Four of the 40 Costa Ricans who arrived on April 29 on a flight from Ecuador tested positive for the new Covid-19 coronavirus, the Ministry of Health confirmed Thursday.
After arriving in Costa Rica, health authorities located at the Juan Santamaría Airport performed (without exception) the Covid-19 diagnostic tests on all returnees. In addition, they issued them the mandatory 14-day isolation order.
As reported by the Ministry of Foreign Relations, of the 40 Costa Ricans who arrived in the country, 26 of them had to travel for eight hours by bus from the city of Guayaquil, epicenter of the covid-19 in Latin America, to catch the flight in Quito. In addition, they detailed that within this group there were children, seniors and a pregnant woman.
“It is a joy to back in Costa Rica”
After a month of being stranded in Ecuador, two Costa Rican crew members of the rescue flight from Quito said that returning to Costa Rica is a great joy and relief due to the health crisis Ecuador is currently facing due to Covid -19.
Sylvia Piedra, one of the Costa Ricans who was stranded in the city of Guayaquil, said that the news of the opening of a humanitarian flight meant great joy for her and her family.
“We are very happy to be in our country, because the situation that is being experienced in Ecuador is a true martyrdom and represents an enormous risk for us and our families.
“It was a long process and I think we all thought that we were not going to make it, but it was possible and we thank all the people who allowed us to be back in our homes,” she said.
With the same enthusiasm, Raquel Brenes, another Costa Rican residing in Ecuador, mentioned that the humanitarian flight was almost a “rescue” from the nightmare that many Ticos were living in the South American country.
“It gives us a lot of peace and tranquility knowing that we are already in our country, we have been waiting for it for more than a month,” she explained.
