Speaking for the Abinader administration health team, Vice President Raquel Peña announced the number of daily PCR tests would increase to 7,000 per day. This would be up from the past 14-day average of 3,782 PCR tests, as per Bulletin #152, that the new government inherits from the previous administration.
The Vice President shared key points of the Covid Health Emergency Plan in a presentation from the Presidential Palace on Wednesday, 19 August 2020. She said the government would receive a first shipment of 100,000 PCR tests on Tuesday. Another shipment of 100,000 PCR tests has been ordered. “We guarantee we will have the sufficient tests for all the people that need to be tested,” said the Vice President. At present, PCR tests are scant and difficult to get, and results are regularly delayed.
She said advances are made in the decentralization of testing nationwide. At present, the bulk of the tests are processed in Santo Domingo and Santiago. She spoke of the equipping of the regional public hospitals in Mao, La Vega, Santiago, San Pedro, San Cristobal, Azua, Santo Domingo, Puerto Plata, San Francisco and Barahona. She announced improvements in the management capacity at the government’s lab, Laboratorio Nacional Dr. Defilló, located in Santo Domingo.
At the same time, she said seven more labs would soon be offering their services to the general public, bringing to 11 the private lab companies that are offering Covid-19 tests.
The Abinader administration has announced it is increasing the public health budget by RD$15 billion from now through December. Overall, the public health budget is increased from RD$51 billion to RD$66 billion to channel more resources to disease prevention and treatment.
She reaffirmed the government was putting in place programs to affiliate two million persons to the government Family Health Plan (SFS). She said any citizen that visits a public hospital and does not have insurance but requires hospitalization will be enrolled immediately in the government health plan.
The Vice President said that Ministry of Public Health has new treatment protocols for mild, moderate and severe cases.
She said the government would also be strengthening military and police efforts to enforce the mandatory curfew and use of face masks. The curfew is remaining as it is. The curfew is set to expire on 3 September 2020.
She announced the local health authorities had received a US$1.6 million donation from the Pan American Health Organization for Covid-19 efforts. She said the new government was working to overcome the shortage of pharmaceuticals through the Ministry of Public Health, Promese pharmaceuticals program and the National Health Service (SNS).
She said that the country has signed in to participate in global programs for distribution of Covid-19 vaccines once these are available. Most vulnerable persons will receive these first.
She said the government is bolstering health services with the hiring of 1,000 unemployed physicians that will receive training to work as internists and in intensive care units. The training starts on Monday.
Agreements with private hospitals were also announced. She estimated that by 30 August, private hospitals will add 20% more hotel beds in intensive care units. She said that depending on how the spread of the disease goes, more facilities could be added. She said the government also offers around 2,000 isolation facilities for those without conditions to self-isolate at home.
She announced the government is also restoring its attention to treat non-Covid cases. She said that for months, the attention has been on Covid-19 patients. “We cannot forget the public health system deals with many other diseases and important preventive actions to guarantee the health of the Dominican people.”
She said from its first week in office, the Ministry of Public Health is reactivating 22 collective health programs that had been paralyzed or semi-paralyzed by the authorities as the focus was on Covid-19. She reported that as a result, maternal mortality is up 13% and there is an increase in diphtheria cases.
“Rest assured that health is the priority of the President of the Republic and all of us,” said the Vice President.
Present for the presentation was President Luis Abinader, the Administrative Minister of the Presidency Jose Ignacio Paliza, Public Health Minister Plutarco Arias, Santo Domingo city mayor Carolina Mejía, and the president of the Dominican Medical Association (CMD), Dr. Waldo Ariel Suero.
Speaking after the Vice President, President Luis Abinader highlighted that the CMD and city neighborhood groups are being integrated into the effort to combat the virus. “This is an effort that has to be of the country as one,” said the President. He stressed the CMD had been integrated into the policy-making and decisions for the implementations of measures. He spoke of neighborhood groups being integrated with the cooperation of the Santo Domingo city government. He said the government had held a virtual meeting with all the mayors of the country. “If we work together we will defeat Covid and the public health will change for the better for everyone,” he stressed.
The Abinader administration takes over combatting the Covid-19 virus when there are 86,737 confirmed cases and 1,481 over the past five months. The Covid-19 mortality rate is 1.71% and the positive rate of 31.33% for the past four weeks.
Follow the presentation in Spanish:
Presidencia (see minute 33:55)
19 August 2020