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Cuba decided to close all hotels and isolate all the tourists from the local population. I think it is somewhat late, but better late than never. It has to be one of the last islands in the Caribbean to take actions against COVID, the largest one to boot.
If all islands of the Caribbean fit in the DR together (excluding Cuba but including Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Haiti, Turks and Caicos, and the Bahamas plus all the islands of the Lesser Antilles and the ABC ones off the coast of Venezuela) and there is still plenty of land left, in Cuba the whole Caribbean fits together and they still have a heck of land left. That place is huge by Caribbean standards, the size of England while just the DR is roughly the size of Scotland. Doesn't excuse the late reaction to COVID by the Cuban government. It should had been the first island to take measures.
Despite propaganda of the Cuban government it is actually a high risk location. Many in Havana live in multigenerational crowded housing. Do people have proper access to clean water and soap in some of the denser communities in its poorer neighborhoods? I know that they dont have access to hand sanitizers.
You do know that the larger Caribbean countries tend to be the poorer ones (PR excluded from this). DR is no Bahamas, Barbados or Antigua.
In 10 days confirmed cases in the DR increased from around 100 to now 900. DR accounts for more than 50% of the cases in the Caribbean (inclusive of the Guyanas). Jamaica has fewer than 40. They were one of the first in the Caribbean to close their borders and move to "shelter in place". Subsidies being paid to those adversely impacted by this.
Despite propaganda of the Cuban government it is actually a high risk location. Many in Havana live in multigenerational crowded housing. Do people have proper access to clean water and soap in some of the denser communities in its poorer neighborhoods? I know that they dont have access to hand sanitizers.
You do know that the larger Caribbean countries tend to be the poorer ones (PR excluded from this). DR is no Bahamas, Barbados or Antigua.
In 10 days confirmed cases in the DR increased from around 100 to now 900. DR accounts for more than 50% of the cases in the Caribbean (inclusive of the Guyanas). Jamaica has fewer than 40. They were one of the first in the Caribbean to close their borders and move to "shelter in place". Subsidies being paid to those adversely impacted by this.
Don´t tell that to a certain starry-eyed demographic on social media. They´ll never forgive you for it.
I think Cuba´s medical establishment will do great fighting the virus, but they´ll have quite the challenge on their hands soon.
Brazil is doing "herd immunity." Guess we're going to have to watch how it goes there.
Brazil has a president that is their version of AMLO (initials of the Mexican president) when it comes to COVID and the crisis it has created. Completely irresponsible.
There has been protests against him in major cities of Brazil because of how he is handling the crisis. Thank God states and local authorities there have the power to override what the federal government is doing, which is basically nothing.
Countries like Brazil, with such a large percentage of its population living in slums and overcrowded housing, should definitely be more cautious starting with the president. We're talking of slightly less than a quarter of the population, and a virus that is spread through close contact and airborne. One of the characteristics of slum dwellings is the overcrowding not just of the homes, but also inside of each one of them.
here in costa rica government doing great job. we have it but growing now very slowly about par of what happened in singapore. our economy is shot with no tourism but new taxes coming out to help those who have lost jobs.
time will tell but im staying inside and careful at the store which is limited.
feel good that if i get it somehow i will have good chance and a respirator.
best wishes to everyone around the world. stay safe
here in costa rica government doing great job. we have it but growing now very slowly about par of what happened in singapore. our economy is shot with no tourism but new taxes coming out to help those who have lost jobs.
time will tell but im staying inside and careful at the store which is limited.
feel good that if i get it somehow i will have good chance and a respirator.
best wishes to everyone around the world. stay safe
Pura vida from Costa Rica
Great news from your beautiful country. Very happy to hear this. To me, CR is a very developed country in things that matter-- the environment, the welfare of the people, etc.
Can anyone report from Ecuador? I´ve seen some horrific videos from hospitals in Quito and Guayaquil. Ecuador doesn´t even have 17 million people, and it had far more cases than Colombia did a week ago.
Don´t tell that to a certain starry-eyed demographic on social media. They´ll never forgive you for it.
I think Cuba´s medical establishment will do great fighting the virus, but they´ll have quite the challenge on their hands soon.
Yes the big advantage of Cuba is that they have a huge number of healthcare providers. They will be busy preventing people from dying. I wonder how much testing is done on that island, given their need to engage in a PR fantasy that they offer a better life than does the USA Cannot find too much Covid 19, even though they no longer can even pretend to be a "socialist paradise".
The president of the Dominican Republic was contacted via phone by Adriano Espaillat, a Dominican-American US congressman from NY, and had a conversation with him about a few Dominicans that are tourists in NYC and are now stuck there, including part of a family now stuck in a hotel just outside JFK. They have been very vocal via social media asking for the president to make an exception and allow them to return to the Dominican Republic.
All borders of the country continue to be closed due to quarantine measures against the Coronavirus, but the president was convinced by Adriano. A plane has been sent from Santo Domingo to pick up the Dominicans that have been lamenting via social media that they are stuck in NYC with no family or friends there.
Euri RamÃrez is one of the beneficiaries of the exception. He, his wife and oldest daughter has been stuck staying in a hotel outside JFK airport in NY. They visited a friend in Michigan for 5 days when the border issue arises. He contacted the Dominican consulate in NY if it was safe for him to travel back to the DR and they said yes. He travel to NY, bought new return tickets for him, his wife, and daughter. On the day before his departure, all borders were closed in the Dominican Republic and all flights to the country cancelled, including his. He has been pleading since via social media that he wants to return home in Santo Domingo, that it isn't fair since he was told he could do it, that his family is divided because part stayed in the DR, that his high blood pressure medication runout and a good samaritan did all sorts of things to get him more medication in the US, etc.
A photo of him, his wife and family is the image of the video before starting. Afterwards is a small interview that he made in NY with a news organization in Santo Domingo, asking once again and via another source of his, his wife, and oldest daughter desire to return to Santo Domingo.
I should had included this in the previous post, but the highest level in the DR needed to contact the highest level in the USA for the US to allow any airplane from abroad enter the country. The air borders are also closed in the US, so my guess is that a contact with US authorities from Dominican authorities needed to happen and once the US gave the green light, then a plane can be sent from Santo Domingo. I don't know if the contact was with Trump himself or some other representative if the US government, or if Trump himself needed to give the green light of this before anything can be done.
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