COVID-19: first virtual meeting of the Permanent Council

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair; ambassadors; authorities of the General Secretariat; alternate delegates and permanent observers.

As this is the first virtual special meeting of the Permanent Council under its Chair, Mr. Léon Charles, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Haiti, I wish, on behalf of my country, to wish him every success at the head of so delicate a responsibility. He can count on the support of our entire Delegation, as well as my own. We also wish to thank the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) for its valuable presentation, and Mexico and Costa Rica for presenting the resolutions, along with all the countries that worked on preparing them.

Our country was pleased to support their adoption because of their importance to our Organization: on the one hand, so that this Permanent Council can function in the present context and, on the other, because of the pressing need for us to speak out on a problem of the magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are especially grateful to Mexico for its determination and effort in achieving a text to underpin this new and temporary way of working, and to Costa Rica for its valuable contribution in driving the Organization to rise to what this moment demands.

Mr. Chair, the region faces a challenge never before posed in the history of the Organization: a pandemic that will bring incalculable consequences for our societies, for everyone, but with a particularly significant impact on the most vulnerable. Our country believes that this is the moment to appeal to the spirit, nature and purposes that unite us all in this Organization; it is time to work together in solidarity to confront a crisis that threatens the very existence of a significant part of humanity, without bypassing the essential frameworks we have given ourselves in order to live and prosper, in particular international law and human rights. For the world as we know it has today come to a halt before a virus that disrupts people's lives without regard to the economic condition, the size or the geographic location of countries. The Dominican Republic, aware of the devastating consequences this crisis will bring, has resolved to confront the coronavirus.

Mr. Chair, our Government, in coordination with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), drew up the Action Plan for the Management of Suspected Cases and appointed a high-level commission to carry out the protocols for protecting the population and preventing the spread of the coronavirus. As of March 16, flights from certain countries were suspended and passengers arriving from certain regions were placed in quarantine; commercial activities were suspended for a set period; we closed land, sea and air borders; we suspended teaching in all schools and universities; we instructed the population to practice social distancing; and we restricted visits to prisons, among many other measures.

We are grateful for the ongoing support and collaboration of the Pan American Health Organization in improving our installed capacity in both public and private laboratories, and for its ever diligent work alongside our health authorities.

In the Dominican Republic we have launched a temporary assistance program called “Quédate en Casa” (Stay at Home), through which the eight hundred eleven thousand families that today hold a transfer card known as “Solidaridad” can receive an increase of almost three times their usual monthly amount. A further six hundred ninety thousand families classified as poor or vulnerable by the single registry of beneficiaries were also identified to receive temporary support from the “Quédate en Casa” program. We decided that, in the economic sectors in which operations were ordered temporarily to cease, the government would pay a percentage of the wages of the formal employees who have had to be suspended.

Mr. Chair, our country today stands firm in its fight against the virus, having recorded as of this day three thousand seven hundred fifty-five people infected, two hundred fifteen recovered and, unfortunately, one hundred ninety-six deaths. The Dominican State, together with the different sectors of society and the population as a whole, and in coordination with other countries, will continue its efforts to protect people until we can return, as soon as possible, to a measure of normality.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.