I’m a local closely following the news of coronavirus in the Dominican Republic. I created this post to provide you with the latest updates on the coronavirus regarding the Dominican Republic and its main touristic hub, Punta Cana.
For up to date information on the COVID-19 virus please visit the CDC website.
The section below is no longer being updated. Please see the video above for the latest information.
July 31, 2020
Dominican authorities have informed about a new measure that all visitors coming to the Dominican Republic must be aware of. On and after July 30th every person entering the Dominican territory must have in their hands a PCR test results within 5 days of testing.
What happens if I don’t have PCR test results?
You will be tested at your arrival, the type of test used will be the rapid test (takes about 15 minutes to show results), if your results are COVID-19 negative then you can continue with your trip, however, if you test positive you will be isolated in a designated area for 14 days.
If you get tested at the airport you won’t be charged according to Dominican authorities.
This measure was put in place to keep all people coming here and the ones already in the country safe, to avoid further spreading of the virus. According to several people interviewed about this, they feel safer now that this is being done.
July 20, 2020
COVID-19 cases have been rapidly increasing on the two main cities of the island (Santo Domingo and Santiago), because of this, the government has declared a new state of the emergency for a 45 days period, however, the borders will remain open.
Although cases have risen, popular tourist areas like Punta Cana, Puerto Plata, and Samana are not having a lot of new cases. On the weekend the beaches were closed, however, hotels and resorts will stay open and guests will have access to the pool and other hotel areas.
Which restrictions come with this new state of emergency?
- Curfew: From Monday to Friday 7:00 PM – 5:00 AM and weekends from 5:00 PM to 5:00 AM (this excludes people arriving at the country, health care professionals, and people with an emergency).
- Mandatory use of face masks.
Those are the new measures, for now, in 20 days the government will review and make adjustments depending on the number of cases and the level of positivity.
June 09, 2020
We are currently in phase 2 of the plan to reopen the country, the number of tests being done has been increasing, although the new cases are stable and have been for the last weeks, yesterday we had a record number of new cases (526).
Today the senate is reviewing a petition to extend the state of emergency for 17 days more so the government can have better control and avoid any peaks of new cases.
Everything to reopen the economy and tourism is still on schedule.
May 27, 2020
The situation with the pandemic is currently under control on the island, on May 20 authorities started easing some restrictions and a 4-phase plan to reopen the country was put in motion. Below are the details of each phase.
- Phase 1: starts on May 20th, the subway, cableway, and buses will begin to operate. Private companies can start working again, but not in full capacity, most employees must remain in their homes. Public offices can open with 50% of their staff, and also medical private practices, beauty salons, and barbershops can start receiving clients with appointments.
- Phase 2: Begins on June 3rd, more private employees can go back to their offices, shopping malls, churches, and other religious centers can reopen on Sundays only, with social distance measures of course.
- Phase 3: This part of the plan will begin on June 17, at this point most of the private employees will be working from their offices, religious cults can congregate 3 times per week.
- Phase 4: The last phase and it begins on election day (July 5), at this point, all private employees should return to their place of work, the tourism industry opens again (hotels, resorts, airports, gyms, and restaurants).
Exceptions: although on July 5 the country will be open again we will not have movie theaters, theaters, concerts, live sports, and other big events with lots of people open.
According to the Ministry of the Presidency, if there is an escalade of cases or things go out of control, they reserve the right to delay one of the phases.
Curfew schedule was changed, now from Monday to Saturday 7:00 PM – 6:00 AM and Sundays 5:00 PM – 6:00 AM.
The state of emergency is still active and president Danilo Medina will request an extension today, as soon as it gets approved we will post an update.
May 15, 2020
As of today, we have 11739 confirmed cases in the Dominican Republic, 3557 fully recovered, and 424 deaths. This week an extension of the state of emergency for 15 additional days has been approved.
According to several sources, hotels around the country will start opening around mid-June, the situation of the virus is currently under control and Dominican authorities are working on a plan to reopen the country.
We still have a few hundred people stuck on the island, the government is still working to help them get back to their homes safe and sound.
April 9, 2020
According to today’s bulletin given by the Ministry of Health, there are 2349 confirmed cases, 118 death and 80 completed recovered patients.
A new measure is being taken by most of the businesses that are currently operating the country: the use of face mask is mandatory in order to enter the establishment, this has been taken to avoid further spread of the virus.
The congress and the Chamber of Deputies have passed the extension of the State of Emergency until April 30th (17 more days).
April 6, 2020
Today a new press conference was held by the Ministry of Health, 5459 people have been tested in the country and there are 1828 confirmed cases, 3631 persons that tested negative, 86 deceased and 33 completely recovered.
According to this article of Listín Diario, there are 13 hotels currently open in the Dominican Republic, these hotels are not receiving any new guests, they haven’t closed because there are guests that were unable to return to their homes due to flights canceled and borders being closed.
The following hotels remain open on the island:
- Santo Domingo:
- Aparta Hotel Drake
- W&P
- El Embajador a Royal Hideaway Hotel
- Quality Hotel Real
- Weston Suites Hotel & Casino
- North of the country:
- Constanza Hotel Real
- Hotel Pegasus
- Hotel La Rotonda
- Puerto Plata Tropicana
- Hotel Mountain View
- Hotel Victoriano
- Royal Suites
- Natura Cabaña
March 30, 2020
Since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, the Ministry of Health had been giving a daily press conference to inform the population of the situation. Today the numbers given are 901 infected, 42 deaths and 4 fully recovered patients. Several public figures in the country tested positive in the past days, the authorities increased the curfew and instead of 8:00 PM, people need to be in their homes at 5:00 PM.
March 23, 2020
The Ministry of Health gave a press conference today in which confirmed 43 new cases in the country, totaling 245 cases, 2 persons will be discharged from the hospital after being fully recovered. The death toll is 3.
March 18, 2020
34 cases and 2 deaths have been confirmed in Dominican territory. Today, Congress will be reviewing a request from the president to declare a state of emergency for 25 days in order to avoid further spreading of the virus.
March 15, 2020
There are 6 new cases of COVID-19 to bring the total up to 11 cases. Dominican authorities say that all cases have been imported and that there’s no community transmission yet. (source)
All flights suspended, starting on Monday 16th at 6:00 am, from China, Korea, Iran, and ALL European countries. (source)
Venezuela suspends all flights to and from the Dominican Republic.
March 13, 2020
Here’s a video update on the current active COVID-19 cases in the Dominican Republic.
March 12, 2020
5 Confirmed cases in the Dominican Republic, they are all in quarantine. Video update coming tomorrow with all the details.
March 05, 2020
Here’s a video update on the current situation.
March 02, 2020
Another French man suspected of having COVD-19 has been cleared by the Dominican authorities. Only one (1) case of COVID-19 has been confirmed in the DR. (source)
The Italian man under quarantine with the COVID-19 infection entered the country through La Romana airport and stayed at the Viva Dominicus Beach hotel in Bayahibe while asymptomatic. (source)
March 01, 2020
Today the first case of coronavirus in the country has been confirmed, an Italian citizen that arrived in the country on February 22nd. According to the Ministry of Health, the patient is stable and is currently in quarantine.
February 28, 2020
As of today, there are no confirmed cases in the Dominican territory, however, 30 people are under surveillance by the Ministry of Health. 27 of them recently traveled to mainland China and 3 to Italy. (source)
February 18, 2020
Still NO new cases of COVID-19 in the Dominican Republic. Below is a map compiled by the United States’ CDC with countries where the virus is confirmed marked blue.
February 11, 2020
As of today, there are still NO reported cases in the country.
The travelers that were in quarantine have been released. All were cleared of suspicion of being infected by the 2019-nCoV.
February 7, 2020
The health ministry is closely monitoring 17 travelers that have been in China in the last 14 days.
5 of those foreign nationals are under quarantine in a military teaching hospital following international protocol. Preliminary tests came back negative for coronavirus (2019-nCoV). (source)
February 6, 2020
As of today, there are still NO reported cases in the Dominican Republic.
February 5, 2020
The health minister of the Dominican Republic said today that the 2019 Novel Coronavirus is NOT present in the country. (source)
Rumors are circulating internally that the virus reached the country but they have been categorically debunked by local authorities and confirmed in the global map tracking the virus.
February 4, 2020
There are still no reported cases of the 2019-nCoV in the Dominican Republic. (source)
January 28, 2020
| There are no reported cases of the Wuhan Coronavirus in the Dominican Republic. (source) |
| Dominican public health minister met with the Chinese Ambassador to discuss Chinese citizens’ mobility between the two countries. As of today there no passenger or cargo flight restrictions following recommendations from the World Health Organization. (source) |
January 27, 2020
| Danilo Medina, the president of the Dominican Republic had a meeting with the country’s health authorities to evaluate the official response and readiness to the Coronavirus should it reach the DR. |
| According to a press release from the government, precautions are being taken to protect the general population. |
| The health minister announced that Dominican authorities are working with the Panamerican Health Organization to handle eventual suspect cases of infected patients. (source) |
