(QCOSTARICA) Costa Rica president Carlos Alvarado this Wednesday announced the measures that will be in place for the month of August, leaving aside the “martillo y baile” (hammer and dance) for the “apertura y cierre” (open and closed) experiment.
Leaving the details of the measures to his team made up of the Minister of Health, Daniel Salas, the head of the Comision Nacional de Emergencias (CNE), Alexander Sollis and the Minister of Planning and Economy, Pilar Garrido, the plan is for relaxing of the measures in the orange alert areas for nine days of August, clamp down again for 12 days and then relax them to the end of the month.
Solis explained the timetable that of the openings and closing and the vehicular restrictions, and the areas that will continue under orange alert, while 17 cantons and districts dropped down to yellow.
Casa Presidencial created this site (in Spanish) with the official guidelines for the month of August. The website https://covid19.go.cr/ is also the official government information on the COVID-19 in Costa Rica.
The “open and closed” phases
From August 1 to August 9 and August 22 to August 30, most commercial premises will be allowed to operate nationwide.
From August 10 to August 21 there will be an almost total closure of commercial activity in orange alert zones in the provinces of San Jose (pretty much the entire metropolitan area of San Jose): Alajuelita, Aserrí, Coronado, Curridabat, Desamparados, Escazú, Goicoechea, Montes de Oca, Mora, Moravia, San José center, Santa Ana, and Tibás; Alajuela: Alajuela center, Naranjo and Poas; Heredia: Heredia center, Barva, Flores, San Isidro, San Pablo, San Rafael and Santo Domingo; Cartago: La Union; Puntarenas: Corredores, Agua Buena, Sabalito, Pavón, Barranca and Chacarita
There are no orange zones in the province of Guanacaste and Limon.
All the cantons and districts in yellow alert zones (pretty much the entire country), the “closed” measures of August 10 to 21 do not apply, that is they can continue to operate as the days before and after.
Vehicular restrictions
The vehicular restrictions will continue nationwide for the month of August, basically, the same as they are today with the exception of the orange zone from August 10 to 21, which will be the same as the lockdown of earlier this month.
For areas under Orange Alert:
- From August 1 to August 9 and August 22 to August 30 there is a total vehicular restriction between 5:00 pm and 5:00 am from Monday to Sunday. Driving between 5:00 am and 5:00 pm from Monday to Sunday will be restricted as follows:- Mondays: cannot circulate are vehicles with plates ending in 1 & 2
– Tuesdays: cannot circulate are vehicles with plates ending in 3 & 4
– Wednesdays: cannot circulate are vehicles with plates ending in 5 & 6
– Thursdays: cannot circulate are vehicles with plates ending in 7 & 8
– Fridays: cannot circulate are vehicles with plates ending in 9 & 0
– Saturdays: cannot circulate are vehicles with plates ending in 0, 2, 4, 6, 8
– Sundays: cannot circulate are vehicles with plates ending in 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 - From August 10 to August 21, there is a total vehicular restriction between 5:00 pm and 5:00 am from Monday to Sunday. Driving between 5:00 am and 5:00 pm from Monday to Sunday will be restricted as follows:- Mondays: can circulate are only vehicles with plates ending in 1 & 2
– Tuesdays: can circulate are only vehicles with plates ending in 3 & 4
– Wednesdays: can circulate are only vehicles with plates ending in 5 & 6
– Thursdays: can circulate are only vehicles with plates ending in 7 & 8
– Fridays: can circulate are only vehicles with plates ending in 9 & 0
– Saturdays: can circulate are only vehicles with plates ending in 0, 2, 4, 6, 8
– Sundays: can circulate are only vehicles with plates ending in 1, 3, 5, 7, 9
In Yellow alert areas
During the entire month of August, driving is permitted from 5 am to 10 pm on weekdays and from 5 am to 7 pm on weekends, as follows:
- Mondays: cannot circulate are vehicles with plates ending in 1 & 2
- Tuesdays: cannot circulate are vehicles with plates ending in 3 & 4
- Wednesdays: cannot circulate are vehicles with plates ending in 5 & 6
- Thursdays: cannot circulate are vehicles with plates ending in 7 & 8
- Fridays: cannot circulate are vehicles with plates ending in 9 & 0
- Saturdays: cannot circulate are vehicles with plates ending in 0, 2, 4, 6, 8
- Sundays: cannot circulate are vehicles with plates ending in 1, 3, 5, 7, 9
In the coming days, we will be posting more detailed information on what will be open and not, in what areas, and under what conditions.
We want to highlight a few important notes for August in Costa Rica:
- Mother’s Day is August 15, but as it falls on a Saturday, the holiday will be celebrated on Monday, August 17. In Orange alert areas the holiday falls in the closing phase.
- Beaches are open from 5 am to 9:30 am in the few beach areas under orange alert, including the “closed phase”; the rest of the beaches (in yellow) are open from 5 am to 2:30 pm every day.
- The international airports will reopen on August 1, however, only the Juan Santamaria (San Jose) airport will have flight operations, starting with the first on August 3 from Frankfurt, Germany.
- The ‘romeria’ are not permitted anywhere. Though the canton of Catago is under yellow alert, the Basilica de Los Angeles will remain closed to avoid a conglomeration of Catholic faithful for the August 2 celebration.
- ALL public transport – buses and taxis – can operate normally in Yellow and Orange alerts.
