The number of Covid-19 cases for Bulletin #864 was 563, up from 512 on the previous day. This number compares to the seven-day average of daily infections (confirmed lab-reported cases) that is now 414, down from that of the previous day. The Ministry of Public Health has confirmed the overall downward trend.
The 24-hour positivity was 23.66%, up from the day before, and the 4-week positivity rate is 12.00%, down from the day before.
The Ministry of Public Health recommends getting the third and fourth booster vaccines. The third booster is now highly recommended for children from 12 years now that there have been outbreaks in private and public schools.
The fourth booster is available for those 18 years and older. The fourth booster can be applied four months after the third booster. It is recommended especially for those over 50 years of age and those with depressed immune systems.
The Pfizer vaccine is available for these boosters, but those who do not qualify to receive MRNA vaccines can get the Sinovac vaccine that is also available.
The Ministry of Public Health urges people to get vaccinated also because three million stock of vaccines is about to expire.
Vice President Raquel Peña, who coordinates the nation’s Health Cabinet, has said it is up to every person to take preventive measures and stay safe. She says the government has purchased fourth boosters for the entire population for collective health.
Masks are used now less for indoor events. Less people are wearing masks in supermarkets and stores, for instance.
The Ministry of Public Health has free testing (antigen and PCR) stations, including one in the fourth-floor parking of Plaza Central on Av. Winston Churchill in Santo Domingo. Otherwise, expect to pay around RD$1,800 for an antigen lab test.
The Dominican Republic has reached a kind of herd immunity regarding Covid-19. That is, sufficient number of people seem to have developed immunity from catching the disease, and sufficient number of people are fully vaccinated, resulting in very few Covid-19 deaths.
Most new cases are mild. Most tests being carried out at labs are antigen tests, an indication that most cases are similar to a cold and are being taken care of at home. The lethality rate is down again and is now at 0.70%, one of the lowest in the Americas, with 4,383 deaths.
There were no deaths reported for Bulletin #864. 98 people are hospitalized with Covid-19 and 17 are in ICU Covid-19 units.
As per Bulletin #864, with the deadline of 30 July 2022, the Ministry of Public Health has registered 629,291 PCR or antigen-confirmed cases since the first case on 1 March 2020.
People can purchase a low-cost antigen test for home use and treatment of the virus at home for around RD$300. In case the test is positive, people are likely to seek medical treatment but the case will not be entered into the Covid-19 statistics unless the person repeats the test in an authorized lab. As reported, most cases have been mild, not meriting people requesting lab PCR tests or lab antigen tests.
First time Covid-19 lab tests were 2,380, up from the previous day. The number of first-time lab tests compares with the 14-day average is at 2,213, again down from the previous day average.
The record vaccinations for one day is 184,208 on 10 June 2021. For the 28 July 2022 dateline, Our World in Data reports 3,231 first and second dose vaccines were applied. The 7-day average is 3,252, down from the previous day.
The Vacunate government website reports injecting 7,254,604 first doses of the vaccine and 6,016,633 second doses as of 30 July 2022 in a country with an adult population of 7.8 million. For the same 30 July 2022 bulletin deadline, the Ministry of Public Health is reporting that 2,414,144 people had received the third booster shot. The fourth booster shot is also available on demand. The government has ordered all with the first two shots to get the booster shot. The government began to vaccinate for the Covid-19 virus on 16 February 2021.
No Covid-related deaths is recorded for the 30 July 2022 deadline. No death was reported having occurred in the previous 24 hours of the deadline. As of the 30 July 2022 deadline, 4,383 persons are reported to have died of the disease in the Dominican Republic, a nation of more than 10.8 million adults since March 2020. The fatality rate is at 0.70%. The fatality rate per 1M inhabitants is 419.49. Dominican physicians’ diverse treatment for the disease has been relatively successful in the region. The Ministry of Public Health reports that the country’s 419.49 fatality rate per 1M compares favorably to the average 1M inhabitants’ fatality rate for the Americas at 2,684.94, and the 396 for the Dominican Republic as of 30 July 2022.
The past seven days bulletin result highlights are:
Bulletin # 864: 629,291 confirmed cases, 563 new cases reported in the past 24 hours, 1,849 active cases. 24-hour positivity is 23.66%. The 4-week positivity is 12.00%. No deaths are reported for the deadline. The fatality rate per 1M is 419.49.
Bulletin # 863: 628,725 confirmed cases, 512 new cases reported in the past 24 hours, 3,111 active cases. 24-hour positivity is 21.86%. The 4-week positivity is 12.07%. No deaths are reported for the deadline. The fatality rate per 1M is 419.49.
Bulletin # 862: 627,025 confirmed cases, 467 new cases reported in the past 24 hours, 2,929 active cases. 24-hour positivity is 22.89%. The 4-week positivity is 12.55%. No deaths are reported for the deadline. The fatality rate per 1M is 419.49.
Bulletin # 861: 627,746 confirmed cases, 286 new cases reported in the past 24 hours, 2,771 active cases. 24-hour positivity is 21.88%. The 4-week positivity is 12.71%. No deaths are reported for the deadline. The fatality rate per 1M is 419.49.
Bulletin # 860: 627,025 confirmed cases, 435 new cases reported in the past 24 hours, 2,638 active cases. 24-hour positivity is 21.96%. The 4-week positivity is 12.76%. No deaths are reported for the deadline. The fatality rate per 1M is 419.49.
Bulletin # 859: 627,6025 confirmed cases, 414 new cases reported in the past 24 hours, 2,705 active cases. 24-hour positivity is 22.45%. The 4-week positivity is 12.84%. No deaths are reported for the deadline. The fatality rate per 1M is 419.49.
Bulletin # 858: 626,611 confirmed cases, 227 new cases reported in the past 24 hours, 2,240 active cases. 24-hour positivity is 23.19%. The 4-week positivity is 12.93%. No deaths are reported for the deadline. The fatality rate per 1M is 419.49.
As per the 30 July 2022 deadline, the cases continue to be concentrated in Greater Santo Domingo and Santiago, the leading metropolis. There were 121 cases in the National District, 105 in Espaillat, 74 in Santo Domingo province and Santiago, 32 in Puerto Plata, 31 in María Trinidad Sánchez, 28 in San Pedro de Macorís, 21 in La Vega, 18 in El Seibo, 12 in Valverde, 9 in La Romana, 7 in San Cristóbal and 6 in Azua and Duarte. There were 5 or less cases in 18 provinces.
Greater Santo Domingo leads in the number of reported PCR and antigen confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic. As of 30 July 2022 at 6pm, the deadline for Bulletin #864, the most confirmed cases have been reported in the National District (166,167) and the Santo Domingo province (128,660) that represents Greater Santo Domingo, with the country’s highest urban density. The numbers account for 50% of the 629,291 PCR and lab antigen confirmed cases nationwide.
Other province case totals are: Santiago (68,362), Puerto Plata (20,181), La Altagracia (19,923), La Vega (19,503), Espaillat (19,553), La Romana (18,783), San Cristóbal (17,539), Duarte (14,597), Valverde (12,469), San Pedro de Macoris (10,606), San Juan de la Maguana (10,024), Maria Trinidad Sánchez (8,174), Barahona (7,120), Hermanas Mirabal (6,796), Monseñor Nouel (6,701), Azua (6,601), Peravia (6,066), Sánchez Ramírez (6,030), Dajabón (5,804), Montecristi (5,396), Santiago Rodriguez (4,907), Monte Plata (4,680), Baoruco (3,945), Hato Mayor (3,749), San José de Ocoa (3,056), Independencia (2,706), El Seibo (2,285), Samaná (2,150), Pedernales (1,760) and Elías Piña (1,318) as of the 30 July 2022 deadline.
Haiti is reported having 32,263 confirmed cases and 838 deaths, as per the 30 July 2022 global epidemiological deadline. Haiti has progressed very slowly with its Covid-19 vaccination program. Early on, the Haitian government rejected a first Covax facility donation of AstraZeneca vaccines. A first donation of Moderna vaccines was shipped to 26 February 2022, 248,075 Haitians (2.13%) of the population of around 11.5 million had received at least a first dose of the Spikevax (Moderna) vaccine at the 149 open vaccination centers since the start of vaccination on 21 2021. Early on, Haiti rejected a donation of 100,000 AstraZeneca vaccines from the Dominican Republic. 161,066 Haitians are fully vaccinated (2 doses, 1.38% of the population) as of the 16 July 2022 update.
Already, hundreds of thousands of Haitians that live and work in the Dominican Republic have been vaccinated here. Most employers in the Dominican Republic have required their employees be vaccinated.
The Dominican government has authorized the vaccinating of Haitians with IDs and domicile in the Dominican Republic, but there is much resistance even among those living in the DR to get vaccinated.
Many ask for explanations regarding the low levels of deaths of Covid-19 in Haiti, a country with one of the lowest rates of Covid-19 vaccination in the world. Some attribute the low death toll and the low number of cases to a lack of reliable statistics. There is much truth there, but there is no hiding a surge in cases or deaths as has occurred in other countries. The reality may instead be that the generalized practice of vaccinating Haitians at birth with tuberculosis vaccine and the widespread use of Ivermectin have made the difference. Japan is another country with a very low mortality rate, also attributed to the practice of vaccinating children at birth with the tuberculosis vaccine.
Both generalized practices – tuberculosis vaccine and regular use of Ivermectin – – may be the explanation for the low death rates for Covid-19 in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, or throughout the island of Hispaniola. While not as prevalent as in Haiti, many Dominican pediatricians include the tuberculosis vaccine for babies in their list of inoculations for newborns. In border provinces, it is a regular practice. In the Dominican Republic Ivermectin was never included in the government list of treatments for Covid-19. The Dominican medical system adheres to US medical standards and big pharma has placed other treatments, many very costly, on the official list. The reality, though, is that Ivermectin since early on in 2020 became the most sought after over the counter treatment and one of the most prescribed by Dominican physicians for the virus for its availability, effectiveness and low cost.
Read more:
John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center
University of Washington Health Data
University of Oxford Covid Tracker
Worldometer
Our World in Data
1 August 2022
Vacunate
John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center
University of Washington Health Data
University of Oxford Covid Tracker
Worldometer
Our World in Data
1 August 2022