COVID-19 Reports:
Access to Education (Puerto Rico, Dominican Rep., Cuba) – 7 September 2021
No. 32: Dominican Republic as the First of Many in the Region by Marisol Floren (January 29, 2021)
Excerpt from Biweekly Report:
On March 6, 2020, I was boarding a flight to Puerto Rico, the airport was business as usual, with a few passengers wearing masks, and I, for one, washing my hands every time I got a chance. A few days later, I flew back to Boston, already with the news that the virus that seemed so far away was right next door. Things started to move quickly. I had one ear in Puerto Rico, following the press and the other in Boston, trying to keep up. On March 11, 2020, the WHO characterized the COVID-19 as an outbreak. On March 12, 2020, the first Executive Order, OE-2020-020, related to COVID-19, was published, and it declared Puerto Rico a State of Emergency. Following that initial Executive Order, OE- 2020- 23, established a curfew, from 5:00 am to 6:00 pm. The order included the closure of all businesses on the Island, with a few exceptions of businesses that tend to basics needs like food and medicine. At the time, Puerto Rico has published a total of 23 executive orders directly related to COVID-19.
On April 9, 2020, Cuba created a multidisciplinary medical task force focused on all things pertaining to COVID-19, including but not limited to quarantine protocols (that started on March 24, 2020), information dissemination, and developing training strategies for health care professionals. Based on these strategies as well as the renowned reputation of its medical services, Cuba has engaged in medical diplomacy efforts as it sends its doctors, nurses and other medical personnel all over the world: Europe, Latin America and other parts of the world.
Dominican Republic has been one of the most heavily affected countries in our region. As early as March 1, 2020, the country confirmed its first case which was also the very first case in all the Caribbean islands. The rapid increase of cases and the need to rapidly implement curfews and other preventive measures have created havoc in the country’s electoral calendar. Some elections were canceled abruptly at the last minute and others have been significantly delayed. The Organization of American States (OAS) has decided to open an inquiry into some irregularities in these electoral processes and has vowed to be a close observer. According to the the country’s Electoral Board, congressional and presidential general elections originally scheduled for May 17 are now set to take place on July 5. On June 1, 2020, Dominican Republic’s President Danilo Medina ratified the social distancing measures and extended the curfew (that began on March 17, 2020) until June 13, 2020. … Read More.
Top Sources
- AS/COA on Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico
Cuba:
Dominican Republic:
Puerto Rico:
- Microjuris
- Government of Puerto Rico- Executive Orders
- Puerto Rico Medical Task Force Covid-19
- Ayuda Legal PR
Newspapers
- El Nuevo Día (Puerto Rico)
- Granma (Cuba)
- Listin Diario (Dominican Republic)
Independent Journalism
- Diario de Cuba (Cuba)
- Espacios Abiertos (Puerto Rico)
- Periodismo Investigativo (Puerto Rico)
Ana Delgado, J.D. is a Legal Research Librarian at Suffolk University Law School. Before joining the Suffolk community, Ana served as a judicial clerk in the Middlesex County in New Jersey. Prior the clerkship and while attending law school, Ana was an Assistant Librarian at the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico Law School Library. Her research interests include legal research for judicial clerkships, legal research as a critical thinking skill, and the intersection of education theory and its application to legal research instruction. To explore some of these interests, Ana designed, developed, and taught during the Spring of 2020, an advanced legal research course for clerkships. Ana was born and raised in Puerto Rico, where all her family still resides.
Bianca Anderson is a Librarian Associate Professor at the University of Miami School of Law. Before joining Miami Law in 2012, Bianca practiced immigration law for almost a decade, both in a non-profit setting and private practice. At Miami Law, Bianca teaches a course on Foreign, International and Comparative Legal Research, and an Introduction to Legal Research course in Miami Law’s Intensive English LLM Program for foreign non-native English speaking attorneys. Her research interests include information literacy, government documents and open access to information.
Monitoring the Legal Response to COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean 
Great job-took me back to IALL meeting in PR(2006-2007?)…:)! I was fail librarian at the University of Tulsa.
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