There are 19 days of emergency left since the last executive extension on November 30 and the same number of days until curfew.
On January 15 this period set by President Luis Abinader ends with permission from the National Congress. This time began on December 2, with a 45-day extension for the third time in government, due to the health and economic crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.
Dominicans have been living under a state of emergency since March 18, when the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) and Danilo Medina ruled, and this year they have been updated more than seven times so far.
This exception state grants the president of the republic special and temporary powers to deal with an imminent threat to the country and requires an immediate response, according to the constitution.
Curfew
Within the exceptional state, one of the preventive measures to stop the spread of the disease was curfew, a restriction that prohibits the free movement of the civilian population on the streets after a certain period of time.
The penultimate curfew imposed by the president was by decree number 554-20 and was extended by 20 days from December 2, that is, it ended on December 22.
However, With the advent of the Christmas holidays and the rise in positive cases for Covid-19 in some counties, the government applied new restrictions before the set time has elapsed.
Presidential Decree 698-20 of December 15, 2020 has repealed the previous decrees 504-20, 554-20 and 684-20 regarding curfew. The new schedules and measures presented in the document took effect on the day of publication.
This presidential mandate imposed a different curfew from last time in the national district and the provinces of Santo Domingo, Santiago, Duarte, La Vega and Puerto Plata.
Whereas for the whole country, on December 24th and 31st, the curfew would be from 7am to 5am and free transit until 1am on the days December 25th and January 1st.
These measures will be continued until the last state of emergency is lifted, unless there is some variation in such provisions.