Reminder: The new curfew beginning tomorrow Monday, January 11

With decree 7-21, the President of the Republic, Luis Abinader, informed the new date of the curfew that will govern the country and the new regulations with which he seeks to mitigate COVID-19 infections.

The curfew will begin tomorrow Monday, January 11, and will end on Tuesday 26 of this month. Its hours will be from 5:00 in the afternoon to 5:00 in the morning of the next day, Monday through Friday, regardless of whether it is a business day or not.

During those five days of the week, transit will be allowed until 8:00 at night for people to reach their homes, one hour more than allowed in the first ten days of January 2021.

Meanwhile, on Saturdays 16 and 23 and Sundays 17 and 24, the curfew will begin at 12:00 noon until 5:00 in the morning. In this case, free mobilization was included until 3:00 in the afternoon, for the same purpose, so that people can reach their homes.

Home delivery of cooked food, raw from restaurants, grocery stores, and drugs from pharmacies are allowed until 11:00 at night.

OMSA, Metro and Cable Car of Santo Domingo

After criticism for the lack of state public transport and the long lines to take it, the Executive Branch instructed the Metropolitan Bus Services (OMSA) and the Transport Reorganization (Opret) offices to offer the service within circulation hours defined in the decree.

Public spaces are allowed, but …

Also, as of Monday, open public spaces in the open air such as boardwalks and parks can be used, but only for sports, where there is no crowding of people. In the places mentioned above, the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages are prohibited.

Gyms located in private or public places are kept closed. Similarly, the facilities for public and massive events such as cinemas and theaters are closed.

The tourism sector, the backbone of the Dominican economy, will continue to be governed by its particular protocol. Still, the facilities cannot organize, promote, and carry out massive activities, parties, or the like.

Religious activities

The activities of the different churches or religious denominations are maintained in the terms provided in decree 2-21, which indicates that celebrations are allowed three times a week, within the curfew and respecting sanitary measures.

Restaurants, yes, but bars and colmadones, no.

The government allows restaurants to receive customers through the decree, but they must not exceed 50% of their installed capacity and cannot occupy more than six people per table. Restaurants must comply with distancing measures.

Meanwhile, in those 16 days located between the 11th and the 26th of this month, bars, shops that sell alcoholic beverages, and colmadones can not serve alcohol in their facilities.

Public sector working hours

Now, the public sector’s working hours will be until 3:00 in the afternoon, and 40% of the employees in that sector that is considered non-essential, will work from their homes.

Surveillance and measures

The mandatory use of masks in public places and private places of general use and physical distancing is still maintained.

To ensure compliance with the new measures in public spaces, restaurants, and the tourism sector, there will be what the government called sanitary vigilantes. These vigilantes will be coordinated by the Ministries of Public Health, Tourism and Sports, and the municipalities.

People who can circulate during the curfew:

• People dedicated to health services, such as doctors, nurses, bioanalysts, paramedical personnel, and pharmaceutical personnel.
• People with a medical emergency who need to go to a health center or pharmacy.
• Duly identified persons dedicated to private security tasks.
• Members of the press and other duly accredited media.
• Vehicle operators and technicians of companies and institutions that provide energy, water, telecommunications, and solid waste collection services duly identified, exclusively during the exercise of their work functions.
• Vehicle operators dedicated to the urban and interurban distribution of goods, supplies, and fuel duly solely determined during their work functions.
• People who work in the food, medical and pharmaceutical industry, and trade and are in transit to and from their workplaces, provided they carry identification of a company authorized by the High-Level Commission for the Prevention and Control of Coronavirus.
• International passengers and operators of private or commercial vehicles that are transporting them and employees of the maritime and air transport sector duly identified in transit to or from ports and airports.
• Employees of companies that provide funeral services, exclusively during the exercise of their work functions.
• Employees or contractors of the hotel, mining, and free zone sectors, only during their work functions.
• After completing their work, employees of Opret and OMSA provided they are appropriately identified and go home.