There have been flight and maritime ship cancellations, and to a lesser extent convention and vacation hotel stays, as the spread of the Covid-19 virus has its effect on the tourism industry in the Dominican Republic. The industry was just recovering this 2020 after being a victim of fake news in 2019. The region most affected is the La Romana-Bayahibe region where the first case of imported Covid-19 was detected of a 62-year old Italian tourist who had arrived on 22 February. Another case is that of a 70-year old woman who arrived from Quebec, Canada. The Viva Wyndham resort was sanitized and has remained open, with no other cases reported as of 9 March 2020. Occupancy is low in the region after direct flights from Milan, Italy into the La Romana International Airport were canceled.
Regardless, with the exception of people buying out supermarket stocks of sanitizing products, life in the Dominican Republic is almost normal as the population follows the evolution of Covid-19 virus closely. The nation’s high air connectivity, a major plus for the tourism industry, is now working against the country. Several cases of tourists and Dominicans traveling abroad have imported the virus from Italy, Spain and Canada.
Expectations are that as soon as the present cold front moves on the temperatures warm up to the 25+C the conditions will be less favorable for the virus to spread in the country.
The Ministry of Public Health reports that all six cases of coronavirus in the country have been from persons who have traveled recently abroad and have imported the disease. The Dominican Republic receives around 6 million tourists a year. To date, there have been no reports of tourists being infected locally.
For more detailed reports on the evolution of the virus, see DR1 Daily News reports.
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Cigar Aficionado
10 March 2020