia put in its place.

But:

Older -- and indeed the very oldest -- folks are suffering, too.

We're all certain that the most humane course of action is to require people who -- if the average lifespan after being admitted to a nursing home is any indication -- are in the final months of life to interact with their families only over Zoom, and be devoid of human contact?

Yes, they are biologically alive. I get it.

I could spend my whole life biologically alive in a windowless room with no art or music and with bland food slipped through a slot in the door.

But I would be a cow, not a human being.

Worse than a cow, really, because at least a cow gets fresh air.

Earlier this week someone in my private group shared (with the names removed) a couple of quite typical comments from a support group for people whose loved ones have been locked in nursing homes for the past six months.

One such person wrote:

"I think I've hit rock bottom today. I passed the nail salon and technician that did my loved one's nails. I stopped and told her I haven't touched my lady in six months and the tears just start pouring.... How much longer can I do this? It's grieving every single day."

Then another:

"Tonight's window visit. She asks if church is filling up again. I tell her it is. She asked if she can get a pass to go out for church.

"I look at her. I cannot lie to her. I tell her, 'If you go out, when you come back you have to stay in your room by yourself all day and all night for 14 days.' She looks at me waiting, wondering. I tell her, 'Just in case you might have caught the virus.'

"There are no words for the look of disgust on her face. She cannot believe what is being forced on her.

"No one, absolutely no one, not even those caring for her, are subject to such isolation or lockdown. This is criminal. It's elder abuse. It's been six months since she stepped outside. I wonder if she even remembers how to get in the car."

And then she says to Texas governor Greg Abbott and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission:

"OPEN THESE FACILITIES. YOU ARE STEALING PEOPLE'S LIVES. THE LAST BIT OF THEIR LIFE!"

Now:

I can share all kinds of charts with you.

I can chart Peru (with a harsh lockdown) against Brazil (with no lockdown), and you will not be able to tell which is which (except I'll give you a hint that Peru is the one with worse results).

I'll show you American states, and you try to figure out, based on the results, which ones locked down and which didn't, which locked down the hardest, which ones opened and when they opened, and you won't be able to make any consistent sense out of any of it.

I can show you over and over again that the lockdown regime is based on pure pseudoscience.

I can point out the collateral deaths caused by the lockdowns -- the 1.4 million excess deaths from TB, the 500,000 from HIV, and the 385,000 from malaria that will result from them, as even the New York Times admits.

Not to mention:

UNICEF predicted 1.2 million dead children (it would take COVID a zillion years to match that many child deaths), and the UN said between 42 and 66 million children would be reduced to "extreme poverty." And the Well Being Trust and the Robert Graham Center have predicted 75,000 "deaths of despair" in the U.S. alone.

But:

At this point screw all that. The response is inhumane, period.

Let people make their own decisions about their own lives.

Now there's a radical idea.

"Let people make their own decisions about their own lives."

And to hell with everyone else? Survival of the fittest I guess huh.

You know the purpose of a lockdown is correct?  It is quite simple. Hint, it's not to suppress you or  offend your individual rights.

This generation whether young or old is not the first generation to have been faced with a plague which has changed lives.

The plagues of the middle ages, smallpox, polio, TB, Spanish flu and HIV to name a few.

This one is more profound because societies are so inter-connected and basic isolation measures, which actually are quite simple to adopt, are proving so very hard for many to accept right now and have been politicised.

We can all live with a decent life with covid19 but within the rules established for the well being of all society by the government we have chosen to be live under.

DR has different prioroties to other countries. It does not have a large nursing home community. Family life together remains a pillar stone of DR life so any national policy must take account of that. The health service has limitations and so the policy must be suited. The economy is very much hand to mouth and informal so decisions are going to consider this. Tourism is key so the border controls are going to be more relaxed to account for that.

The policies taken by DR including continung curfew, are according to polls, supported by the large majority still. It appears they work effectively in a country where night behavour can be disorderly especiailly at weekends. They don't affect real tourists- the few that are travelling- and the economy is chugging along. A good balance? It appears so.

At some point curfew will be relaxed and that will be a big test for the country. National education campaigns needs to be a pre cursor to relaxing curfew imo.

I hear the unhappiness of the expats who have chosen to live in resort areas. Covid19 will be impacting on their lives more than the rest of us.

But the good of the whole in DR is more important than for the few, for now it seems.

I hear many and only comments from those on this form that are comfortable in their own homes. No worries about where your next meal will come from including myself. I do not hear any comments from the local on the street that cannot pay his rent or feed his family. Why is it that this community does not have a say in what impacts on their lives?
All I am asking is to look beyond your own bubble. See how the world is changing due to these measures and eventually it will have a huge effect on your own life as well.
Does anyone really believe that enforcing a curfew now and relaxing after another 45 days that it will make any difference. Will Covid 19 suddenly disappear. Perhaps keeping it in place until the end of the year or maybe until end of 2021. When will it end so everyone can feel safe?

The policies taken by DR including continuing curfew, are according to polls, supported by the large majority.

I would be curious to see these polls and what segment of the population this has come from.
Finally, I would like to say that this is my opinion. If it differs from yours, fine I respect that, please respect mine.

Stan in reality your and all of our opinions don't matter here.  We have no say! 

Those who do have a say - they voted.  And the party in power clearly stated they would take measures to stop this virus.

Those who party and carry on are ignorant of the facts of this disease.

I am in punta cana for the weekend.  At this resort are far far too many people and I am the only foreign person.  There is almost no social distancing and no enforced mask usage.   These are for the most part middle class Dominicans who appear no not give a damn about anyone. I am staying well away from everyone I can! 

And I will be writing about this publicly!!!

I have read about what Stan is saying....

Poorer (3rd world) countries have compounding problems when the need for $$ is urgent.... daily, weekly work as in street vendors - exactly what we have here.

DR isn't the only country - it does present more problems and seeks a different solution.
Couple that with the basic Dominican culture - as Planner reports - and you have compounded the problem once more

In many cases the explanation is straight ignorance -
insufficient education and lack of understanding the virus.

Just  look at So America where the culture and life is similar to here...
not doing well.

It really is the individual responsibility of each person to conduct themselves as they see fit - or can cope with....and we're all different

The new MoD authorities have revamped the daily report summary and it makes the picture clearer.

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

This is early days and it will take a few days for the National lab. to present results from public hospitals nationally.

What we can see from the spread of reported  cases that there are still many 'hot' spots around the country including the Cibao.

For those travelling to DR.

Everything is ready to implement in seven days the Responsible Recovery Plan for tourism, coordinated by the Ministry of Tourism (Mitur); This was reiterated by Minister David Collado, who also stated that, except for a major cause, the plan will begin on September 15 with the announced measures.

Therefore, it will not be necessary to present Covid-19 test with negative results at the airports prior to entering the country, since non-invasive random tests will be carried out, with a PCR test developed in Israel that uses the breath.

He stated that airports will have strict sanitary protocols with the measurement of temperature, distance and masks.

Collado also indicated that all short-stay tourists (non-resident foreigners) who enter the country from September 15 to December 31 will have a traveler assistance plan during their first stay in a hotel that has a travel license. operation, which includes emergencies in the event of a Covid-19 contagion, and will be covered by the Dominican Government.

The Minister of Tourism recalled that this measure is exclusive to the Dominican Republic, since it has not been applied by any other country in the region, to guarantee the health and well-being of those who visit our destination.

He declared that they have been working with the private sector and the authorities in the lifting of the hospitals that are in the tourist poles, in terms of availability of beds and conditions, to prepare all the logistics of handling those infected with symptoms.

To this is added, Collado explained, that by September 15 the Ministry of Public Health (MSP) will begin the publication of a report on the situation of contagions and COVID-19 lethality specialized for tourist centers.

“It is important to highlight that today we have the most favorable indicators within the region, regarding the pandemic. We are prepared within the reality that the world lives to receive tourists in our country, ”he said.

https://www.arecoa.com/destinos/2020/09 … mo-martes/

And I will  respectfully disagree with them.  I was at a hotel this past weekend and there were no protocols followed, no social distancing and  mixed mask usage. Hell the lady checking us in  had her mask around her chin until I said something.

It was ridiculous and will end up being a spreader event guaranteed!  It was  at least  60%  full of locals,  no foreign tourists  but very very few following rules. How anyone thinks protocols will be followed is  dreaming

Hi all

https://dominicantoday.com/dr/tourism/2020/09/02/

SANTO DOMINGO. – The President of the Republic, Luis Abinader, said that the Dominican Government would provide tourists who come to the country free medical insurance, as part of the measures to relaunch tourism in the coronavirus pandemic face.

The head of state expressed himself in those terms this Tuesday during an interview with CNN in Spanish and the journalist Camilo Egaña.

Correct  ..... but applies to hotel visiting tourists only

So if I've booked a villa as a tourist with say Airbnb these "offers" don't apply.

I would not rely solely on the Government’s health plan. I carry an annual travel insurance plan that covers medical treatment including for air transportation.
I just booked a 5 night trip to Punta Cana at an all inclusive resort. Not what I wanted, but to fly into Santo Domingo would have required 3 flight and about 18 hours since Delta is only flying to SDQ from NY.
Some may not agree with traveling these days, but my mental health is just as important as my physical health.

IT does not cover Air BnB or your own apt etc. Only stays at hotels.

Legs - double check there is no exclusion on your policy for  pandemics!   Most  travel insurance is not covering this.  Just be sure.