Skewes: Covid deaths may take ‘three days’ to report

Santo Domingo, DR

The General Director of Epidemiology, Ronald Skewes, affirmed that the Ministry of Public Health does not hide deaths or contagions from Covid-19 in the bulletins it issues each day on the behavior of the pandemic.

“Let it be clear that everything that is reported to the National Surveillance System is published here in the bulletin every day. Absolutely nothing is hidden, it is something that has characterized us to be transparent and give all the information,” said Skewes, who added that to follow the protocol, the report can take “two or three days.”

Yesterday the Listin Diario published that in the municipality of Bani, there have been deaths due to Covid in the last 20 days, which have not been reflected in the bulletins of Public Health. In addition, the president of the Medical Association, Waldo Ariel Suero, asked the institution “to carry out a more detailed analysis of the real number of patients who have died from Covid-19 in some provinces of the country.”

In the report “El Covid desangra a Baní,” the names of the people who died from Covid-19 and were not reflected in the bulletins issued after their deaths are detailed. The deceased recognized in the community arrived at the hospital affected by the disease. Their families could not pay their respects due to the protocols established for people who die from the virus. The medical association assured that it has information through its provincial leaders that the real number of deaths due to this pathology does not correspond to reality.

Skewes explained that after a patient dies from Covid, they go through a process to verify if they did indeed die from the disease.

During a press conference at the Ministry of Public Health, the director of Epidemiology said that when a patient is admitted to a health facility, if it is an immediately notifiable event, they have 24 hours to notify the epidemiological surveillance system. He indicated that deaths due to Covid-14 must be notified to the National Surveillance System within the first 24 hours after having occurred; however, he affirmed that before the death is notified, it must be verified if the death has its certificate, a diagnostic test, and all its complete records, “so this is a process that can take some time,” pointed out Skewes.