Santo Domingo, Jul 11 ​​(EFE) .- The Ministry of Public Health carried out an operation to try to reduce the incidence of COVID-19 in Santiago, a city in which the increase in infections has brought hospitals to near collapse.

The operation was led by the Minister of Public Health, Rafael Sánchez Cárdenas, who assured that the possibility of applying an “epidemiological fence” in Santiago, similar to those carried out in the provinces of Duarte and Puerto Plata, is being evaluated.

The minister stressed that he favors carrying out local operations in the most affected areas, at this time Santiago and greater Santo Domingo.

Likewise, he reiterated his refusal to resort to the application of the state of emergency, although he pointed out that the authorities are going to wait to assess the effect of the July 5 elections on the level of contagion in the country.

“Right now we are doing an evaluation, I hope that by the end of the two weeks (since the elections) it will allow us to make a real evaluation of what is happening and the level of contamination we have had,” the minister said in statements to journalists.

Among other activities, this Saturday they were carrying out rapid tests and PCR tests, which serve to confirm the spread of coronavirus.

The minister also planned to hold meetings with officials from public and private hospitals to study how to expand the number of beds intended for COVID-19 patients.

According to figures released on Friday by the Ministry, Santiago’s hospitals have an 89% occupancy in their areas destined for COVID-19.

The Dominican Republic has 34,114 coronavirus infections, of which 1,199 occurred in the last 24 hours.

Santiago is the third most affected district today and added 147 new infections on the last day’s count.

The death toll reached 880 on Saturday, with 16 new deaths on the last day’s count.

The rate of contagion has accelerated since the opening of the economy began on May 20, and it is expected to increase even more in the coming weeks, as a result of the agglomerations that occurred on the occasion of the presidential and legislative elections. held on July 5,