One more hour of mobility during curfew hours

Decree 7-21, issued yesterday by President Luis Abinader, provides that restaurants can once again receive customers at their facilities, but only at half their capacity and no more than 6 people per table.

Santo Domingo, DR

From next Monday until the 26th of this month, the curfew will apply throughout the country from 5:00 in the afternoon to 5:00 in the morning, Monday through Friday (holidays or not), allowing free transit until 8:00 at night, as part of the measures designed to reduce the risk of contagion by the coronavirus.

This is established by Decree 7-21, issued yesterday by President Luis Abinader, which confirms that on Saturdays and Sundays, the curfew begins at noon, with free movement until 3:00 in the afternoon.

The presidential provision also establishes that restaurants will accept customers in their facilities up to 50% of their capacity and the return to telework in the public sector.

Article 3 of the decree establishes that on Saturdays 16 and 23 and Sundays 17 and 24 of January 2021, the curfew will be from 12:00 noon to 5:00 in the morning, with three hours of free transit, until 3:00 in the afternoon.

The Executive Branch also instructed the Office for the Reordering of Transportation (OPRET), which governs the Metro and Cable Car services, and the Metropolitan Office of Bus Services (OMSA), to offer their service to citizens within the hours of circulation defined in the decree.

Telework is back

Article 13 of that decree states that the working day in the public sector will be until 3 pm and that 40% of the staff of public employees not essential for the activity of the home will be sent to continue their work.

Restaurants at 50%

The new government regulation establishes that restaurants will be able to receive customers up to 50% of their installed capacity, in strict compliance with current distancing protocols, without exceeding six people per table.

Parks and seawalls

Similarly, the government provision establishes that open public spaces in the open air, such as parks and seawalls, may only be used for sports practices that do not involve groups, teams, or accumulation of people of any nature.

In these areas, the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages are prohibited.

Churches and gyms

Decree 7-21 establishes that the different churches or religious denominations’ activities will be maintained under the terms provided in Decree 2-21, dated January 5, 2021. They may offer services three times per week, as long as they comply with the protocol against Covid-19.

Meanwhile, gyms, in public or private spaces, cinemas, theaters, and any other facility for public and massive events that are not essential for the development of citizenship continue to be closed.

During curfew hours, people dedicated to health services, such as doctors, nurses, bioanalysts, paramedical personnel, and pharmaceutical personnel, can pass through.

Also, people with a medical emergency who need to go to a health center or pharmacy and those dedicated to private security tasks duly identified.

Also permitted are members of the press and other duly accredited media.

FIGURES

They can transit.

International passengers and operators of private or commercial vehicles and duly identified employees of the maritime and air transport sector, in transit to or from ports and airports. Vehicle operators and technicians from companies and institutions that provide energy, water, telecommunications, and solid waste collection services.

Follow emergency.

Yesterday, with Decree 6-21, the state of emergency to combat the Covid-19 coronavirus was extended for 45 days, starting on January 16.