Since the presence of the Vibrio cholera bacterium was discovered in the country again, the neighborhood above has led to several infections of the condition. It has caused the appearance of others in neighboring sectors such as Villa Agricolas, for which the ministries of Health Public, Public Works, Environment, and the National District Mayor’s Office are stepping up sanitation efforts.

In addition to cleaning the wells, the community is constructing four containers to collect garbage that falls from the houses in the upper part of the community so that it does not contaminate the waters. When speaking with this outlet, Juan Luis Vásquez, a member of the team doing the work, stated that they are also encouraging people not to throw their waste in the area to avoid disease outbreaks. “We’re trying to make them aware because we’re doing this for their benefit,” he explained.

Another government measure to halt the spread of the disease is the dredging of a large portion of the Isabela River, which borders La Zurza and, according to authorities, contains the bacteria that transmits cholera. According to official information, a dividing mesh will be placed around the stream once the sanitation is completed to prevent it from becoming clogged with solid waste again.

This is stated by psychologist María de Los Santos, president of the Association of Health Psychologists (ASOPSALUD), noting that it is common to receive patients with emotional conditions in hospital consultations, manifested mainly in panic attacks, post-traumatic stress, social isolation, sleep disorder, depression, use and abuse of psychoactive substances, deep sadness, and suicide attempts.

She said that although cases of this nature have always attended the psychological services of health centers, currently or in the post-pandemic there has been a greater increase in emotional disorders since during the pandemic many people lost their jobs, and loved ones and they felt afraid of getting sick and not being able to seek financial support. “Now we are receiving more people with grief, grief in the Dominican population, people have little tolerance, they get irritated easily.”

The president of the Association of Health Psychologists said that in hospital consultation, especially in hospitalized patients who are going through a medical breakdown, there are frequent cases of mothers who become ill and are emotionally affected because they cannot afford the treatment and fear die and leave their young children alone. Many people believe that getting sick will affect the family economy or that they will not be able to enter the professional and productive world, which also leads them to depression.

Estrella explained that the ministry maintains house-to-house operations in areas such as La Zurza and Capotillo, where a random survey of 68 samples was conducted, collecting samples from both symptomatic patients and those who did not present themselves at the Hospital. “Of these tests, we have only four positives. Two of them were completely asymptomatic patients, and two were hospitalized patients” (Goico).

According to the doctor, Public Health collaborates with the Corporation of Aqueduct and Sewerage of Santo Domingo (CAASD) and the ministries of Education, Environment, and Public Works to develop disease promotion and prevention efforts. “We’re waiting for permission to build the bridge and move the dredgers and equipment to the area to start dredging a large portion of La Isabela that adjoins the La Zurza sector,” she explained. Similarly, Estrella assured that they are looking for efficient ways to dump solid waste and improve the quality of La Poza’s waters.

“We are watching every area along the river’s banks,” she said again. Concerning the spread of bacteria in areas other than the riverbank, such as Villas Agrcolas and San Carlos, the doctor stated, “the fact that I live in one sector does not mean that I do not move to another.” Eladio Pérez, Vice Minister of Collective Health, recalled that in neighboring Haiti, more than 24,000 cases had already been reported, with over 450 people dying.

“The more the epidemiological curve develops in the neighboring country, the more likely it is that it will occur in ours,” he said.

“The fact that cholera is going in crescendo shows shortcomings, those same places that today are showing sick patients and some deceased, are the same as in 2010,” he said, also questioning the action taken by the Social Security System at that time, since today the indicators are the same and “we are worse off”. In addition, the union leader stated that they will carry out several actions in the La Zurza sector, such as a new analysis of the water to determine the particles that inhabit it, “so that the population sees the truth of the Medical College.”

The State intervened after three cases of the disease in the last sweep in various neighborhoods such as the Nuevo Domingo Sabio Project, the former La Ciénaga, and Los Guandules, as well as Capotillo, El 24 de Abril, Gualey, Simón Bolivar, and Villas Agricolas. However, according to residents of Villas Agricolas, it took them a long time to get there, and some are still unaware of the government entities’ movements in their communities to stop the cholera outbreak. Although the only cases still active in the country are in La Zurza and Villas Agricolas, where the outbreak’s first and only death occurred last Thursday, the other four locations were also intervened in over the weekend, according to Public Health.

The director of Health Area IV, Jesus Suard, confirmed that 300 people were ready to form brigades that rummaged through neighborhoods looking for suspected cases, that is, people with chronic diarrhea, vomiting, headaches, and other symptoms. Suard stated that the teams that conduct house-to-house visits also educate the population on cholera prevention, but that in most of the allegedly affected areas, people are unaware of the Ministry’s movements.

One of them is Magna Elena Ramos, who lives in San Carlos, where the Ministry of Public Health (MSP) identified two positive individuals of Haitian origin with the disease last Friday. She is concerned about the disease’s potential for harm. “It’s dangerous if you don’t attend to yourself on time, which is why you have to eat healthy and nothing from the street,” she explained.

Another resident of the sector who only eats food prepared at home José de la Rosa said that street food is the most likely to spread the disease. “You can’t get it at home, but if you eat nonsense on the streets, you’ll get it because they’re not made with the same hygiene,” he said emphatically. Santiago Nuñez, who also lives in San Carlos, has urged authorities to stop the spread of cholera to prevent more cases, particularly among children, the elderly, and people with pre-existing diseases, who are the most vulnerable to death. Similarly, the gentleman urged citizens to follow the recommendations of the health portfolio and specialists to combat the condition.

Because suspicious cases have emerged, some Villas Agricolas residents are also tightening hygiene standards to avoid being included in the bacterial condition’s statistical reports. This is what Ramón Fernández is doing, who has made washing his hands before eating and after using the restroom a daily priority to avoid contracting the disease. Similarly, Julio de Los Santos, who has lived in the neighborhood for years, stated that the population must help the government contain the contagion by taking the necessary precautions.

According to the 1,024 reports of the General Directorate of Epidemiology of the Ministry of Public Health, in the last 24 hours, 1,310 tests were performed, of which 1,292 were antigenic and another 18 were Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), of which 817 were performed for the first time, and 493 were subsequent.

216 new cases of COVID in the past 24 hours

COVID Statistics
Daily positivity levels remain at 7.47%, while that of the last four weeks stands at 10.26%, and the lethality of the virus is 0.66%, with 4,384 deaths in total, with the last death recorded over half a year ago in the month of June 2022.

Hospital occupancy also shows a decrease in statistics, as only 17 occupied beds in the COVID network and four intensive care units, while no mechanical ventilators are in use.

A communication from the entity, released through the Vice-Ministry of Collective Health and its General Directorate of Epidemiology, indicates that the patients were admitted between the 3rd and 5th of this month after presenting with watery and whitish diarrhea accompanied by vomiting.

When they were admitted to the health center, they were hydrated and stabilized, and coprological samples were immediately taken, with a positive result for cholera.

Minor returned from Haiti

The Public Health epidemiological report certifies that the four-year-old child recently returned to the country from Haiti, where he was vacationing with his mother.

According to the document, the patients have been without bowel movements for more than 24 hours, are stable, in good spirits, with a good appetite, and remain in the hospital for observation, with the possibility of discharge in the next few hours.

He added that the areas of Health, IV, and V, the Vice Ministry of Collective Health and its Epidemiological Directorate, and the Ministry’s Risk Management Directorate are maintaining epidemiological surveillance with close relatives and a permanent intervention in the areas to detect, prevent and investigate any suspected cholera.

Public Health stated that so far, there are no relatives of patients with suspected disease symptoms and urged the population not to be alarmed and to be attentive to official reports.

Holidays without cases

These new cases of cholera appeared after the authorities managed to pass the Christmas and New Year’s holidays without any suspected cases of the disease in the La Zurza sector or other nearby neighborhoods of the National District.

Sewage from sewage and toilets in La Zurza continues to be deposited in the Isabela River, despite an investment of billions of pesos in a treatment plant.

A pumping sump was built in La Zurza to collect this water and send it through a pipe placed over a bridge parallel to the Jacinto Peynado to the treatment plant inaugurated on the other side of the river.

Faced with this situation and due to the recent infections of the disease that have arisen in the community, the Ministry of Public Health (MSP) together with other organizations, placed a series of water tanks so that the municipalities have access to free water to cover their needs, but despite thanking the government for the provision, they ask the Santo Domingo Aqueduct and Sewerage Corporation (Caasd) to install pipes to make the measure more efficient.

“We hope in God that they put the key on us and that they bring us permanent water,” Toribio de la Rosa expressed. He stressed that the CAASD daily loads the containers with clean water to reduce the possibility of contagion from the virus. cholera and other pathologies in the demarcation, however, he explained that, like other neighborhoods, they want to receive the service through the system. He stated that several people in the area have been affected by diarrheal symptoms due to having contact with the pools, which according to the authorities do not have the bacteria that cause cholera but do have garbage residues that also serve as water-polluting agents.

In this sense, he declared that he is applying the recommendations given by the experts to avoid infection, especially the reinforcement of hygiene measures at home. Likewise, Mr. Edulio Amancio is doing it, who explained that since the reappearance of the disease in the town, he is being more cautious with what he eats. “One has to be careful, not eating everything and washing our hands with soap,” he stressed.

During a press conference, Estrella stated that the girl had diarrhea and vomiting due to a stomach condition she had been suffering from since December 29, which went away on its own before the mother took her to a medical center for treatment.

Her parents testified that when they transferred her to the mobile center in La Zurza on the morning of the 31st, she had spent the night vomiting, but that by 7:00 a.m., she had stopped.

“We haven’t had any new scenarios (…), perhaps one or two patients with some evacuations have appeared, but they’ve been ruled out because they haven’t been repeated, and possibly some parasitism from other causes,” he said.

He stated that while the mobile hospitals had been installed in the area for 21 days, emergencies such as hypertension and headache had been attended to. He did, however, confirm that they will remain in place until the circumstances dictate otherwise.