Geotemporal analysis of COVID-19 in the Dominican Republic 2020-2021

Introduction Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was first identified in China in December of 2019 and has spread globally since. The Dominican Republic confirmed its first case on March 1 st , 2020. Objective To analyze the spatial distribution of the incidence of COVID-19 and its correlation with the Human Development Index in the Dominican Republic from March of 2020 to March of 2021. Methods The cumulative incidence rates of COVID-19, number of deaths, lethality, mortality and Human Development Index of the provinces in the Dominican Republic were used from governmental sources and were analyzed in the Microsoft Excel 2016 program. Results Duarte was the province with the highest mortality per 100.000 inhabitants (68.94), followed by the Distrito Nacional (71,613 cases), Santo Domingo (49,759 cases) and Santiago (27,632 cases) with the highest number of cases. The 7-day moving average peak for new cases was July 30 of 2020 and the peak for new deaths occurred on September 6 of 2020. The highest positivity rate (40%) was reported in August of 2020. Lastly, an increase of 1.0 on the Human Development Index corresponded to a 10.7% increase in the incidence rates per province. Conclusion Prevention strategies should be strengthened by the Dominican government to reduce the contagion curve and thus reduce its spread and impact on the Human Development Index