The National District and La Altagracia are curfew-free starting Monday, 9 August 2021. Drinking alcoholic beverages is still banned after midnight to 5am, and permits are needed for large events. Previously, curfew had been set at 11pm.
Nevertheless, the coming 16 August long weekend could bring the agglomeration of persons triggering the next outbreak of Covid-19. So far, the number of persons infected has kept at a low, positivity and active cases continue on the same downward that began in July 2021. Experts say the vaccines ensure that people who get sick get less sick, thus the drastic decline in hospitalizations. But there is concern, all this could change any day, as has occurred abroad.
No more curfews, and, apparently, no more social distancing, either. At least for the National District and La Altagracia province, where around 80% of the population has been vaccinated with the required two jabs. In theory, this is sufficient for what the medical people call “herd immunity” and therefore not a major contributor to further spread of the virus that started in China.
However, some in the medical community are worried about the Delta variant, which might possibly interrupt the downward trend in cases and deaths. Newspaper editor Miguel Franjul of the Listin Diario is asking the question: Is there a Plan B in case there is a further spike in the number of cases? He basically asks the question because the National District has been the focus of the largest number of cases and as well as the second highest number of deaths associated with the coronavirus. To make things more complicated, while the National District is almost 80% vaccinated, it receives hundreds of thousands of persons from neighboring San Cristobal and the province of Santo Domingo every day. In those provinces, the fully vaccinated populations are in the 50% benchmark.
Last week the Abinader administration ordered all public employees working from home to return to their places of work as of 17 August 2021.
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9 August 2021