(QCOSTARICA) Closing access – entrance and exit – to the districts and towns to avoid that it continues to increase in cases due to COVID-19 in San Carlos, is the proposal by Alfredo Córdoba, mayor of that canton.
Córdoba explained that they located the companies and the most populated areas on a map and based on this, and suggested drawing a radius of action of 20 kilometers so that there is no unnecessary and risky “migration”.
That is what the mayor says he presented to authorities of the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) and to the National Emergency Commission (CNE), in order to contain the curve of cases and avoid community contagion.
“Nobody comes in, nobody goes out! Suspend public transportation so that Nicaraguans do not move anywhere and we have people put in place. The Nicaraguan who does not have a job in those places and does not have the documents that prove it, has to go (back) to Nicaragua. Whoever has a job does not have to transfer to another side of the district, contaminating other parts. There is no need to have to visit other communities, or friends or family, because then they are breaking the bubbles and causing an increase in cases,” Córdaba told CRHoy.com.
The largest canton with two cultures
In the opinion of the local authorities, different measures should be taken in San Carlos from those applied in the rest of the cantons on “orange alert”, since it is the largest in the country and has had an irregular migratory flow for several years.
“We are living in a very difficult situation. Those in the capital (San Jose) think very differently from what we think in rural areas. The canton of San Carlos has a characteristic that makes it very different from the others: the cultures,” Córdaba said.
He assures that the country must accept that foreigners (migrants) are a fundamental part of the national economy but that, without a doubt, they have a different culture from that of Costa Ricans, in many aspects.
“The Costa Rican culture and the Nicaraguan culture are not compatible, they are very different cultures. We do not want to understand it because we have the arrogance of not accepting that Nicaraguans are part of us and that they are part of the economy of this country, not only in the north, throughout the country. Nicaraguans are part of the country’s economic process; And as part of us, we have to see how we integrate the two cultures,” he said.
“If I say to you “quarantine”, you (the Costa Rican) goes and locks yourself in a room, ask for a spoon, ask for a plate (of food) and respect the fact of not going out. The Nicaraguan no, they share the room, they share the spoon … and that causes contagions,” said the mayor.
Finally, he referred to the contagion situation in two agricultural plants and explained that in both companies all employees are insured with the Caja (social security), receive minimum wages, and have complied with those established by law.
“The Nicaraguan who was contaminated (infected with the COVID-19) did not inform the company that he was ill, he continued to work and made others ill (…) because they (Nicaraguans) have a culture that this (the pandemic) is not true, that it is like any other disease,” said Córdoba.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Health authorities announced an intervention in the agricultural companies of the Northern Zone and the possible implementation of measures to create expanded “bubbles”.
