Christmas time in the Dominican Republic is for family get-togethers, with lots of food and plenty to drink. It is also a time for massive traffic jams in the big cities, especially Greater Santo Domingo. The government agencies that control traffic count the traffic fatalities in the high 40s and the trauma centers are full of accident victims.
This year, things are different. Very different. In the first place, the traditional roast pork has not been as prominent on menus, probably because the distance that needs to be traveled to specialty vendors procure led to people choosing alternatives that could be purchased at the supermarket. With the economic downtown, many could not afford the delicacy this Christmas.
This year, regulations to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic did not permit large gathering at any one place, not even in private residences. The curfew laws officially prohibited much of the visiting, and common sense made going into different homes highly questionable.
Finally, the easiest traditional commodity to obtain, poultry, was widely available, although there were price gouging reports.
Of course, there were more intimate parties, some even large gatherings (many of which were raided by the police), and plenty of liquor was available. But this is the Dominican Republic. In the very densly populated barrios of Greater Santo Domingo, there were persons playing dominoes and drinking on the sidewalks in front of their homes until the sun came up.
Traffic was also noticeably heavier in the barrios. Reports from several newspapers found that people were carrying on their lives without face coverings and no social distancing. Perhaps this helps explain the over 3,000 new cases of the virus reported between Wednesday and Saturday. Fortunately, there were fewer fatalities.
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Diario Libre
Diario Libre
27 December 2020