The Dominican Republic is a member of the Central American Integration System (SICA). With the exception of the Dominican Republic, the region has done much better handling the Covid-19 epidemic than the rest of Latin America. Overall the Central American region, including the Dominican Republic, is approaching 25,000 cases and 848 deaths. Of these, 44% are in the Dominican Republic and another 30% in Panama.
While it is true that the Dominican Republic has the largest population and more densely populated cities, the country would do well to learn from other members of the SICA bloc. The numbers for Covid-19 deaths in the Central American region are: Dominican Republic 409, Panama 252, Honduras 121, Guatemala 29, El Salvador 20, Costa Rica 7, Nicaragua 8, and Belize 2.
Belize is proud of only having only 18 confirmed cases so far. The authorities say their secret is keeping the country sealed hermetically. Fines for illegal entry now are US$5,000, jail for two years and mandatory quarantine for 21 days from your own pocket. Yet only 1,200 tests have been conducted.
Costa Rica is mentioned as a Covid-19 success case for its management of the crisis. As of 12 May, Costa Rica had confirmed only 11 new cases of the coronavirus over the previous day, totaling 815 cumulative known cases. Costa Rica boasts it has “flattened the curve.” Costa Rica attributes its success to an early nationwide response and a robust health care system. Other reasons are its relatively low population and low population density that has made it easier to carry out contact tracing to stop the spread of the disease.
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Breaking Belize News
Tico Times
SICA
14 May 2020