President Danilo Medina has sent a request for the National Congress to restore the National State of Emergency. The country had been under a state of emergency from 19 March to 30 June 2020. The lockdown and general containment of all in the Dominican Republic lead to a slowing in the pace of the spread of the disease.
The DR has had the know-how to control the virus, yet the very contested general elections got in the way, from the start of the disease in March (municipal elections were 15 March) to the presidential elections held on 5 July 2020. The reopening of the economy on 20 May, coupled with the free-for-all of the final weeks of the presidential and congressional elections, led to a significant increase in the pace of the spread of the disease. This is what the proposed rollback of the opening now seeks to correct.
The request is for a 45 day National State of Emergency that could be extended as needed. The next government will have the majority in Congress to pass the extensions.
The Medina administration ends its term on 16 August 2020. This means the Medina administration would get 30 days, and the Abinader government would have another 15 days.
As reported, the request for the new National State of Emergency has been agreed with the new authorities. The Chamber of Deputies has convened to meet in person on Friday, 17 July at 10am. If approved by the deputies, the bill then would pass to the Senate on Saturday or Monday, where the Medina administration has absolute majority. The government would then make announcements of what the new National State of Emergency will bring.
Since the start of the pandemic and during his campaign, President-elect Luis Abinader had requested the Medina administration set up a joint commission to deal with the epidemic. President Medina was never up to this. Medina has named two commissions to deal with the health crisis – the High Commission for the Prevention of Coronavirus under Presidency Minister Gustavo Montalvo and the Covid Response Management Committee under Dr. Amado Alejandro Báez. Dr. Báez has recommended focalized lockdowns and targeted interventions.
In the Dominican Republic, 89% of the 46,305 confirmed cases have been reported in Greater Santo Domingo (56.2%) Santiago (8.5%), San Cristobal (5%), La Vega (3.7%), La Altagracia (3%), La Romana (2.5%), Duarte (2.3%), Espaillat (2.1%), Azua (1.9%), Puerto Plata (1.5%), Barahona (1.4%), Sánchez Ramírez (1.1%), San Pedro de Macoris (1.1%) and Monseñor Nouel (1.1%). The Covid Response Management Committee has recommended focalized shutdowns to control the spread.
On Wednesday, 15 July, in the evening, the coordinator of the High Commission for the Prevention of Coronavirus, Presidency Minsiter Gustavo Montalvo announced that the government would soon announce expanded capacity in public and private hospitals for Covid-19 patients.
President-elect Abinader has yet to announce his choice for Public Health Minister.
Read more in Spanish:
Diario Libre
Esta Noche con Mariasela
Noticias SIN
16 July 2020