The president of the Dominican Society of Infectology, Dr. Clevy Perez says she and her colleagues are now seeing one to four Covid-19 positive patients after several consecutive weeks without seeing a single case.
In a statement issued regarding the increase in Covid-19 cases, the Society of Infectology notes that, in recent days, an increase in cases of the virus has been observed both in emergencies and in consultations at the country’s main health centers.
“Given the current situation, we consider it pertinent that the authorities carry out preventive measures to avoid a significant wave of cases similar to the one observed five months ago,” states the society’s press release.
The use of masks should be resumed in public and private institutions, including educational centers. She said there are now frequent reports of cases among students, forcing the isolation of a large number of students.
For the past three bulletins, the number of cases has been 142, 107 and 130, after several weeks of cases under 100. The number of active cases has doubled. Active cases reported is 545 nationwide.
The announcement of the Dominican Society of Infectology comes at a time when New York City Mayor Adams upgraded New York City’s Covid-19 alert status to high on Tuesday, 17 May 2022 due to a surge in people testing positive and being hospitalized for the virus. As reported in the New York Daily News, the change in status from a medium risk alert to high risk comes as coronavirus hospital admissions have increased steadily over the past two months and as more and more New Yorkers are becoming ill. New York is the second largest city with Dominican residents. Thousands of Dominicans living in New York constantly commute to the Dominican Republic.
Nevertheless, Public Health Minister Daniel Rivera said on Tuesday, 17 May that the recent cases of Covid-19 are nothing to worry about. The cases have been concentrated in the metropolitan area of Greater Santo Domingo. The Homs in Santiago and Cedimat in Santo Domingo have reinstated the requirement for staff and patients to wear masks and continue preventive measures.
The Public Health Minister again urged those that are not fully vaccinated with at least three vaccines to visit one of the 400 vaccination centers that continue to operate nationwide. Check out the vacunate.gob.do website for the closest vaccination center.
Read more in Spanish:
Listin Diario
New York Daily News
Diario Libre
18 May 2022