The Minister of Health, Daniel Salas, on Wednesday night, signed the resolution that dictates which establishments with health permits are exempt from closing, from April 3 to 12 to avoid contagion of covid-19 in the country.
“It is resolved to order the temporary closure of all establishments with Health operating permits classified as public meeting places, starting on Friday, April 3, 2020, at 5:00 pm and until Sunday, April 12 at 11:59 pm”, says the document.
The establishments that should not close are:
- Home services.
- Public institutions that, due to the nature of their functions, must remain open, such as the immigration, customs, phytosanitary services, land, sea, and air border posts, among others.
- Public and private health, ie clinics, pharmacies, hospitals, laboratories, doctor’s offices, diagnostic radiology services, emergency services, among others, as well as veterinary clinics.
- Supermarkets, suppliers, bakeries, butchers, greengrocers and corner grocery stores (pulperias).
- Establishments selling agricultural supplies, with a reduction in their maximum normal occupation capacity to fifty percent (50%).
- Hygiene supply establishments, with a reduction in their maximum normal occupancy capacity to fifty percent (50%).
- Public or private banking services, with a reduction of its maximum normal occupation capacity to fifty percent (50%).
- Funeral homes and/or veiling chapels, with a reduction of its maximum normal occupancy capacity to fifty percent (50%).
- Public and private establishments where there is the commercialization of agricultural, livestock, fishing and aquaculture products, such as fairs and markets, with a reduction in their maximum normal occupation capacity to fifty percent (50%).
- The child care centers and development network.
- Centers of attention for people in vulnerable conditions.
- All those other establishments with Health operating permits that do not provide attention to the face-to-face public.
“The health authorities, both of the Ministry of Health and of the Police Bodies of the country whose condition has been delegated to them, are instructed to issue a Health Order to those establishments that do not comply with this provision, ordering the immediate closure of said establishments and the processing of the collection of the resulting fines as appropriate,” dictated Resolution DM-RM-0852-2020.
What MUST NOW CLOSE, some of which until now have been allowed to operate some specificities, are:
- Theaters
- Movie theaters (Cines)
- Restaurants, sodas, food courts, cafes (they can only provide home delivery)
- Malls
- Short-stay accommodation activity (hotels, motels, guest houses, pensiones, cabinas) and similar.
The Ministry of Health highlighted that this decision is made because commercial establishments are places where people come who need to acquire goods and/or services, which generates a risk to their health and that of the workers of said establishments due to the possibility of contagion of the virus.
The entity added that, for the Semana Santa (Easter Week) holiday, the period from April 3 to April 12, it is highly possible that people will seek out recreation areas and social contact, which represents a risk extremely dangerous in the spread of covid-19.
“Therefore, in order that an uncontrolled increase in the growth curve of cases due to said disease is generated, it is urgent and necessary to reinforce vehicle restriction measures and, thus, reduce people’s exposure to the transmission of said disease,” said the document. Click here for the vehicular restrictions and exemptions for Semana Santa.
The present sanitary measures are issued with the objective of preventing and mitigating the risk or damage to public health and addressing the state of national emergency given by Executive Decree No. 42227-MP-S of March 16, 2020 and seeking the well-being of all people who reside in Costa Rican territory on a regular basis before the effects of the covid-19.
