COVID-19

Covid-19 cases in Haiti are 10,000, Covid-19 cases in the DR are 183,000; Could mass parasite campaigns with Ivermectin have made the difference?

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Do you really believe Haiti only has 10k cases?

Okay we are going to STOP the discussion on Ivermectin UNTIL the gov't gives approval. 

Until full  tests and evaluations are done by actual doctors and scientists the speculation is done. We will not be encouraging anything NOT approved for use.

DRVistitor, Just to respond to your post and advise on the cases in Haiti versus DR:

DR has conducted 23 times more tests than Haiti per head of population (source worldometers), and if we assume the same current positivity rate, then Haiti would potentially have had 50k more cases than DR now.......230k.

Another 1,595 cases here yesterday!

Yes we always need to look at all the information. We can choose specific numbers that serve our purposes.

Its better to look at all the statistics in context!   

What we know is that  its going up! And that is not good

Yes exactly Lennox - amount of testing will provide surges or decreases or inaccurate numbers.

When is next update for curfew times?

This one expire Jan 26 so maybe a day or two before.

The situation of daily cases and hospital occupancy between now and next Thursday will dictate if there are changes to curfew hours from the 26th January.

Today's Bulletin # 302 is showing little signs of a flattening of the cases, positivity, active cases and hospital occupancy.

New cases reported yesterday   1,482
Active cases   45,606
Day positivity   24.04%
4 week positivity   21.50%

DN  610, SD 263, Santiago 121, Espaillat 72, La Altagracia 50, La Vega 45, MTS 40, Duarte 38, Monsenor N 33, Puerto Plata 31, Hermanas M 31, Sanchez Ramirez 30, San Cristobal 23, Barahona 22, Azua 18, Peravia 15. It is everywhere.

WHO analyzes the possibility of "vaccination passports" against Covid-19

https://www.arecoa.com/destinos/2021/01 … -covid-19/

The World Health Organization ( WHO ) will soon discuss the question of the possible use of certificates or "vaccination passports" in international travel, said Oleg Benesh , an expert from the immunological department of the institution's European office .

According to the specialist, the issue "is on the agenda of the International Committee on medical and health standards", and expressed his hope that it will be debated soon.

“With the appearance of effective and safe vaccines against the coronavirus, the WHO studies the issues related to the vaccination of international travelers. We would like to remind you that the use of an international certificate is a matter regulated by medical and sanitary regulations ”, he indicated.

The expert affirmed that the international organization analyzes the scientific, normative and ethical aspects of the initiative.

Benesh indicated that WHO is currently working in three main directions - the recommendation of vaccines to those who are going to travel, the approval by countries of limitations or vaccination requirements for travelers, as well as the exchange of information between countries on the processes.

Russia has been one of the countries to propose the creation of vaccination or immunity passports, for which the forthcoming release of a digital document on the State Services portal was announced, an initiative similar to that of Israel, which will deliver "green passports" to those vaccinated, in order to facilitate their mobility.

With the virus mutating , travel bans now for South American countries with the new Brazil mutation to add to UK and South African variants, the 'vaccination passport' to travel is looking odds on imo. Those that refuse to be vaccinated may have to accept limited travel in the years ahead.

Bulletin #303

New cases reported yesterday   2,370   day record
Active cases   46,877
Day positivity   27.34%
4 week positivity  21.82%

ICU use 60%
Ventilator use 43%

DN 592, SD 343, Santiago 328, Puerto Plata 180, La Altagracia 187, La Romana 148, La Vega 80, Monte Plata 83, San Juan 46, Monsenor N 40, Duarte 33, Elias Pina 22, Espaillat 16, San Cristobal 26, MTS 18, Sanchez Ramirez 18, SPM 15

Wow.  You all can wave goodbye to softening the curfew and restrictions. 

We are going in the wrong direction still.

And now we have confirmed cases of the easily spread variant!

Queues reported early mornings in many places for tests.

We have not seen this wave peaking yet, rather it is going up still.

Tougher measures are probably needed and the large numbers reported in La Altagracia, La Romana and Puerto Plata may indicate a need to introduce proof of test to enter DR now.

DR is no different to any other country and perhaps we should be ready for tougher controls on mobility to stem this rise and hospital impacts especially with more transmittable mutations now here.

In my province, Monte Plata, the police have been too relaxed about curfew but with today's number (83) landing on the desk of the provincial head of police, he may have to act.

I now know several people who MAY have it but will not even try to get tested.

DR is probably a step behind since no vaccine is available.

step  behind whom?    UK,  yup I would agree.  USA, not far behind. They seem unable to get the distribution handled.

Either way,  we wont likely see any until Mid March at the earliest. I know the gov't requested   25,000 emergency  doses but not heard if that is going to happen.

Germane to expats...here in the US, I read an DR-coursed internet report about tourist couples in various resorts around the country unable to leave the DR because they can't get the tests to prove negativity. 

Welcome to limbo. 

We're really sorry we've had to delay our trip down there.  We needed a break from the cold.  But, that trip is not happening.  We simply can't afford to get down there and get frozen in limbo for weeks to months.   Not to mention the risk of contracting the disease, and we (actually, I) have multiple risk factors.   

We'll stick to our quiet place in the country for the time being.  But, I really would prefer to be in the Dominican.   

Jim
ExpatRusher

I have read several items about couple and family stuck in limbo.  My response to them:

First you chose to travel during a pandemic

Second YOUR country put new measures in place, not the DR

DR received the same notice of the changes as you did.  DR is struggling to handle a pandemic with thousands and thousands out of work!

Last it is NOT our responsibility to bail you out or feel sorry for you.

planner wrote:

I have read several items about couple and family stuck in limbo.  My response to them:

First you chose to travel during a pandemic

Second YOUR country put new measures in place, not the DR

DR received the same notice noof the changes as you did.  DR is struggling to handle a pandemic with thousands and thousands out of work!

Last it is NOT our responsibility to bail you out or feel sorry for you.

Understood, planner.  I don't disagree with you.

My intent was only to warn the less-experienced or brand new expats -- or even humble snowbirders such as ourselves -- that these are the very real risks and consequences they take when traveling internationally in a time of pandemic.

Secondly,  I was expressing my personal loss in not being there in the DR.  I miss the place!!

That's all.  The DR is what the DR is.

I'm very glad we didn't make the trip.  Getting locked down during a pandemic won't be fun, stuck in place with so much uncertainty. 

BTW, this thread was instrumental in helping us make a wise decision regarding travel.
>> Particular thanks and kudos to LENNOX for posting such detailed information!! 
>> I'm sure other expats were also forewarned.

So, for Lennox and Planner -- thank you for the invaluable info you've provided. Extremely helpful!!

I absolutely understood what you were saying honey.  You made a well thought out decision based on your needs and the current circumstances.   I respect and applaud it!!!!

And I also understand how difficult that decision was!  It wasn't made lightly! 

I very much appreciate what Lennox does here as well.  He brings so much information to the table! 

Hey Lennox - when this is over drinks are on me!!!!

Big difference having a vaccine available regardless of distribution then no vaccine available.

Also, is the Astrazeneca as effective?

Santo Domingo.– The president of the Dominican Medical Association (CMD), Waldo Ariel Suero, said today that he informed President Luis Abinader of the physicians’ interest in prioritizing vaccines against COVID-19 from the pharmaceutical companies Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna instead of the one developed by Oxford/AstraZeneca.

Suero understands that vaccination should begin in January and not in March, as authorities have announced.

In October last year, the Government signed an agreement with British biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to purchase 10 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine. A first payment of US$8 million was provided by the private sector, of the US$40 million that the purchase required.

The vaccine has already been approved by the Health Ministry’s Medicine, Food and Medical Products Dept. (Digemaps), which granted it a special temporary permit.

“Its effectiveness (that of AstraZeneca) is being highly questioned,” said Dr. Suero. “Some studies say it is 60 percent effective, others say the effectiveness range from 60 to 90 percent depending on the combinations made. The point is that it is not as effective as Pfizer, in the first place, and Moderna.”

Both vaccines favored by the Medical Association have reported an efficacy greater than 94% and are developed within the category of mRNA (messenger RNA) vaccines, a genetic sequence created in the laboratory that “teaches” the body’s cells to produce proteins similar to the Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease.



[link under review]

The google translation below isn't great but what is said is correct. The government was over keen to ecourage economic activity especially during the festive season and gave the wrong message, and Dominicans being Dominicans let loose. The message for tourism was equally flawed and we are now facing the consequences.

The mutation process is what should worry us all. Viruses mutate as they are transmitted from person to person and unless your government is using genomics in a significant way to track virus development, we are behind the curve in managing the pandemic. The USA which had not invested in genomics, such that it was listed as 46th worldwide and had carried out proportionally only 10% of the tests of the UK, is now discovering UK/SA type mutations home grown in Ohio. There will be ongoing discoveries of different mutations until such time the spread is reduced significantly.

Vaccines will need to develop along with the virus mutations.

This virus is here with us for a very long time and we may as well get used to the idea of controls continuing even if we all get vaccinated year in year out. Vaccination for this virus imo will be part of international living from now on. The idea of a so called 'burn out' seem most unlikely on a world wide basis and so strict border and travel controls will become the norm for the more developed world. And places like DR which rely on developed world tourism will follow suit imo.

Virologist assures rise in Covid infections is due to rhetoric from authorities that the pandemic was controlled

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

The director of the Institute of Tropical Medicine and Global Health of the Ibero-American University (Unibe) attributes to three components the increase that the contagion of the coronavirus is experiencing, which set new records in infected people.

Virologist Robert Paulino considers that the first cause was the change in the rhetoric of the authorities when they assured that they had controlled the pandemic.

The medical professional recalled that prior to that official message, there was a population moderately involved in prevention, and suddenly they were told not to worry because everything was under control.

Interviewed by Héctor Herrera Cabral in the D´AGENDA program that is broadcast every Sunday by Telesistema Canal 11, Dr. Paulino also mentioned the facilities granted by the government for people to go to vacation at the resorts of the country's tourist centers.

He added that people were allowed to socialize and that is what is not wanted to happen in a respiratory transmission, as it happens with the coronavirus.

"So the rhetoric of decision makers has a negative impact on the population," said the biologist specializing in virology.

He recognized that the current administration needs to activate the economy, because the country has been suffering from a pandemic for almost a year and we must find a way to boost productive activities.

"However, to a population that is already tired to say suddenly, we are going to stimulate, we are going to go out, we are going to do, it means we are going to take advantage of Christmas and we are going to get together, so people did that," he explained.

Dr. Robert Paulino argued that this caused an increase in the transmission rate, the number of cases increased, and now the results of all that are being seen.

“So a third element that could occur, and that is pending to be confirmed, in addition to what is causing in the United Kingdom, in the Dominican Republic, or in our entire region, because the United States has a trend very similar to ours, has something genetically happened in the virus that has increased its rate of transmissibility, it may be ”, warned the virologist.

He argued that in a theoretical way that hypothesis can be affirmed because an increase in the basic reproduction rate of the virus has been seen and that is obviously seen and perceived.

“So there are three variables that I think should be analyzed one by one, and there are two of them that can be modified and gradually change, the viral genetic variables cannot be changed, but those of behavior, social involvement and mobilization towards the response to a pandemic if they can be modified ”, he explained.

Has a mutation every 15 days

The expert assured that the coronavirus has a mutation every 15 days.

"Every 15 days the virus changes, they insert new mutations, but the mutations do not have any expression, that means that they are not beneficial or bad for the virus, but they are changes", clarified the doctor.

He added that the question that experts are asking is whether a change could occur in these mutations that turn into profits, and they have indeed been found.

He explained that the variants of interest that were identified in the city of London establish that viruses, and this in specific, are changing elements, which are adapted depending on the pressures exerted against them.

"If your only function is to multiply yourself, then you are going to do whatever it takes to multiply yourself, then in the case of viruses that is their function, to multiply," said Dr. Paulino.

Bulletin #305

Cases reported yesterday 1,770
Active cases 47,631
Day positivity  27.74%
4 week positivity 22.08%

DN 444, SD 206, Santiago 194, La Vega 170, La Altagracia 141, MTS 107, Puerto Plata 98, Espaillat 55, La Romana 41, Duarte 34, Baoruco 35, Barahona 20, SPM 35, Sanchez Ramirez 27, Valverde 28, Monsenor N 34, Samana 23, Hermanas M 17, San Cristobal 13, Peravia 12, Independencia 20.

The tourist areas don't look good over recent days.

What s going on in Maria Trinidad Sanchez- 31.13% positivity?

SD is 25.97%!! Santiago 29.38% PP 26.35%

Restricting inter-provincial travel may be a necessary next step to contain spread if curfews aren't enough with cases being so widespread again.

I have seen an increase in activity where I live. It used to be at curfew we saw little activity other than people getting home. Now I see kids playing in the streets, cars coming and going, people walking around, exercising jogging etc well after curfew.  This is a predominantly middle class Dominican neighborhood!   

Not sure if people are fed up, have given up or are no longer buying into it!

Bulletin #305

New cases reported yesterday  1,848
Day postivity 26.53%
4 week positivity 22.12%
Active cases  48,310

DN 555, SD 309, Santiago 269, Puerto Plata 186, La Altagraicia 81, La Vega 74, San Cristobal 44, Monsenor N 33, Hemanans M 38, Duarte 30, Espaillat 29, MTS 27, San Juan 28, La Romana 25, Monte Plata 20, SPM 19, Samana 13, Azua 14, El Seibo 11, Peravia 11

Only Independencia did not report a case yesterday.

Per Abinader:

"We will carry out a great day of free vaccination for all Dominicans, which is why we have contracted 20M of vaccines: 10M from AstraZeneca, 8M from Pfizer, and 2M from the Covax System, so that we soon forget about the pandemic we are going through ."

Did not realize they ordered Pfizer as well...

I saw that the fines for violating curfew are going up 10X what they have been! If that is true, and it's enforced, it should be a pretty strong deterrent!

DRVisitor wrote:

Per Abinader:

"We will carry out a great day of free vaccination for all Dominicans, which is why we have contracted 20M of vaccines: 10M from AstraZeneca, 8M from Pfizer, and 2M from the Covax System, so that we soon forget about the pandemic we are going through ."

Did not realize they ordered Pfizer as well...

I was watching the live stream too. He is a completely different politician to what this country has known. So refreshing that he can handle off cuff a 'town hall presentation' with questions thrown at him.

I just think he is giving too optimistic a message of ..this will be over soon after we all get vaccinated for free. That takes time and a robust approach to following the controls should remain the focus and not ...we are all fed up with this. Of course we are but dont let people drop their guard.

Yes they have Pfizer vaccines too shortly.

But are thet ready for annual vaccinations?

I fear that being too optimistic will not work in the longer term.

Yes I'm very surprised as the Oxford Astra Zenica is much cheaper i.e.4$ vs 30$ and handles far better in warm climates like DR

Bulletin #306....Tuesdays are normally the low case days.......

New cases reported yesterday  1,625
Day positivity  28.31%
4 week positivity  22.19%
Active cases  49,015

Hospitalizations up

DN 390, SD 318, Santiago 259, La Romana 100, Espaillat 91, La Altagracia 89, Puerto Plata 61, SPM 45, Duarte 32, Hermanas M 36, La Vega 34, Monsenor N 23, Baoruco 20, Dajabon 20, MTS 13, Sanchez Ramirez 13, San Cristobal 13, San Juan 19, Santiago R 12, Peravia 10.

ducketts wrote:

Yes I'm very surprised as the Oxford Astra Zenica is much cheaper i.e.4$ vs 30$ and handles far better in warm climates like DR

Senate today approved the purchase of 8million doses of the Pfizer vaccine for US96 million to be available in the second trimestre.

12US a dose so much better than the predicted US19 a dose but still nearly US10 more than AZ.

And yes the vaccination locations will be limited based on storage capability.

Well over in the UK these are the prices.  Perhaps there are other costs like shipping etc. But the other major advantage AZ can be stored in a fridge.  Whatever let's hope they work for the people of DR

https://www.diariolibre.com/actualidad/senado-aprueba-acuerdo-entre-el-gobierno-y-pfizer-para-compra-de-vacunas-covid-19-GB23880170

[i]The Senate of the Republic approved this Tuesday the binding specifications signed between the Dominican Government and the pharmaceutical company Pfizer that will serve as the basis for the final agreement for the purchase of 7,999,875 doses of the vaccine against COVID-19, at a cost of US $ 95,998,500, including main transportation.[/i]

There is a moral responsibility of developed nations and businesses from developed nations involved in covid19 vaccine and drug manufacture, to make provision for the developing nations to have access to the same and at affordable prices. Failure to do so will prolong the pandemic indefinitly.

It does appear that some developed countries have been purchasing vacines at premium price to get them first. Maybe the UK paid millions of GBP more to do just that.  https://www.theguardian.com/society/202 … -countries

Astra Zeneca have done their part in making the vaccine available at cost during the pandemic and perhaps Pfizer are offering better deals to developing countries albeit the delivery is several months later than to developing countries.

Bulletin #307....no good trends yet

New cases reported yesterday  1,532
Day positivity  21.76%
4 week positivity  22.30%
Active cases   49,972

ICU and Ventilator occupancy up

Santiago 411 (positivity 29.25%), DN 375 (21.20%), SD 303 (25.71%), La Altagracia 58, Espaillat 47, La Vega 45, MTS 42 (31.33%), San Cristobal 33, Puerto Plata 26 (27.72%), Monte Crists 22, Santiago R 22 (31,53%), Dajabon 18, Duarte 17,  Samana 16, La Romana 15, Elias Pina 14, Hermanas M 14, San Juan 10, Azua 10, El Seibo 10, only 3 provinces without cases

Bulletin #308:

New cases reported yesterday  1,549
Day positivity 19.56%
4 week positivity 22.25%
Active cases   51,170

DN 456 (21.32%), SD 237 (25.59%), Santiago 162 (28.69%), MTS 107(32.27%), Puerto Plata 92 (27.39%), San Cristobal 66 (17.01%), Hermanas M 51(27.97%), La Vega 43, Valverde 37, La Altagracia 37, San Juan 34, Duarte 26, Espaillat 25, Azua 24, Monsenor N 20, SPM 15, Monte Plata 15, Dajabon 14, Sanchez Ramirez 13, Independencia 13, Barahona 12, Peravia 11, San Jose 10. only Hato Mayor and Monte Cristi reported no new cases.

South African Covid mutation poses 're-infection risk' which could overpower vaccines, study finds

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl … ation.html


A further study just released has confirmed the same conclusion.

And I saw President Biden is requiring anyone entering USA to go into 10 day quarentine. 

I wonder when our government will step up?  We are in bad shape!

Announced new curfew:  always until  5 am but new start times

Weekdays  at  7 pm with 3 hours of transit.

Weekends at  5pm with  3 hours of transit.

planner wrote:

Announced new curfew:  always until  5 am but new start times

Weekdays  at  7 pm with 3 hours of transit.

Weekends at  5pm with  3 hours of transit.

And that bars, colmados and restaurants can operate at 60% capacity.

Is that beginning on the 27th, or did they change tomorrow and Sunday from noon curfew to 5:00 curfew?