DR1 Daily News - Dominican Republic

A feature in the New York Times looks into possible reasons why Covid-19 has been more intense in some countries. It mentions the case of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, two countries on the same island. There are over 8,000 cases of coronavirus in the Dominican Republic while Haiti is still listing only around 100 cases.

Given the extremely weak health system in Haiti and the very few tests that may be available there, it is possible that the number of cases and deaths is grossly underreported. Yet it is also possible that Haitians have high immunity and years of building up immunity for sicknesses such as malaria could make a difference there. Two of the pharmaceuticals used to treat the disease are either malaria drug (hydroxychloroquine) or parasite drug (ivermectin).

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• NYTimes