The Ministry of Public Health announced during the 22 September coronavirus press conference that two more hours would be added to the weekday and weekend schedules once the present curfew expires on 27 September. The keeping of the reduced curfew will depend on if health variables continue to show the disease is under control.
Curfew as of Monday, 28 September will be from 9pm to 5am, from Monday to Friday and on weekends from 7pm to 5am. This would be applied nationwide. The current schedule is Monday through Friday from 7pm to 5am and Saturdays and Sundays from 5pm to 5am. In a select number of provinces, the curfew is from 8pm to 5am on weekdays.
Health Minister Plutarco Arias said during the 22 September coronavirus press conference that the experiences of other countries that have suffered new spikes of the disease after opening up needs to be taken into consideration.
Dr. Mario Lama, National Health Services (SNS), said reducing the curfew hours will depend on how the Dominican people keep to the preventive measures of physical distancing, mask-wearing and hand hygiene. He said these measures would continue the same. The government is closely monitoring the situation.
Dr. Ariel Perez Then, spokesperson for the government’s Covid-19 efforts, said that extending hours for general circulation is contemplated because health indicators show there has been a constant decline in the fatality and positivity rates. He urged the population to continue keeping physical distancing, wearing facial masks and practicing hand hygiene.
19 public hospitals in 12 provinces are now carrying out PCR tests, including eight in Greater Santo Domingo. Others are located in San
Cristobal, Santiago, Espaillat, Puerto Plata, Duarte, Barahona, San Pedro, La Altagracia, San Juan and Azua. Long lines for tests is now a past issue in the Dominican Republic, says Mario Lama. He said that in public network there is only 16% of hospital use for Covid-19.
Contact tracing is coming up with fewer patients that require hospitalization. As a result, hospitalization continues to decline nationwide, say the health authorities. Health Minister Arias highlighted that new persons’ affiliation to the Senasa government health plan are likewise giving low-income persons easier access to adequate health care. The Abinader government seeks to affiliate two million persons by 30 December. In the first month of the new government, 800,000 persons have been affiliated.
In the tourism destinations there is less than a 1% positivity rate. The country is ready to fully open to tourism, said health Minister Plutarco Arias.
The nation’s head epidemiologist, Dr. Ronald Skewes explained the consistency in contact tracing and more tests being carried out in the provinces is helping reduce the spread. He said the target is to routinely carry out 5,000 tests per day with a pre-determined consistent number of PCR tests in each province for 4-5 weeks. “This will enable us to observe how the behavior of the disease in each province,” he said.
Dr. Skewes stressed that the virus situation varies per province. He said for Pedernales, 50 PCR tests per day is adequate. In the National District 500 500 tests per day should be carried out. The health authorities have yet to reach these testing levels.
Dr. Mario Lama of SNS, said that fatality, positivity daily and 4-week positivity have been significantly declining. “We are in a moment of control in the Dominican Republic. We have not overcome the situation. It means the disease is under control,” he said.
The president of the Dominican Medical Association (CMD), Dr. Waldo Ariel Suero rejected the decision to reduce the curfew. He forecasts it will bring about a spike in new cases in the future. Ine June, coinciding with the final days of campaigning for the 5 July 2020 presidential and congressional election, the Medina administration had removed restrictions and that resulted in a considerable spike in cases and hospitalization demands.
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22 September 2020