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Coronavirus pandemic

Dominican doctors receive about 4,000 coronavirus tests from Russia

As of today, the number of coronavirus infections identified in the Dominican Republic has reached about 8,000

HAVANA, May 4. /TASS/. The authorities of the Dominican Republic have expressed gratitude to the Russian authorities for receiving about 4,000 test systems for diagnosing the coronavirus infection, according to a statement by the country’s Foreign Minister Miguel Vargas released on Monday.

"We express gratitude to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for (Russia’s) provision of 4,000 tests for detecting COVID-19 on a non-repayable basis. That will facilitate strengthening of our healthcare system and improvement of the response potential and early COVID-19 diagnosing in the Dominican Republic," the statement said.

As of today, the number of coronavirus infections identified in the Dominican Republic has reached about 8,000, while the death toll is 333, according to the figures provided by the country’s authorities.

In March, the authorities declared curfew in the republic, suspended air travel and banned disembarkation of passengers in seaports to prevent the spread of the coronavirus infection. Moreover, the Dominican Republic’s central election commission has made a decision to reschedule presidential and parliamentary elections initially planned for May 17 to July due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia. On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 3.5 mln people have been infected worldwide and more than 240,000 deaths have been reported.

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