COVID-19

I really wonder if the traffic will change

It seems to me the problem is that everybody is aiming for home at the same hour...
be that  5pm or 7 pm or 9pm....

I hope I'm wrong

It's ok Planner, I wasn't looking for any approval...it's only an opinion...

Traffic - the issue has been everyone getting in a full work day and then trying to get home before the curfew.

So many have to leave at 5 or 5:30 to try to make it home in time. 

Now maybe there can be some staggering and leave at 6 or 6:30 or 7 or 7:30 and ease up the traffic.  Closer to our regular operational hours. 

From my office I can't leave past 4:30 and guarantee I can get home in time.   One small accident or stalled car and our commute is nuts!

WillieWeb wrote:

I really wonder if the traffic will change

It seems to me the problem is that everybody is aiming for home at the same hour...
be that  5pm or 7 pm or 9pm....

I hope I'm wrong

For those that know Santo Domingo traffic jams weekdays, the shift to 9pm should be effective. 5 pm through 7pm was always bad but traffic quickly eased after that.

The weekends will still see the late chancers coming back from Punta Cana and inland, but at least they don't have to leave at 1pm now from East Coast nor 3pm from Boca Chica/Juan Dolio.

This governemt is doing it right. Testing more and wider and we see the spread is everywhere but thanks to the curfew cases, deaths, positivity and hospitalization are dropping. The DR is now reported to have the best covid19 planning and reporting regionally. The new reporting is good but as reported probably significantly understates deaths historically here due to covid19. It is pragmatic approach letting business continue at a busy pace whilst trying to control the excesses of lack of social distancing by Dominicans in the night hours partying and especially at weekends. And they are flexible and now adjusting the hours of curfew but with the 'stick' that they will reimpose if the figures get worse anywhere.

Like everywhere, if you let your guard down and loosen controls the cases come back.

I fear Dominicans won't adapt and night curfew is with us for a long tome along with no bars, cinemas, casinos and sports and entertainment events.

I have now moved permanently to the campo and here with no cases and a small close community, life is like normal. Country life goes on after curfew. But we aren't a town or city barrio where people disrespect the need for social distancing when in their home areas. Just go to Cotui the nearest big town daytime and understand why Sanchez Ramirez has so many cases. I bet the same applies in Bonao, Barahona, San Juan, Moca, La Vega and Puerto Plata to name a few places. With travelling so much during the past few weeks I can see where DR's problems lie - towns and city barrios. I can't comment about tourist towns but that is only a small part of DR.

I also must disagree with you about what you said..."It could be as simple as the fact that we tend to eat foods that are healthier, fresher and with less chemicals than many other countries"

I've been coming to DR for 7 years staying for about 3 months at a time and I can assure you the food and choice & freshness is no where near the quality nor the standards of where I live which is France.  I won't bother with all the detail.  Suffice to say meat produce is vastly inferior as well as vegetables & others.  There's hardly any Bio/organic foods.
And let's not talk about supermarkets, many many items past their sell by date.  My experience on the North coast is not good.

But I put up with it as I love DR, the people & the climate and once this virus is truly over I hope, subject to health, return-that is I'm afraid in God's hands.

and how do the prices of food compare to France?

How big is domestic tourism currently?


President Luis Abinader announced on Wednesday the first phase of an incentive plan for internal tourism that will allow Dominican families to have facilities to access hotel infrastructure.

The incentive will be carried out with a preferential rate without the clients paying interest to the country's banks, for which the Government agreed with the commercial banks to grant loans.

In this sense, the Minister of Tourism, David Collado, said that “The idea is that a family can assume with 1,500 pesos per month with financing without interest for 12 months, they can visit and have the opportunity to visit the hotel complexes they have. our country".
There will be financing for 6 to 12 months without interest, Collado reiterated about the facilities.
"All the hotel chains have given us a cost price, we have five-star hotels, including from $ 39 and $ 35 all-inclusive," he explained.

Meanwhile, according to Abinader, the plan will start from next Monday 28, guaranteeing that an average Dominican family, with two adults and two children, can vacation for three nights in some of the world-class resorts at a manageable cost.

”This plan consists of creating a safe place of rest and union for Dominican families taking advantage of all the infrastructure that we have created around our beaches. Enjoy our beaches and reconnect with nature and, above all, recharge your batteries to continue the battle, ”said the president.

The President said that the intention is that no company closes in the Dominican Republic, for which he added that since October more than 50 hotels will open their doors in the relaunch of tourism in the country.

https://www.arecoa.com/destinos/2020/09 … manejable/

ducketts

about the food ...

In the past 11 yrs I have lived here, my cholesterol has gone down !

That was the decade of my 60's when it would normally rise.

Yes. I exercise - but not wildly..
I credit it to the fresh food... no foreign ingredients (less perhaps)
Generally, the food is good.

Meat? a bit more problematic.... beef, except from my super duper SD store is spotty
The fish, poultry and pork may not be French standards but are acceptable IMO

All in all- more good than bad , I say

That cholesterol number shocked me
By accident I tripped across an old blood test while filing the newest.....
and got a nice surprise
Always within the margins - my results - but LOWER !!

Great !!

It cant get any fresher than buying it here in the campo from locals who crop it.

I know rural France is great for food locally profuced by small holdings rather than big commercial concerns but DR produce can be excellent too without the certification. We still have super big tasty mangos this late. The water melons here in campo have great taste. The guava y ginola and pineapple. All here to be picked fresh now.

Ducketts, you like most visitors see a very small part of DR and draw conclusions.

We are off topic but all good.

Campo is best place now to live with covid19 imo.

Try Cabrera next time maybe.

Ducketts, it's fine to agree or disagree, it is only an opinion. 

The objective was not what I said but perhaps to get you to think out of the box.  I am an expat, married to a Dominican and it's easy to tell that you are not Dominican.  This is an observation, not an insult.  Willie knows what I am talking about.  There are standards for expats and standards for Dominicans.  If you want to get the best, you have to learn to be Dominican.  Don't worry, I am still learning.  A little more every day. 

Where I live we have a lot of vacant land filled with weeds that are trimmed every few weeks, thank goodness.    But now my mother-in-law (Dominican) is here visiting and took me to the weed patch.  She made me fill a large garbage bag with different leaves, roots etc.  As we went along she described what each one was for.  Now when I look across at the "weed patch", I say, wow, the pharmacy is flourishing.   You see, one persons weeds are another persons remedies.

I'll give you a tip.  If you are Dominican, the smart ones, don't buy off of the shelves...

Have a great day.

If you want to see how many tourists are on Bavaro beach and in the resorts in PC, check this link: https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webca … -cana.html  it might give you some idea...

OKAY Back on topic please or I will remove all other discussions.... thanks.  There are other threads for these discussions,   Living with Covid is one where this belongs

I see a lot of information regarding what testing is required for incoming tourists.
Please advise what testing is performed on those tourists departing the country ?

Nothing is required here.

Nothing when you leave the country but depends on where you arrive may have requirements.

Planner, everyone on this forum know and I am sure all appreciate your input. As long as I have been a member here, you are the steady rock.  Your comment that "we are not having this discussion on here"  now bothers me.
I am starting to feel that only the governments agenda is allowed. When I see posts claiming that 81% of the DR population agree to the lockdowns and there is no push back on that claim, troubles me. Take a look at what happened in Berlin 29 August.

Generally food prices in France are cheaper.  Interesting a lot of the fresh produce like cheese, butter, milk and yogurts in the supermarkets in DR are imported from France.  Wines are certainly much cheaper in France.  What I noticed is over the 7 years come to DR prices have gone up considerably and quality in some cases is not as good.
The other area where prices are much higher is medication.  I was quite staggered.  Because of the lock down I had to buy some meds which were very expensive.  In the end I arranged for the pharmacy in France to send me the stuff via Fedex.

But as I said, I love the country, the people and the climate so we come back!

Abinader says polls reveal 81% population agrees with curfew

https://somospueblo.com/abinader-dice-e … -de-queda/

Hard to dispute!

CMD warns of danger of reducing curfew

https://noticiassin.com/cmd-advierte-pe … -de-queda/

President Luis Abinader confirmed this Wednesday that starting next Monday the curfew hours will be reduced by two hours, a relaxation that according to the president of the Medical College will produce a re-outbreak of COVID-19 in the country and disorder on the part of some citizens who do not respect this movement restriction.

The new curfew will begin at the same time in all the country's provinces.

The president of ASONAHORES appreciated that the circulation hours were made more flexible, after ensuring that this will allow increasing income in the tourism sector affected by the pandemic.

However, for the president of the Medical College, who attributed this governmental provision to pressure from the Dominican business community, the country's sanitary conditions are not suitable for a reduction in curfew hours.

This Tuesday the Minister of Health, Plutarco Arias, said that the measure was taken with the responsibility of the population and could be varied if the necessary precautions to avoid contagions are not respected.

The current curfew began on September 3 and will end next Sunday.

We will see if the relaxation planned for Monday will maintain the cap here or as CMD predict, it will get worse again.  The problem is the minority who do not respect the social distancing and restrictive measures.

I do hope that we do not go the way of Europe, the USA and other countries which are now going in the wrong direction again at the worst possible time as winter comes.

If you do not look for the truth, you will never find it.

Lennox I share their  worry.   I  have a young man who is employed by me,  he just got out of the hospital after a two week stay for covid.  He is 34,   has  3 kids and a wife and now has permanently damaged kidneys  directly as a result of Covid. This is NOTHING to take lightly.

Just returned from Punta Cana. Planes much busier both ways, airport had small area of testing but not sure for who as did not see anyone from plane being pulled aside to be tested.

Supermarket in area was busy as they said many people came down from Santo Domingo for the long holiday weekend. They ran out of eggs on the day I went in!

Curfew from 9:00 pm Sectors with fear

In 41 days of the Government there have been 24,288 cases of COVID-19 and 634 deaths
Specialist indicates missing indicators to determine if contagion curve has been reduced

https://www.diariolibre.com/actualidad/ … LE21708517

This Monday begins a new curfew that grants two more hours to Dominicans so that they can carry out their activities. According to the director of the National Health Service, Mario Lama, this decision is based on the epidemiological conditions of the disease in the country.

By presidential provision, the curfew, until today, was from 7:00 pm to 5:00 am, Monday through Friday, and Saturday and Sunday from 5:00 pm to 5:00 am; but today the decree will be issued to be from 9:00 pm to 5:00 am, Monday through Friday, and from 7:00 pm to 5:00 am, Saturdays and Sundays. The Presidency confirmed that the decree will be released today.

Since the new government assumed its responsibilities on August 16 until this Friday, September 25, 24,288 new cases of COVID-19 have been registered, going from 86,309 infections to 110,597.

During these first 41 days of the Luis Abinader government, 634 deaths were added to the 1,453 deaths from coronavirus registered in the country.

Some 41 days before, almost twice as many cases had been counted, since from July 6 to August 14, 47,417 new infections of COVID-19 were added.

In this period, new deaths from coronavirus amounted to 634. The same amount accumulated after the entry of the new authorities.

Health authorities have stated on several occasions that the contagion curve of COVID-19 in the country has decreased.

In that sense, the epidemiologist and president of the Dominican Society of Health Doctors, Rafael Ramos Rincón, indicated that to speak of a decline in the epidemiological curve, other factors must be taken into account, in addition to the decrease in cases reported in recent days. .

“We must know the basic number of reproduction of the virus (RO), the georeference of COVID-19 in the country, which are the most affected sectors by occupation. We do not know if they are the doctors, drivers or teachers, "he said.

In epidemiology, the basic number of reproduction of an infection (also called basic reproduction rate, basic reproductive ratio and denoted by R0, r sub-zero) is the average number of new cases that a given case generates over a period of time. infectious.

That is, the ability of a person to transmit the virus. According to the specialist, to date this factor has not yet been determined in the country.

In order to determine if COVID-19 cases in the country are actually falling, the health worker recommends that social determinants be worked on, conducting active case searches, with focuses on georeferencing this, that is, the exact place where each comes from. case.

This implies that in the provinces with the highest incidence of the virus, where the number of people infected per number of inhabitants is very high, biosecurity measures must be strengthened and cases should be closely monitored.

"It is important to keep those variables pending in order to determine if the cases are actually decreasing," he said.

The epidemiologist stressed that in the country a minimum of seven thousand daily tests need to be carried out uninterruptedly for a certain period of time to be able to determine if the curve is going down.

Regarding the relaxation of the curfew, Ramos Rincón pointed out that one of the transmission points of the disease is social mobilization.

“If we allow more social mobilization, we will allow more contact and this will bring more transmission. Then, only by knowing the points of view such as the RO, the georeference of the cases and the levels by occupation, will we be able to describe whether it is feasible to increase or decrease the curfew and continue precisely to produce social distancing, "he said.

Ramos Rincón pointed out that although at an economic level this flexibility may be feasible, countries do not necessarily develop through the economy. "Because the first human right is health, without health we do not need so much economy," he said.

Two deaths and 429 new positives
The Dominican Republic reported this Sunday two deaths and 429 new cases of COVID-19, according to bulletin 192, issued by the Ministry of Public Health. To date, the country registers 111,386 accumulated cases of coronavirus and 2,095 deaths from the disease. In the last 24 hours, 5,760 PCR samples were processed for a total of 470,261 so far. The daily positivity rate is 9.66%, according to the report of the Ministry of Public Health, which also reported that the number of active cases is 23,326 and of recovered, 85,965.


This government is approaching the virus much better than the previous one and many other countries too.

Thanks again. Now that I'm back in ALberta Canada getting re-established to work and raise funds to build in Moca, these reports help greatly as my wife remains in Moca and I'll only return in Aug to renew Temp Residency what with having to do a 14 day quarantine every time returning to Canada......hoping that changes by next Aug!!! Take care all!

I do think things are starting to get better.   That said, I still have huge concerns.  Moving the curfew later into the evening is not a bad decision. It makes a lot of sense.

Allowing these  huge agglomerations of people on weekends is RIDICULOUS. Allowing them at any time of day  or night is ridiculous.  I often feel like, why do I bother to follow the rules?  Why bother  being careful when this is allowed!   

My rant for the day folks.  Tired of being home, tired of being careful so others can do what the hell they want!

Why are they now allowing direct flights from Colombia to enter the DR
as this is one of the worst countries with cases of the virus ?

We have no idea. you need to ask the gov't.

Second Wave?

https://www.businessinsider.com/europe- … rds-2020-9

Do you have to do a 14 day quarantine when you get to the DR?  Coming from the US.

Only if you test positive - there is apparently random testing at some airports. IF  you get chosen and IF you test positive you go into quarantine.

Otherwise no.

Slowly but surely DR is getting the virus transmission rates down.

The latest bulletin shows a day rate of 14.44% with 519 new cases.

The hospitalization situation has improved but the cautionary note is that 178 cases are in UCI and 103 are on ventilators.

The mask wearing and curfew has been a success, so we now wait to see if the situation gets worse with a shorter curfew. With better and more testing in all provinces, this government has a better handle on the spread of the virus and can act appropriately.

DN now has a positivity rate of 10.09% with only 75 new Cases in this report. Duarte is now down to 9.06%. Maria Trinidad Sanchez has dropped to 7%. Rampant covid19 has made some of the population more cautious and has helped fuel the drop in transmissions. But several central and northern provinces remain higher than 15% so there is no room to relax. We all know if you relax measures too much the virus comes back again.

The WHO stated today that we will be living with covid19 for the next two years at least, so you have to adjust to live with it.

Perhaps, I wrote the above too soon.

Yet again today the daily numbers are ticking upwards with 622 new cases and a day positivity of 16.59% with Puerto Plata registering the third highest day total after DN and Santo Domingo with 62 new cases.

Perhaps the optimism expressed by the politcians has had a negative effect and people started relaxing again the social distancing requirements. The talk of the lesser curfew started at least ten days ago.

This is not what we want. A step back to a new increase in cases as has been seen elsewhere in the world.

I agree with you.  This internal tourism promotion is not good either. Too many people  gathering together in  resorts on weekends.

Riu Bambu was fined 1 Million  RD for this  - another  issue and they will be closed down.  How many spread the virus there?  Then of course it spreads to all their hometowns.

Todays bulletin again shows more cases 574 and an increase in the daily positivity to 18.46%.

La Atagracia tops the cases today with 95 which is more than Santo Domingo and DN combined. Puerto Plata continues is worrying trend of cases and psoitivity.

When you relax covid19 comes back, and the government needs to be careful with bars and cinemas opening. With such high positivity the country is not ready for that. All the good work may be lost by relaxing controls too much and we will be back to square one.

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

Couldn't agree more Lennox.  Just look at the EU

It's so difficult to get the right balance between lock downs and keeping the economy going, but the new Gov certainly seems to be doing better than the last.

People and businesses are still unwilling to adapt. Ignore wearing masks and not socially distancing in large gatherings and you get infected. Proof if ever there was is headlines now elsewhere.

Governments open up only to have to close again. It is madness. Just accept some activities create havoc with health - bars, indoor packed restaurants, casinos, cinemas large social events. The rest of economic activity should not be held to ransom by opening up these covid19 unworkable businesses. Schooling and air travel too are problems.

And so economies will remain muted at best.

Pity about France, but bars and cafes plus the  culture and low testing have led to a very bad situation.

This is going the wrong way!   We will be back to shutting down again!

Rather it has stopped going the right way in regions of the country. Santo Domingo and Santiago are looking better but other provinces not so good.

Opening bars, as has happened everywhere else, will  fuel an increase in cases in the places with bars.

Fortunately DR is not a country of bar culture but does have 'car washes', 'bodegas' and 'drinks'in many towns.

Sadly numbers going up in main tourism areas! 

And not a bar culture, but a dancing and screaming at each other culture over the loud music!  yikes......

Going the wrong way.

777 new cases today with positivity of 16.89%

ICU occupancy up. Ventilators use up.

East & East Coast - La Altagracia  166 new cases, La Romana 46 new cases, El Seibo 58 new cases, Hato Mayor 32 new cases.