Local infectologists attribute the present spike in Covid-19 cases to friends and family gatherings for the Christmas holidays. Dominicans are now suffering the effects of the extended curfew that was ordered to contain the spike.
Now there is an extended weekend coming and virus specialist Héctor Balcácer Estévez warns that all the efforts of the present lockdowns in January could be lost if the extra time translates into people getting together without sufficient preventive measures.
Thursday, 21 January is a religious holiday in the Dominican Republic honoring Our Lady of High Grace (Virgen de la Altagracia). And it is followed by Duarte Day, which honors Juan Pablo Duarte, the country’s forefather that falls on Tuesday, 26 January but will be celebrated on Monday, 25 January. Hundreds of thousands of city-living Dominicans are expected to mobilize for the long weekend. Many will visit friends and family in the interior and others have booked stays at resorts and tourism lodging all over the country.
Dr. Balcácer Estévez said if people are not extra careful, there will be a repeat of the disease’s December spread. “People are going to go to places where they are going to meet friends, groups of people are going to meet and what is going to happen? The same thing that happened on the 24th, 25th, and 31st of December and the first of January, so Covid’s cases are going to skyrocket,” he forecast, when interviewed on “Propuesta de la noche” on Digital 15.
Dr. Balcácer Estévez warned: “If we are now dealing with what happened at the end of December, then you are going to have to add another 14 days. We are talking about that by the second week of February, we will still have another peak like the one we are registering now.”
He suggested that people understand there will be more time in the future to party. That now is the time to stay put.
The specialist recalled that weeks ago the government relaxed the curfew adding two hours of free transit and people went crazy.
“Now everyone is demanding that the restrictions be lifted, but what if the restrictions are lifted with that long weekend in between? The positivity rate that has been dropping these days, will rise again,” he said.
He was asked about Dominican-born US House of Representatives legislator Adriano Espaillat who tested positive with Covid-19 despite being vaccinated. Dr. Balcacer said: “Even if he gets sick, he will not develop a serious form of the disease if his immune system was able to mount an immune response, an adequate response against the virus,” he said.
“All vaccines have a margin of error. When 100 people get the same vaccine, a percentage will not have the same protection as another because it will depend on the immune system of each person,” said the specialist.
He stressed that most of the vaccines can prevent the serious form of the disease. In his opinion, the Oxford vaccine that is coming into the country may not provide as much protection as the Pfizer vaccine that is said to be the best. “But at least it “prevents you from becoming seriously ill,” he said. The government expects most of the population to be vaccinated in spring and summer.
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Listin Diario
18 January 2021