In the first three months of 2021, the main indicators on the COVID-19 pandemic in the Dominican Republic have been significantly reduced. Meanwhile, as of March 30, 2021, a total of 910,869 people were inoculated with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, of which 54,395 had received the second dose.
As of January 1, 2021, hospital occupancy stood at 40%, while on March 30 it fell to 17% (430 out of 2,512). According to statistics from the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Public Health, the use of intensive care units went from 54% to 29% (149 out of 509) in the same period, while the percentage of occupied ventilators is 25% (99 out of 401).
Eddy Pérez Then, the health adviser to the Ministry explained that the decrease in these indicators could be associated with different factors, such as the reduction in mobility in the first weeks of the year.
The early introduction of curfew on weekdays and from noon on weekends, as well as the monitoring of protocols and procedures by the Ministry of Public Health in places where alcoholic beverages are sold have contributed to the current statistics.
Pérez Then urges “that the behavior of the population in compliance with the measures had a significant downward impact on the indicators, therefore, he urges the population to maintain these provisions during the Easter holiday in order to avoid an increase in the COVID-19 cases.”
Increase in Recovery
The number of people recovered, between January and March, exceeds those infected in the same period, since 79,874 people have overcome the disease.
The infections, registered in the first 12 weeks of the year, amount to 79,762, going from 172,965 to 212,727.
The number of active cases was also reduced from 38,267 to 37,246.
In the three months, 909 people have lost their lives to COVID-19, a total of 10,002 children under 20 years of age have been infected with the disease, as well as 180 health workers and 65 pregnant women.
Positivity Rate
The four-week positivity rate, which indicates the number of positive cases of COVID-19, according to the number of samples processed during that time range, decreased from 22.3% to 10.48%.
The positivity rate of the four weeks reported on January 1, 2021 also shows a reduction compared to that registered on March 30, since it went from 16.77% to 10.48%.
