COVID-19

Astra zenica - there are very few of these vaccines here yet.  We are expecting them!

The government is focusing on Santo Domingo as being the main problem, but if you delve deeper into the figures one should also be worried about San Cristobal, Peravia, Azua, Barahona, Baoruco, Pedernales, San Juan, SPM, La Romana, La Altagracia, Monte Cristi, Monte Plata, Santiago and Duarte. Then you also see the testing levels outside SD are variable and often low. But for now the Cibao and north seems more subdued.

The most interesting column on the second sheet to follow is the positivity, supposedly over 4 weeks per province, and the basis for the national 4 week average positivity. The positivity in the country over the past 4 weeks based upon population is in reality much higher albeit most of that positivity is focused where most people live. And yes in SD people are more closer together and have been getting together and partying but also travelling all around the country.

Getting as many as possible vaccinated is so important but it will take time and in that time, if things continues as they are, the virus will spread much wider and we will see in some of the more stable parts of the country that the  4 week positivities will rise - but it will take several high daily positivity numbers to show significant changes.

Wouldn't it be nice to see day positivities in each province so we understand the situation better?

Whilst greater SD is a worry, my focus would be on the disturbing trends in La Altagracia and La Romana particularly. Their 4 week positivities  have jumped from 11.93 and 11.75 to 13.98 and 14.24 in 7 days and that suggests much higher day positivities in recent days - and with hotel staff testing included this could affect the tourism sector.

Reality is we cannot even begin to know what these numbers mean. How many are retests? How many are  tourists testing to go home?

The low level of testing locals plus the testing of tourists  is skewing our numbers such that we just have no idea how bad this is!

All we can do is stay vigilant.

Retest numbers are shown in the bulletins and taken into account in the reported positivites. Testing of return passengers in the numbers for resort provinces would if included paint an even worse picture in those areas.

It is the best indicators we have and are being used by MOH and the trend continues in the wrong direction.

Apparently use of hookahs albeit illegal are being linked to deaths from covid19 amongst the young. Sharing smoke plus virus in ones lungs apparently. You catch it that way you die is a messgae being touted.

Whilst it looks as though the problem is focused on SD, the spread of new cases remains widespread and the 4 weekly province positivities don't appear to correlate with new infections. It may be that the testing to travel to the USA from clinics in locations in the Cibao, POP and Samana, even SD are not being separated from the general testing whereas in PC it is happening at resorts and is separated.

Testing levels are low but we can see higher positivities daily now, more active cases and pressure on hospitals even with beds being added.

It is a race against time with vaccinations slowing and a population that doesn't take enough precautions.

AbInader making announcement later today!

Indeed:

President Abinader will announce restrictions for Greater Santo Domingo this afternoon

https://www.diariolibre.com/actualidad/ … BH26472605
President Luis Abinader will announce at the end of the afternoon on Tuesday new restrictions to control the spread of covid-19 in the face of the outbreak experienced in recent weeks.

After concluding his agenda in Barahona, which just began with the visit of a vaccination center, the president reported that he will be ready to decree new measures since, in his opinion, "Greater Santo Domingo deserves to have new restrictions."


Control mobility and stop conglomerations drinking is what is needed. He has to stop capitalistas travelling outside the city but it is probably too late already. A sharp drastic curfew has been suggested by medical speciualits but I doubt that because of the economic effect.

As I have mentioned a few times previously I would not get the  vaccine that was on offer.

Today I was able to get the Astra Zeneca Vaccine here in SD!   Apparently it is available in a few places but they are not  telling people about it!    AN insider let me know and I was there in 10 minutes, vaccinated in  15!   Next shot  July 25.

Curfew from 8:00 at night to 5:00 in the morning every day for Greater Santo Domingo

https://www.diariolibre.com/actualidad/ … JI26482784

The Executive Power will order that the curfew in the National District and the Santo Domingo province be every day, from 8:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m., as part of the measures to stop the spread of the COVID-19.

The decree with the provision will be released this Wednesday, and the measures come into effect from this Thursday 28.

It will be established that citizens will have a grace of free movement of 3 additional hours to reach their residences.

"The sale of alcoholic beverages to be consumed in public and private spaces for public use is prohibited from 5:00 in the afternoon to 5:00 in the morning, as well as the consumption of these products in those places," will announce the government.

It's something.

Hello Madame.

I am a new member of Expat.
Please explain how to place my message for reading  of all members.
Thank you.
Ari

Ari - welcome to the forums.  You just did.  You posted for everyone to see.

From a review of the recent bulletin numbers, I would not hang your hopes on the 4 week positivity figures given for some provinces which have very low numbers and which give the national 4 week average. Compare bulletin test numbers, actual cases and positivity and they don't appear to stack up.

POP and others appear significantly understated.

It is now only a matter of time imo that we have national lockdown again.

It isn't just the barrios with over 50 deputies in congress having Covid19.

Get vaccinated is the message if you want normality any time soon.

Nurses ask Abinader to reconsider measures and expand them nationwide

https://noticiassin.com/pais/enfermeras … al-1102419

After stating that the rebound in COVID-19 is throughout the country and not only in Greater Santo Domingo, the National Nursing Association asked President Luis Abinader to reconsider the measure and expand it nationwide and with the longest schedule hard.

The president of the union, Francisca Peguero also stated that due to the increase in infections in the capital, it is necessary to enable the Luis Eduardo Aybar Hospital only to deal with cases of covid.

By the way that this Sunday is celebrated the Dominican Mothers' Day, Peguero and other unionists called on the population to be prudent and avoid crowds during this weekend, at the same time that they proposed to the authorities to close the exits of the capital to prevent the situation from worsening in the other provinces.

"Start killing now, because there is no bed here"

A young man arrived with a seriously ill mother from Covid to the Cruz Jiminián Clinic, desperate, and with a gun in his hands, he threatened to kill the doctors on duty if a bed did not appear

https://listindiario.com/la-republica/2 … o-hay-cama

"If they don't treat my mother here now, I'm going to kill them all, even if I have to kill myself too," was the threat made by a young man who arrived with his grave mother at the Cruz Jiminián Clinic, due to the effects of the Covid -19.

Dr. Antonio Cruz Jiminián's response was: "Look, start killing now, because there isn't a single bed here."

The doctor explained that the young man was a prisoner of despair caused by the fact that he had visited numerous health centers in the capital with his mother and rebounded in each one, due to the lack of space and equipment.

He explained that, at that time, all oxygen equipment was connected to patients and both the emergency and the Covid internment area were overcrowded.

"He told me, dammit, if they don't take care of my mother here, I'm going to kill them all even though I have to kill myself too and I answered him well, look, start killing now, because there are no empty beds and he held on" Jiminián said.

He said that he understood the attitude of the patient, because it was that his mother was dying from lack of oxygen. "I understood, it was his mother who was suffocating and did not receive

assistance, "he added. He commented that you have to put yourself in the place of that man who had his mother drowning in a vehicle and no one gave him even hope that they could enter her into intensive care.

"When I spoke to the young man with that authority, he calmed down and then through the CLUE platform of the Ministry of Health, we looked for and found space in a hospital for his mother," he explained.

More than 40 waiting He
manifested when the case was presented in the health center there were more than 40 desperate patients, waiting for assistance to be admitted, but the clinic lacked capacity.

He said that the most difficult days at the clinic have been Monday and Tuesday, as people have arrived in critical condition in chairs and sit in the parking lots waiting to be seen.

"It is a difficult situation that the doctors who work with this terrible disease are going through," he said.

He considered that there are no words to describe the situation that is experienced every day in the clinic he directs, where more than a hundred patients affected by coronavirus arrive seeking to be treated, but he said that they are full to all their capacity.

“People arrive by the ten in chairs, they stay in the canopies waiting for a space to be emptied to be entered. Yesterday and today were two difficult days, as the demand for assistance has increased, ”he said.

In that sense, he drew attention to the general population, because the disease is now attacking young people.

"If a young man has smoked hookah and gives him the coronavirus, it is an imminent death and what kind of death to die from lack of oxygen," he said.

It had decreased
Cruz Jiminián recalled that in the first months of the year the demand in the Covid-19 area had dropped almost to zero, but in May it rose aggressively.

He recalled that he made a call for the restrictions to be maintained and he was ignored and now the country is facing an intense regrowth. “There has been no bed available in any hospital in Santo Domingo for about a month. People arrive by the dozen, while seriously ill patients wait for a bed to be emptied, ”he stressed.

It is recalled that Dr. Cruz Jiminián was one of the first patients to be infected in the country by coronavirus and was intubated for several days with a reserved prognosis.

We have a very serious problem in the WHOLE country now.

COVID-19 Restrictions will apply to enter the DR from countries that circulate strains

https://noticiassin.com/pais/aplicaran- … pa-1102858

Under Decree 346-21, President Luis Abinader ordered the JAC to coordinate with the other pertinent institutions.

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic.- The Government instructed the Civil Aviation Board (JAC) to adopt the necessary actions to establish "special" requirements to be able to enter the national territory from the countries where new variants of COVID-19 are circulating .

Under Decree 346-21, President Luis Abinader ordered the JAC to coordinate with the other pertinent institutions.

In article 4, with the title " Special requirements to enter the national territory " it says: The Civil Aviation Board (JAC) is instructed to adopt, in coordination with the other pertinent institutions, the necessary actions to establish special requirements to be able to enter the national territory from countries where new variants of COVID-19 are circulating.

Surely that means special requiremenst will apply to most countries?

Hahahahahahaha   this just makes me laugh.  Talk about too little too damn late.

planner wrote:

Hahahahahahaha   this just makes me laugh.  Talk about too little too damn late.

Planner is right, This seems to be a restriction a year and half too late. There's a lot of countries that won't be in that category as the vaccine rollouts worldwide and overall infections subside. Not saying there aren't hotspots that won't be restricted, but even the cruise industry is getting ready to crank up. What they need to concentrate on is ensuring nationwide inoculations are completed at a high percentage of the population. IMO

These are bad numbers and national tough lockdown seems inevitable now.

It is beginning to explode nationally and the actions taken to open up were wrog and actions to control far too late:





The East Coast looks to be getting bad now....tourist areas

Cases in every province.

Read the last 2 paragraphs..... sounds familiar

The worst Covid hot spot in North America now is Manitoba, Canada.


The surge in Covid-19 cases has overwhelmed intensive care units in Manitoba’s hospitals, forcing some patients to be evacuated by air to other provinces. Eighteen patients have been flown to neighboring Ontario, including some to Ottawa, about 1,000 miles away. Saskatchewan, the province to the west, was expected to receive an evacuated patient from Manitoba on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, a group of doctors called on the province to follow the lead of Ontario and others by introducing a stay-at-home order and closing nonessential businesses. Those steps have allowed other provinces to rein in their most recent waves of infections.

Stores in Manitoba have been limited to 10 percent of capacity, and gyms and hair salons have been closed for several weeks. On Tuesday, the province’s premier, Brian Pallister, extended limits on outdoor gatherings that were put in place for last weekend; they now last until the end of this week.

Mr. Pallister suggested on Tuesday that the worsening situation in the province was being caused not by too few restrictions but rather by people failing to comply with restrictions already in place.

“I don’t have a lot of sympathy left for people who disobey public health orders knowingly and willingly,” he said.

The government needs to stop people travelling this coming Mothers Day. Close off the capital and major towns would be a good move imo.

I agree Lennoxnev,  but its not likely to happen.   We need to  ride this out again!   

Each of us is responsible for our own personal safety !

No hospital beds at all?

Or just beds available for COVID-19 patients?  Either way, this is grim news. 

Despite our absolutely perfect trip to the DR in March -- we spent 10 days split between Santo Domingo and La Romana, we never so much as heard a singe person cough or sneeze -- this is staggering news.

Under these conditions, I don't think any expat or tourist should be visiting the DR at this time.  EVEN IF YOU'RE VACCINATED!!

Ignore for the moments any travel bans that may exist or come into force.  Ignore the personal risk to yourself.

WE MUST NOT TAKE ANY CHANCE OF FURTHER BURDENING THE DR's HEALTHCARE SYSTEM!!!   Not to mention just the general societal burdens of feeding more people. 

STOP TRAVELING TO THE DR, for now at least... and I would guess at least six more months. 

IF YOU'RE ALREADY IN THE DR?
You should leave the DR now, if you possibly can. 

Some might believe that taking revenue away from the DR's citizens is somehow cruel. 
>> If so, be generous with your employees .. arrange monthly remittances to keep them going.
>> If no employees, make a donation to some charity that is assisting Dominicans through the crisis
>> Because the thing is, if you get sick of ANYTHING (not just COVID), injured or even just keel over and die, it will add extra stress to their hospitals, clinics, ERs, labs and even morgues.  Heck, if you're just competing for a vaccine, you're keeping another from receiving it. 

Cool your travel jets for another six months.  Be patient.  Be considerate. 

Jim
ExpatRusher

RD will request proof of COVID-19 from travelers from Brazil, England and South Africa

https://www.diariolibre.com/actualidad/ … CC26535766

One has to say this is just 'window dressing'!

These variants have been around for more than six months and are now dominant in many countries. The UK variant is now supposedly dominant in parts of the USA as it is in Spain and the Brazil variant is the dominant variant in all South America and has mutated yet again to the Andean variant.

What about the Indian variant? More worrying and found in UK, EU, Russia and USA to name a few!

DR doesn't know what is here already and is asking for PCR tests from a country (UK) where there are restrictions on tourists coming here anyhow and where the vaccination rate is high.

We now have reason to worry with the open borders policy here.

Jim, I don't think vistors should not come here but they should at least be asked for a PCR test or vaccination certificate for each and every arrival from wherever now - but they won't. Equally every hotel should vaccinate all their staff and suppliers including delivery drivers, taxi and bus drivers, reps, etc. and and be testing regularly and in the interests of transparency posting those results for everyone to see.

I agree with what should happen.  We don't yet have enough vaccines to make that happen.  And then second dosis. We are  at least 2 months from vaccination of all hotel workers and support IF we got the dosis now. 

Again more of the too little too late.  In their defense, some things are out of their control.  Some things are a balancing act.  And in some areas they lack cojones!

The testing (4.5K new) is far too low and needs to be beyond Santo Domingo to see the real picture.

There is a problem all along the South and East Coast and for the 4 week positivity to jump up in La Altagracia and La Romana so quickly suggests there have been very high positivities in recent days.

Its just nuts.

I just left the Punta Cana area and the airport was the busiest I have seen in months. It sounds like the US may follow other countries and require a vaccine passport for international travel. Will be interesting to see if they follow suit here.

Yes, Punta Cana and Cap Cana are at 85% capacity.  Bavaro is still lagging behind...

Hotel capacity - I assume ?

Two most contagious Covid strains are detected in the country

Epidemiology Directorate reported that the Brazilian variant was detected in Dajabón and Hermana Mirabal, while the British variant was detected in San Cristóbal.

https://eldia.com.do/dos-cepas-del-covi … n-el-pais/

Finally some genomic testing and P1 is found in Hermanas Mirabel and Dajabon which would suggest it is very widespread being the points of entry would probably be Punta Cana and Santo Domingo and maybe Haiti but I wonder how it has got into Haiti....from Florida where it is common?

Yes sir Willie.

Great news - to have that degree of activity...... wonderful!!!

Interesting because it is generally "offseason" starting now.

Been a lot of chatter in the industry (air&tourism) of the pent up demand after
quarantine

Might be true.... airlines are feeling it..... PC to it seems

La Altagracia's postivity is jumping up.

Santiago is back in the high numbers.

Just to note the variants reported here came from 54 tests. They haven't got a handle on what variants are spreading.

Vice President Says Brazilian Strain Is Much Stronger Because It Quickly Attacks The Lungs

https://www.diariolibre.com/actualidad/ … JH26565279

Today, Mothers Day, looks like it could be a super spreader event from what I have seen in the capital, the towns on the way to the capital, Sabana and Yamasa and my village. Shops packed from early hours and family reunions and parties everywhere.

Yes I suspect you will be right.

On top of this those who have received the first vaccine seem to think they are protected and cannot spread the virus!  Yikes!

It is hard to understand what is the policy now.

We have full hospitals in many of the main urban areas, the highest active case load to date, high day positivities and mutations. Yet minimal controls in place and more importantly enforced.

It seems to be a vaccination 'hail mary' hope by government.

It would appear a damning failure to have midday curfews again but the situation appears worse than the end of last year. And there may be no other options shortly to damp this down.

Will keep posting the daily bulletins again but personally not holding out much hope for better daily numbers. Hope to be proved wrong for DRs sake.

I agree with you.  It's very worrying!!!