QCOSTARICA – Twenty French tourists who entered Costa Rica in a group tested positive for covid-19 in our country. Six of them remain hospitalized.
This was confirmed by the Ministry of Health this Tuesday afternoon, reported La Nacion.
“We do have a group of 20 French tourists testing positive for covid-19 as of January 24. They entered Costa Rica on January 16,” confirmed Health officials.
“Six have required hospital care and remain hospitalized in a CCSS medical center, which is already in negotiations with the respective insurer to collect the services,” adds the Ministry of Health press office.
Officials from the San Juan de Dios Hospital confirmed that foreigners are receiving care at the said medical center and remain stable.
In context
Costa Rica has received tourists from all over the world since November 1, when the air borders were definitively opened.
Unlike other countries, at this time Costa Rica does not request a negative covid test prior to or on entering the country.
In this case, the tourists manifested symptoms and tested positive eight days after arrival, having become infected while in the country or one or more arrived asymptomatic on the flight, which would also make a positive diagnosis in a laboratory test difficult.
So far, since the reopening of the borders there had not been any reported infections of tourists.
This coincides with the lowest COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in recent months.
This Tuesday, February 9, the Ministry of Health reported 417 new cases of covid-19. On Monday, there were 210 new cases, 281 on Sunday and 586 on Saturday.
This represents a decline in recent months, where, on average, there were more than 1,200 new cases per day.
The number of people in hospital and those requiring intensive care has dropped. At noon today, the Ministry of Health reported 375 hospitalized patients, of which 165 in ICU. At beginning of the year, the hospitalized neared 500, almost half in ICU.
The number of deaths associated with covid-19 has also dropped from an average of of almost deaths daily to single-digit numbers the last few days. On Saturday eight deaths were reported, seven on Sunday, five on Monday, and six on Tuesday.
