Covid-19 positives reached 528 as the economy paralyze

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - In Brief 27 Mar 2020 by Pavel Isa

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This morning, the Ministry of Public Health reported that the total number of positive cases for Covid-19 is 528, 93 more than yesterday (March 25) and 189 more than the previous day. 20 people have died from Covid-19 related conditions, twice as many as yesterday, and three have recovered. The increase in the number of positive cases put the country at the top of the LAC region in terms of growth rates, just behind Ecuador. This is the result of the growing number of tests that have been done lately, but possibly also that the contagion has grown because the isolation measures are relatively recent and could be insufficient. Of the total positive cases, 273 (52%) have been in the National District (capital city) and 66% in the Santo Domingo province. This brings the total number of cases in the Greater Santo Domingo metropolitan area to 339 (64%). However, 12 of the 20 people who died were in San Francisco de Macorís, 140 km north of Santo Domingo. Yesterday, President Medina signed a decree extending the curfew hours from 5pm to 6am. It is likely that, if the number of cases continues to grow at the observed rate, the authorities will intensify the measures of social isolation. This would deepen the growing economic paralysis that is observed. Our guesstimates suggest that current production could be equivalent to 40% of that in normal times. Almost 100% of the hotels, bars and restaurants are closed, free zones are producing at 10% of their normal capacity, and construction, education and many services are completely paralyzed. The only two activities operating at near full capacity are agriculture and energy and water. The manufacturing industry operates at about 7...