The indigenous of the territory known as Bajo Los Indios, in the South Pacific, decided to close all accesses to their territory to prevent the new coronavirus from arriving in the community located in the canton of Corredores, in Puntarenas.
All three routes of access will be blocked, mainly during Semana Santa (Easter Week).
Benito Montezuma, a member of the indigenous association in the area, said that the locals are quite concerned, especially since they have many older adults and that is the population most at risk from COVID-19.
Due to the holiday week, the residents decided that neither their own indigenous people, working or studying in another part of the country, will be allowed to enter the community.
“This has been communicated through family members that they will not be allowed to enter our territory for Semana Santa,” said Montezuma.
“Only allowed is the entry and exit of emergency, police and cargo vehicles with food. We are a very vulnerable population due to the way we live and that is why we made the decision to protect ourselves,” said the member of the area indigenous association.
He added: “Our indigenous population is very old and we many have chronic diseases.”
As of this Friday, there are 416 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in Costa Rica. Of those, 13 are in intensive care.
Since the first case emerged, on March 6, two people, both 87 years of age, have died from the covid-19.
