Airport testing had to be suspended on Monday for the chaos created in the Cibao International Airport in Santiago. On Tuesday, 28 July 2020, Presidency Minister Gustavo Montalvo is telling the nation that international arrivals will need to bring their PCR test certificates when flying into the Dominican Republic.
Speaking to the nation from the Presidential Palace, Montalvo said: “Starting next Thursday July 30th, all persons who wish to enter the country must bring a PCR test that is no more than five days old.” Montalvo spoke in his capacity as coordinator of the High Level Commission for the Prevention and Control of the Coronavirus.
He then said that if the traveler comes without the test, “we will be conducting tests, as appropriate, at the airport itself.”
On Monday, at Las Americas and Santiago international airports all passengers arriving without test results were being required to take the blood antibody test, free of charge. This caused major delays that led to chaos and the cancellation of the testing.
Now Montalvo says the tests should resume. “As is done in other countries, any person arriving in our territory will be evaluated on their health condition and, if they test positive or show symptoms associated with Covid-19, they will be isolated in the centers authorized for this purpose”.
Dr. Amado Alejandro Báez, the Covid Response Management Committee executige director has tweeted that the government has habilitated the Customs Club, a hotel-like facility near the Las Americas International Airport.
Montalvo told the nation that the government is taking further measures to strengthen border security, increase public access to Covid-19 tests, and better wages for health care providers and the members of the National Police and the Armed Forces.
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Presidency
28 July 2020