Flight Cancelled

This begs the question as to why the DR is allowing flights from America ?
The only reason can be monetary which is very shortsighted.

Of course it is!  But it's what they are doing!

US citizens advised not to come here:

https://eldia.com.do/ee-uu-sugiere-a-su … -covid-19/

That's actually funny coming from them!

This is ludicrous. We've been in DR for less than a week and can tell you DR citizenry is much more compliant with the mask requirements. A good percentage of US citizens will NOT wear a mask. It is either some kind of political statement or they just don't care. Very disappointing.

We shopped at Supermercado Polla yesterday and we had our temperature taken and got a liberal squirt of hand sanitizer before we could get in the door. We did not experience anything like that anywhere in the US.

You are right that on the whole the population has adapted to mask use without a grumble. Unfortunately social distancing can be wayward in places and during the election it was non existent for weeks in rallies all around the country into the smallest communities and many politicians have tested positive.

The people here will learn the importance of social distancing given proper education and leadership and as expats we can do our bit too.

But right now covid19 is everywhere unchecked in DR and the level of testing is abysmal in many provinces, Samana included. Masks and social distancing will not reduce a high R factor. The need now is to get that way down and tell me another way other than more confinement, travel restrictions, limiting people mobility and curfews.

I await the politicians response to put right what they have screwed up in this country.

Sorry mask wearing is only good outside the barrios.  Go inside and its another story especially amongst the younger crowd.

I agree on social distancing - big issue everywhere!   It's just so culturally the opposite of normal.

planner wrote:

Sorry mask wearing is only good outside the barrios.  Go inside and its another story especially amongst the younger crowd.

That's because they dont have gardens as such and the road outside is like an extension of the home. Again it is an education issue and I agree that it is younger mainly men that are the problem. Seems to me that men find the mask more troubling for whatever reason.

Ego I assume.  Not sure why. or can't drink and mask at the same time......

deleted - wrong thread

Watching from afar I was encouraged by the low case totals in Samana. However I now see that is misleading as they have only tested less than 20 people. What is the situation like in Las Terrenas as we are thinking of visiting in November ?

Getting a bit worse.... as is the rest of the country

Cases going up quickly.... never was much testing before

Samana province has a population of about 140k and one of the lowest testing rates in the country at 345/100k compared to 1775/100k nationally. It has a reported 71 active cases now with 2 tests yesterday and both negative.

Far too early to know what the situation could be next week, month or in 4 months with no proper controls other than masks and requests for the population to socially distance and disinfect hands. No bars too but LT really does not have those anyway.

Samana should be the easiet province to make covid19 safe, but it needs much more daily testing, tracing and isolate and control of entry on the only entry road.

I hope we get some severe controls very soon so the winter season is not lost.

Coronavirus: Florida sets new state daily case record of 15,299

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53382540

.....The state would rank fourth in the world for new cases if it were a country, according to a Reuters analysis......

And DR is letting numerous flights arrive daily around the country from this state with nothing but a temperature check.

Absolute madness and surely must be stopped immediately to protect the Dominican people already plagued with enough virus spread.

You're right but when you have Disney World re opening only 2 days ago in Florida what can anyone expect!

Figures out today: (WHO)

          T.Cases          N.Cases   T.Deaths    N.Deaths   T.Recovered   Active Cases        S.Critical      Cases/1m
USA    3,408,472    +52,826      137,736    +334         1,514,004           1,756,732       15,794           10,296
DR        44,532    +1,418               897       +17              21,459                 22,176             226          4,104

It doesn't paint the true picture of course but I wonder what politicians here make of this!

Ministry of Tourism journal...........

Covid-19 expansion threatens the opening of tourism in the DR

https://www.arecoa.com/destinos/2020/07 … urismo-rd/

The launch of the tourism sector after more than three months of closure, could be frustrated by the increase in the cases of Covid-19 that have been registered in the country, only in the last week at least 7,110 new cases of coronavirus and 103 deaths.

The situation has led the United States Embassy in the DR to publish a statement on its website advising its citizens not to travel to the country. "Medical assistance is seriously reduced with many hospitals almost or fully already at their maximum capacity, limited beds in Intensive Care Units, and increased risk of exposure to Covid-19 of hospitalized patients."

The Embassy recommended:

Dial * 462 to contact the Covid-19 Helpline in the Dominican Republic for specific instructions if you have been exposed or are experiencing severe symptoms. Note: English speaking operators are limited.

All US citizens must comply with the restrictions established by the Government of the Dominican Republic.

Have a plan to leave the Dominican Republic that does not depend on the help of the United States government .

Visit the COVID-19 crisis page at travel.state.gov for the latest information on travel and other global impacts.

Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive alerts and facilitate their location in case of emergency.

Another factor that could slow down the revitalization of tourism is the request from various sectors for a state of emergency to be declared again due to the increase in contagion and deaths due to Covid-19, which amounts to some 43,114 confirmed cases and 864 deaths. confirmed.

According to Joel Santos , former president of Asonahores and one of the advisers in that area of ​​the president-elect, Luis Abinader , the Dominican Republic must send a message of confidence, highlighting that it is a suitable place for the reception of tourists and for this, the opening protocols of the sector, as well as stopping the expansion of the infections of the Covid-19.

He also cited that many issuing countries, such as those that make up the European Union and Canada , still do not allow their nationals to travel to the Dominican Republic.

Most EU countries "recommend" not to travel they don't use the term "not allow" big difference.

Tourists will never be confident of a host country that has not got the virus under control with hospitals at capacity, nor has very strong measures in place to ensure no transmission from the resident population. DR's protocols are weak at best compared to other Caribbean nations with significantly less active cases. I hope the new government recognizes this quickly, because no amount of marketting will ease these genuine concerns of tourists.

I thought you may be more concerned about the rumour mentioned in the comment on the article. Haven't heard that one.

Very concerned about the problems-of course, and you're correct tourists won't wish to come to a country with such problems.

Not sure what you meant about "you might be more concerned about the rumours"

I just flew in and out of Punta Cana area and felt very safe. People wearing masks, workers outside same, supermarket taking temperature to enter,etc.

Airport pretty quiet overall and fill out health form coming in with temperature check.

Tourism not going to increase for awhile so hotels will have limited capacity without having to do anything.

I will return again next month as long as the airport stays open,

'ducketts' is due to fly on Iberia later today back to Spain - Madrid and then Barcelona to pick up his car and onto his home in SW France.

After his and his wife's long ordeal, I really hope everything goes well and safely,

Good luck Richard.

Safe trip ducketts

Yes - safe trip to you and your wife Richard....

Thanks. At the airport. Pretty quiet. Loads of flights to the US. Waiting to board. Take care stay safe

Hope you got home safe and sound!

The nearby Turks  & Caicos Islands opened their borders this Wednesday - 2 days ago - with tough controls for visitors including pre flight health on line health clearance, very recent PCR test and evacuation insurance mandatory before flying.

They were vigilant with first flight arrivals from USA and identified a couple of passengers with incomplete documents and following a local PCR test one was found to be positive. Not surprising it was an American Airlines flight.

TWO VISITORS BREACHED PROTOCOLS, ONE POSITIVE FOR COVID-19

Two visitors to the Turks and Caicos Islands breached the health protocols when the country reopened on Wednesday July 22nd, and one of them was found to be positive for COVID-19 after leaving the Providenciales International Airport, according to the Ministry of Health.

According to a government press release, the Ministry of Health staff responsible for Port Health and Surveillance at the Providenciales International Airport, through its rigorous screening process, identified two travelers with inadequate health documentation who were flagged for additional review.

"These individuals were interviewed and swabbed as per Health Protocols before leaving the airport and the National Public Health Laboratory subsequently identified that one of the persons tested positive for COVID-19," the release stated.

The authorities are already thinking of restricting flights from USA after 3 days!

Now, DR has had 80,000 arrivals and most from USA with just a temperature check - just think of the possibilities of imported cases and onward transmission from that number.............

They certainly are setting a good example.  Why can't DR follow suit I wonder.

ALL US flights should be banned-it's a no brainier-but it's obvious politics is playing its part.  I do believe airports should remain open but with very strict controls.  When I flew out of SD last week I saw no evidence of that.  I fear that until DR gets a real grip of Covid-19 things will just get worse.  This virus has no sympathy it goes where ever it wants to.  In Spain there a small second spike with increases yesterday of +2200 new cases.  Local lock downs come into force immediately.   If Govs don't put in firm controls the country has no chance of ridding itself of this virus.

Sounds like a nice answer but when you are economic tourism economy that relies a big part on US very hard to do.

Visitor statistics

Most visitors arriving to Dominican Republic were from the following areas of residence or countries of nationality:[11]
Country/Territory     2017     2016     2015     2014     2013
United States     2,073,963     2,085,186     2,001,909     1,784,486     1,587,404
Canada     827,721     768,486     745,860     706,394     684,071
Germany     265,709     259,133     247,613     230,733     214,151
Russia     245,346     136,249     71,572     180,821     188,110
France     221,492     232,024     227,483     229,678     232,754
Argentina     182,170     137,642     133,888     112,489     107,305
Spain     177,993     169,760     172,245     150,859     142,207
United Kingdom     177,534     165,111     142,083     126,563     108,236
Puerto Rico     111,095     121,131     115,084     103,891     74,580
Venezuela     109,734     170,713     167,176     112,854     75,173
Colombia     103,444     N/A     N/A     N/A     N/A
Total     5,354,017     5,178,050     4,872,319     4,511,062     4,117,493

Good info!  And yes it drives a lot of decisions.

Personally, I have always wondered why more people do not come from other areas I.e Asia for instance.

I accept economic drivers but the US is by far the biggest problem for DR at present and therefore like Europe, DR should stop ALL flights from and to the US.  The only argument against this would be real stringent controls at the airports and harbours but it seems to date the authorities are incapable of doing this.  As I said my departure to Europe last week from SD was a sad reminder that there are NO proper controls at these airports-temperature checks are hardly enough.  If one wants to keep airports open then real controls must come in which today means no flights to & from the US as one of many controls.

DRVisitor the issue is direct flights and flying times!    There are nice places nearer to them.

Germany and Russia are not short trips to here.

I guess my point is it time for the country to expand tourism if it plans to stay so reliant on it.

Absolutely agree with you!

Rapid tests will be applied to all passengers arriving in the DR, according to Aerodom

https://noticiassin.com/aplicaran-prueb … n-aerodom/

SANTO DOMINGO.- Dominican Airports Siglo XXI (Aerodom), reported that as of Monday by order of the High-Level Commission for the Prevention and Control of Coronavirus, a specialized state medical body is applying a rapid test to all passengers arriving in the Dominican Republic, at all airports.⁣
pasajeros

Those passengers who bring a negative result of a COVID-19 test conducted in the last 5 days, are not required to perform the rapid test upon arrival in the country.

Aerodom requested the collaboration respecting the physical distance in the ranks, as well as the patience before the additional time that will be involved in complying with this new mandatory requirement established by the authorities.

So one tests positive what about everyone who was on the plane with them???

Panic measures. Too little, too late as medical systems collapse and cases surge in East Coast.

The damage of opening borders without strong controls is done.

What are the measures? Quarantine if positive?

What measures?

Imagine the queues pricking fingers and waiting for results at airport arrivals before thinking about what they do with the passenger and all that arrived with that person.

Panic reaction to some data they have perhaps on imported cases.