(QCOSTARICA) Effective Thursday, August 20, there were some changes to the yellow and orange alert areas, the following is an updated list of the cantons under orange alert in Costa Rica:
Province of San José:
Alajuelita
Aserri
Curridabat
Desamparados (except districts specified in yellow alert)
Escazú
Goicoechea
Puriscal
Saint Joseph
Saint Ana
Tibás
Alajuela Province
Alajuela center (except the Sarapiquí district)
Narajo
Cartago Province:
La Union
Province of Heredia:
Belen
Flores
Heredia center (districts Heredia, Mercedes, San Francisco, Ulloa)
(QCOSTARICA) Armando Mayorga, columnist for La Nacion, writes that the “hammer blows hit the nail on the head in the early months of the pandemic, but by now the hammering lost strength” and the closures of restaurants, bars, sodas, discos, shops, cinemas and gyms, has done nothing to stop new cases and deaths daily from COVID-19.
Mayorga points out the strategy applied by the government of Carlos Alvarado and led by the Minister of Health, Dr. Daniel Salas, was successful from March to June, were in those four months, there were only 3,500 infected and 16 deaths reported. But in July the numbers took off with 14,000 new confirmed cases and 134 deaths.
And, in these first 19 days of August, the number of new cases is 12,000 and 167 deaths.
“Undoubtedly, the government must reformulate the plan because the #quédeseencasa (stay at home) hit a wall. Furthermore, in these five and a half months it has not been able to verify whether the strict closure of commerce has been effective or how much the vehicle restriction contributes. They are all hypotheses,” writes Mayorga.
The columnist points out that is obvious that the economic paralysis of almost half a year is enough “because citizens do not believe in its effectiveness. There is no more to give because thousands of homes suffer unemployment and a shortage of money; because the bono proteger(government aid) fell short.”
Mayorga suggests it is time to go back to the beginning, the strategy that was to slow the rate of infection and flatten the curve.
“To start over, then, it is necessary to convince the citizen that what is essential is their personal care, comply with the basic measures: do not touch your mouth, nose and eyes, wash your hands frequently, use gel, keep a distance of 1.8 meters, avoid crowds and wear masks in closed places, buses or taxis, and even in meetings with family and friends. But, in addition, there is the technology,” says Mayorga.
The technology he refers to is the EDUS (Expediente Digital Único en Salud) – a single digital system all the information of the health record of the patients – that could be effective in the reduction of infections would be achieved if people who had contact with infected are detected.
“What is objectionable is that for private and political interests, the government and the CCSS waste the tool. Unforgivable,” says the columnist.
Mayorga closed his column with, the “country’s economy is not for more experiments … it is time for government strategists to get advice, make an about-face, and focus on the people, on specific restrictions, intelligent, with measurement of results and use of technology.”
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(QCOSTARICA) The number of COVID-19 patients in CCSS hospitals reached 410 for August 20, of which 128 are in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU), two more than this Wednesday, the Ministry of Health reported.
These most critical patients have ages ranging from one year to 97 years.
Deaths also continue to rise, 12 more deaths over Wednesday: 8 men and 4 women, between 52 and 85 years old.
In total, since the pandemic began, Costa Rica has accumulated 333 deaths related to COVID-19. These are 125 women and 208 men, with an age range of 21 to 100 years.
The number of new cases reported Thursday was 666, of which 207 were detected through epidemiological nexus, and 459 through laboratory tests, reported Priscilla Herrera, director-general of Health.
Priscilla Herrera
To date, the country accumulates 31,075 confirmed cases, of people between the ages of zero and 100.
These are 14,382 women and 16,693 men, of whom 23,311 are Costa Rican and 7,764 foreigners.
Positive cases are registered in the 82 cantons of the country: 26,053 adults, 1,966 seniors and 2,896 minors.
(QCOSTARICA) The national weather service, the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (IMN), confirmed that the arrival of a new tropical wave is expected this Thursday afternoon, characterized by the high potential of becoming a tropical depression, the lowest category of a cyclone.
The National Hurricane Center indicated Wednesday that the tropical wave has a 60% probability of becoming a tropical depression in the next 48 hours and an 80% of doing so in the next five days.
The IMN’s Juan Diego Naranjo, affirmed that the latest analysis on tropical wave no. 30 is foreseen to arrive in Costa Rica this Thursday afternoon, expected to interact with the intertropical convergence zone favoring a rainy scenario.
“If this tropical wave becomes a tropical depression, it would happen in northern Central America by the weekend. Due to its possible position and strengthening, there is a high probability of indirect influence towards Costa Rica,” says the meteorological warning issued Wednesday afternoon.
According to Naranjo, the projected direction indicates that it would be off the coast of Honduras where it develops as a tropical depression, that is, with associated winds between 50 and 69 kilometers per hour. From 70 to 119 it is considered a tropical storm and 120 onwards a hurricane.
This Atlantic season has been very active as it already registers 12 tropical cyclones, of which only Hanna and Isaías reached hurricane category 1.
They are given a name when they become a tropical storm, the next one will be called Laura.
According to Lidier Esquivel, head of the Investigation Analysis Unit of the Comisión Nacional de Emergencias (CNE) – National Emergency Commission, an increase in the number of incidents is expected, which is why he calls for people living near rivers and streams to vigilant.
Landslides are common during this time of year, as heavy water-laden slope soil, rock, etc. will succumb to the forces of gravity. Slides can cause disastrous flooding, particularly when landslide dams across streams are breached, and flooding may trigger slides.
Last week, the heavy rains caused damage to the Coronado river bridge on the Costanera sur, located at kilometer 179, at the height of Ciudad Cortés.
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"The shortage of foreign currency due to the non-arrival of tourists to the country will be supplied, in part, by the credit resources negotiated by the Government in various international agreements," said Karla Arguedas, manager of Prival. Courtesy / The Republic
(QCOSTARICA) The behavior of the dollar exchange in recent weeks has not gone unnoticed, so far this year it has increased more than ¢25, on average.
“At this time, and under normal conditions, we would be in the low tourist season, which implies a lower availability of foreign currency,” said Karla Arguedas, manager of Prival.
While six months ago it was trading between ¢570 and ¢575 for one US dollar, it is currently around ¢591 and ¢597, dropping a couple of colones from the hight of ¢600 for the sell a few days ago.
Although COVID-19 has had an impact on the exchange rate, due to the fall in tourism, the closure of borders, the restriction of entry of tourists, and the decline in foreign trade, it is also true that at this time of year the dollar exchange has always tended to rise, analysts warn.
Historically for this date, typically there is a rebound in demand and a drop in tourism due to the rainy season, they explain. In turn, they warn that the margin in the exchange rate has remained below 5%, not requiring the intervention of the Central Bank.
However, if you have a company, you should not neglect some aspects, which can generate changes in your income and expenses as a result of exchange rate variations.
Experts agree that the fluctuation in the last couple of weeks obeys the cyclical conditions that the local economy normally faces.
“At this time, and under normal conditions, we would be in the low tourist season, which implies a lower availability of foreign currency,” explains Karla Arguedas, Manager at Prival Advisory & Strategy.
“It will follow the trend dictated by the market, it may go up or down, and the Central Bank of Costa Rica does not intervene in said trend unless there are violent fluctuations.,” said Luis Diego Herrera, Economic analyst at ACOBO Financial Group.
And Alberto Franco, Economist ar Ecoanalysis, said “Historically this has been a time of higher demand for foreign exchange and that could be repeating again. It does not seem to me that it is a movement that is out of the ordinary in that market”.
The Alajuela river bridge is the only remaining 4 lane structure on the six-lane General Cañas
(QQCOSTARICA) This Wednesday, August 19, the order was given for the start of the expansion works of the bridge over the Alajuela river, located east of the tolls on the Autopista General Cañas, near the Juan Santamaría international airport.
The Alajuela river bridge is the only remaining 4 lane structure on the six-lane General Cañas section between La Uruta and the San Jose airport.
The expansion is expected to end the frequent congestion, the “bottleneck” caused by the four-lane (two two-lane bridges) bridge on the six-lane highway.
The cost is US$ 5 million dollars and is part of the first batch of the so-called urgent works (Obis) awarded to the Consortium OBIS Ruta 1 CPC.
The work is expected completed not later than April 21.
Once the work is completed the new 45 meters long structure will be six lanes (three lanes in each direction).
The air terminal in Liberia, Guanacaste implemented prevention protocols that include glass separation at checkpoints. Photo: Coriport for LN.
(QCOSTARICA) As of September 5, the Daniel Oduber Quirós airport (LIR), in Liberia, Guanacaste, will receive a weekly flight from the Newark (EWR), New Jersey airport.
The Liberia air terminal (LIR), in Guanacaste, implemented prevention protocols that include glass separation at checkpoints. Photo: Coriport
In October, a weekly flight from Toronto (YYZ), in Canada, will also be added.
The announcement by the airport, Coriport, came after the Minister of Tourism, Gustavo Seguro, announced Wednesday the authorization of flights from the United States.
Starting on September 1, residents from six states – New York, New Jersey, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Maine – will be able to travel to Costa Rica.
Coriport said that United Airlines and Air Canada have confirmed the first flights.
In the case of United, a weekly flight is scheduled, starting on Saturday, September 5, while Air Canada will arrive on Sunday, October 6.
Coriport confirmed that other flights from Miami (American Airlines), Atlanta (Delta Airlines), and Houston (United Airlines) are still awaiting authorization.
AFP – Chilean teacher Yohana Agurto is the living expression that every crisis can become an opportunity. With no income from the pandemic, she decided to package honey to sell under the name “Miel Gibson” without thinking that the very Hollywood actor whose name she wanted to emulate would complicate her small business.
Warned by Mel Gibson’s representatives about the use of the rights to his image, the entrepreneur received thousands of messages of support on social networks and reached an agreement for the use of the name and multiplied honey sales to the point that after a happy ending, she plans to quit teaching today and dedicate herself to the business.
“It was difficult to get the money to pay for electricity and basics for my home,” Yohana explained to AFP about the reasons that led her to start this business that today has her full-time occupation.
Following emails from a Los Angeles attorney representing the real Gibson telling her to “cease and desist” capitalizing off of Gibson’s name and likeness.
Yohana Agurto in her home in Santiago, Chile, where she packs her honey with her team. Photo: Victor Ruiz Caballero for The New York Times
“I realized I was up against Goliath,” she said in an interview with the New York Times.
Agurto’s friends advised her to ignore the emails, arguing that no American lawyer would waste time shutting down a woman selling honey from her home in Chile’s capital during a pandemic.
“But others warned me that Americans are tremendously litigious,” Agurto said, which led her to delete the email account she had created for the business, hoping the whole thing would go away.
Happy ending
After the commotion, she reached an agreement with Gibson’s representatives: she will only have to change the image of her logo but he will be able to continue using the name “Miel Gibson”.
As he removes the old labels and shuffles various options for a new logo, the honey orders accumulate on her cell phone and social networks.
(QCOSTARICA) Cuba will begin next week clinical trials in humans of its vaccine project against COVID-19, the “Sovereign 01”, the results of which are scheduled for February 2021.
The Cuban Public Registry of Clinical Trials and the Center for State Control of Medicines, Equipment and Medical Devices, gave the green light to begin trials in 676 people between 19 and 80 years old.
The study is scheduled to conclude on January 11, and the results will be ready on February 1, 2021.
“Although there are vaccines from other countries, we need ours to have sovereignty,” President Miguel Díaz-Canel said in May.
On Saturday, Russian authorities reported progress in the production of their Sputnik V vaccine. They even expressed their intention to produce it with Cuba. But the socialist island did not officially pronounce on the offer.
The head of Cuban Epidemiology, Francisco Durán, said in this regard that he expected the country to have access to a vaccine only during the first quarter of 2021.
In Latin America, Argentina and Mexico recently announced an agreement to produce the one designed by AztraZeneca and the University of Oxford.
With 11.3 million inhabitants, Cuba has managed to contain the new coronavirus pandemic, reporting 3,408 confirmed cases, and 88 deaths.
A recent outbreak forced the authorities to reinforce prevention measures in Havana.
(QCOSTARICA) The Ministry of Health reported 766 new cases for Wednesday, August 19, for a total of 30,409 since the first case on March 6.
Of the 766, 182 by nexus (without requiring the diagnostic test), that is a person that lives in the same physical space of someone confirmed by the PCR test and shows symptoms.
The number of recovered continues to be a sore point for many, as the Health officials continue playing catch-up, admitting the spike in cases last month oversaturated the ability of health services to follow up completely.
On Wednesday there were 9,660 recovered, 198 more than the day before. But that number is expected to grow sharply in the coming days as the completed follow is expected, promised on Tuesday the interim Minister of Health, Pedro Gonzalez.
Another concern is the recent increase in COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalizations. On Wednesday, the total hospitalized dropped one from the day before, now 412 patients of which 126 are in intensive care, 16 more than the day before.
The number of deaths continues its upward climb to 321, with the seven added on Wednesday, three men and four women, ranging in age from 45 to 95.
Facing a possible sharp increase in hospitalizations in the coming weeks the Director of Health, Dr. Mario Ruiz, announced the creation of some 200 new hospital beds (and staff) that includes the three main hospitals in San Jose – Calderon Guardia, Mexico, and San Juan de Dios – the CEACO (the specialized COVID hospital), the Heredia hospital, the Psychiatric hospital in Pavas and 48 beds of the INS trauma hospital.
Dr. Ruiz added that the goal is to have at least 214 ICU beds and 643 regular beds for COVID patients, which could be stretched to 287 ICU and 1,158 regular beds using the resources of regional hospitals.
The improvements at the San Jose airport (SJO) are though a
(QCOSTARICA) The Minister of Tourism, Gustavo Seguro, announced this Wednesday afternoon that Costa Rica will allow, starting September 1, 2020, from the United States.
Residents of New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maine, and Vermont will be allowed to enter Costa Rica starting September 1 on flights from New York’s JKF and La Guardia and New Jersey’s Newark (EWR) airports
Residents from the states of New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Vermont, and Maine.
The authorization includes four flights per week from the Newark (EWR), La Guardia (LGA), and Kennedy (JFK) airports.
In addition, the Costa Rica Tourism Board (ICT) is studying allowing residents from Colorado, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.
The Minister was emphatic that only residents of the six mentioned states will be allowed to enter Costa Rica, the driver’s license being the document for proof of residency.
The requirements for entry from those states is maintained as it is for the previously authorized countries:
Valid passport.
Round-trip ticket or reservation to show an eventual departure from Costa Rica. Immigration may ask. Tourists have never been allowed on a one-way ticket.
A negative COVID-19 test taken no more than 48 hours before their flight to Costa Rica. The only acceptable test is the real-time polymerase chain reaction test, also called PCR-RT for COVID-19. Rapid test kit results, serological tests, or immunity tests will not be accepted as valid.
Provide insurance, either from an international source or purchased in Costa Rica from local insurers.
(QCOSTARICA) Tens of thousands of bank customers saw their credit cards cut by the banks in recent weeks. Some got emails, others got a call with the bad news: the bank informs you that it will close your credit card permanently and you will have to pay the accumulated debt.
Some 136,000 customers went from having a credit card with an outstanding balance, to a loan that must be paid off within a maximum period of five years, with interest.
The measure can’t be blamed on the coronavirus, it is attributed to the Ley de Promoción de la Competencia y Defensa del Consumidor (Law for the Promotion of Competition and Consumer Protection), better known as the “usury law”, in effect in June, which puts a limit on the interest rates charged by the card issuers.
According to Alberto Dent, president of the National Council for the Supervision of the Financial System (Conassif) estimates up to 160,000 credit card accounts have been closed.
However, the General Superintendency of Financial Entities (Sugef) and Conassif are working on a mapping of the closed card accounts to know how many were closed due to the pandemic and which due to the usury law.
The final result will be ready between the end of August and mid-September.
BAC Credomatic, Davivienda, Promerica, and Scotiabank are among the financial entities that have publicly communicated what measures they adopted with the definition of usury rates.
These four issuers accumulate a figure of 234,526 eliminated plastics, to about 136,000 customers (a customer can have several cards).
BAC alone closed 187,526 credit cards to a total of 79,789 customers. Davivienda, meanwhile, closed 7,000, belonging to the same number of customers. Promerica confirmed the elimination of 40,000 cards of approximately 30,000 customers.
For its part, Scotiabank announced in July that it would close cards to 20,000 customers, however, it did not detail how many cards.
It is not known why banks chose to close the cards rather than re-negotiate with their customers.
According to the BAC, it said it chose to close the accounts because “some customers were no longer profitable” due to the fall in interest rates and customer risk.
Among those who received the new were customers who used the plastic infrequently and risky customers, those with little connection with the bank (ie only having a credit card account and no other bank products or services) and bad payers.
New debt
The closure of the credit card account did not wipe out the customer’s debt to the bank, outstanding credit card balances were transformed into loans for a term of up to 60 months, at a lower interest rate governed and are governed by the same rules as any financing product in the event of delinquency.
The interest rate on these loans was adjusted to the maximum annual rates for loans and small credits under the new law of up to 37.50% for loans in Colones and 30.36% for US dollars.
The change isn’t without its problems. Customers who felt wronged by their bank filed a complaint with the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce (MEIC).
As of August 12, however, only 41 complaints had been filed for credit cards and 40 for other bank products.
The new law also has forced banks to re-evaluate their credit products, including some banks temporarily cutting lending, awaiting clear regulations of the rules that banks must follow and will allow them to analyze in more detail what other financing products they can offer.
Laura Moreno, vice president of Corporate Relations at BAC Credomatic, explained that the bank is in the process of creating new credit and microcredit products that allow it to continue operating in the segments to which the card was closed, within the framework of the law.
Arturo Giacomin, executive president of Davivienda Costa Rica expressed the same, “We are working on innovative proposals that in the near future we can reach these clients with an offer that allows us to serve them in a better way.”
In the meantime, customers, holders of the high-interest credit cards, who today are excluded from access to financing in the formal sector, will most likely have to turn to the informal sector as the “only option to obtain financing” explained Bernardo Alfaro, the head of Sugef, in early July.
(QCOSTARICA) A total of 19 districts of the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) had 111 of the 233 deaths from COVID-19 that occurred in the country from July 12 to August 12.
In other words, these districts accumulated 47.6% of all deaths registered during that period.
La Uruca, in San José, was the district that accumulated the most deaths with 16, followed by Hatillo (also from San José) with 11 and San Antonio de Escazú with eight.
Ulloa (Heredia), Pavas (San José), San Felipe (Alajuelita), San Sebastián (San José) and Concepción (Alajuelita) followed with seven deaths each.
Following are Hospital district (San José) with six, Heredia center and San Francisco (Heredia), San Rafael Abajo and Gravilias (both from Desamparados) each with four.
León XIII (Tibás), Merced (San José), Mata Redonda (San José), Escazú center (Escazu) and Damas (Desamparados) had each three reported deaths.
During this last month, the block of the above districts went from having 11 victims of COVID-19 to a total of 122, for a growth of 1,009%; the average daily increase in deaths was 8.24%, while in absolute numbers an average of 3.5 daily deaths was recorded, according to an analysis of the data by La Nacion.
On July 12, the district of that group that registered the most deaths was Hospital, in downtown San Jose, with 2. Nine of the districts had only one death and nine had none.
Eight more districts of the GAM, which are not part of this group, also had significant increases in deaths, during the last month.
They are Alajuela center with 6, Curridabat with 5, Cuidad Colón (Mora) with 4, San Vicente (Moravia) with 4, Dulce Nombre de Jesús (Coronado) with 4, Tres Ríos (La Unión) with 4, Ipis (Goicoechea) with 3 and San Juan (Tibás) with 3.
As of August 12, people had died from COVID-19 in 110 districts of the country.
Poverty factor
Experts in epidemiology and sociology consider that poverty is a determining factor in the increase in deaths from the coronavirus registered in these 19 districts.
“Usually organic factors are mentioned such as being elderly, obese, hypertensive, diabetic; but there is a risk factor for the disease and for death that is being left out, which is poverty”, indicated Juan José Romero, epidemiologist of the Universidad Nacional (UNA).
For Romero, overcrowding, the lack of water and basic supplies for hygiene and the conditions to isolate themselves complicate social distancing.
He argued that these factors also have an impact so that districts with higher population density and lower human development indicators are not only those with the highest rates of infection but also a large part of the deaths.
“There, in the second, third, and last week of July, in those 15 or 20 districts, about 65% of the cases were concentrated. So, it was to be expected that if there were the greatest number of cases, it was very likely that the greatest number of deaths would arise,” added Romero.
Jorge Barquero Barquero, sociologist and demographer of the Central American Population Center of the University of Costa Rica (UCR), pointed out that the vulnerability that leads to greater contagion and therefore to swell the list of deceased, in these areas, in particular, is to the impossibility of adequately complying with the main recommendations to avoid contagion: isolation and hygiene.
The specialist indicated that these districts are not only highly populated areas, but also have small houses, in poor condition, overcrowded and generally located one next to the other, which increases contact between people and, therefore, there is greater exposure.
“Many have water supply problems, or it is also probable that in some cases people cannot pay their (utility) bills because they are unemployed,” he said.
Barquero also added that in the aforementioned districts, for the most part, live people who work in the informal sector and are also users of public transport.
These citizens often travel by bus or taxi to downtown San José on their way to work. There, in the midst of congested bus stops and long waits, the possibilities of distancing are reduced and the risk that they will catch and take the virus home increases.
Both specialists also agree that these districts also concentrate a greater number of informal housing, such as the so-called cuarterías (flophouses), where it is impossible to speak of social bubbles when 50 or more people share bathrooms and kitchens.
Deaths don’t stop
Deaths in Costa Rica due to COVID-19 maintained a constant growth during the last month, going from 30 to 263 (an increase of 776%).
On average, deaths increased daily by 7.3%, while in absolute numbers the average in that period was 7.5 deaths per day.
The average age of the victims went from 65.3 years to 70.3 years and the age ranges widened.
On July 12, the youngest person to die due to COVID-19 was 26 years old. On August 12 a 23-year-old became the youngest victim; while on August 15, a 21-year-old woman died of COVID-19, followed by the death of another 21-year-old, a man, on August 17.
On the other hand, the age segment that is experiencing a greater increase in deaths is that of the elderly.
Deaths in this population rose from 15 to 175 in one month, for a growth of 1,066%. The oldest patient who has died from COVID-19 is a 100-year-old man on August 12.
Other aggravating factors
According to Romero and Barquero, the increase in deaths may also be due to the vulnerability of people’s health due to their socioeconomic condition.
In the first weeks of July, a common factor began to be noticed in the daily reports of the Ministry of Health: people who died shortly after being admitted or diagnosed.
Specialists believe that it may be patients who lacked insurance (did not contribute to the Caja – social security) and that when they finally went to the health services, they were in very critical condition
Not having insurance could have influenced them not to seek early medical care or even be aware of the risk factors present in their condition could have been a factor in the sharp rise in cases and tripled deaths in the two weeks between July 15 and 31.
“We went from having 20 patients in intensive care to having 100 in a matter of 22 days, and we went from two deaths to 10 per day.
“This was largely due to the explosion of cases in these areas, in these 15-18 districts and because, unfortunately, due to the conditions of vulnerability of people in extreme poverty, everything collided,” added the epidemiologist.
Last Wednesday, the Minister of Health, Daniel Salas, stressed that the country is still in a “privileged” position with one of the lowest fatality rates due to COVID-19.
However, he admitted that ground has been lost, especially in the last month, and called to ensure the protection of the elderly.
Cantons most hit
While at the top of this report the deaths were by districts, by cantons, there are eight in which there were 10 or more deaths from COVID-19 during the last month.
They are San José with 57, Desamparados with 23, Alajuelita with 17, Heredia, with 16, Alajuela woth 13, Escazú with 12, Tibás with 11, and Goicoechea with 10.
Together, these eight cantons of the GAM recorded 159 of the 233 deaths in the period, that is, 68% of the deaths, or seven out of 10.
During the last month, there were deaths in 40 cantons. As of August 12, there were deaths in 46 of the 82 cantons of the country.
(QCOSTARICA) In the midst of the pandemic, we try to keep our readers up-to-date on status of which airlines have flights to and from Costa Rica and which ones don’t?
This is the official information of the manager of the Juan Santamaría airport (SJO) as of August 18:
Aeroméxico: Suspended operations until further notice.
Air Canada: Resumes operations on September 12 to Toronto, Canada (YYZ). However, posts on social networks indicate this flight has been canceled; the official Air Canada website lists September 30 as the date with flights to San Jose.
Air France: Resumes operations on October 14 to/from Paris, France (CDG).
Air Panama: Suspended operations until further notice.
Air Transat: Suspended operation until further notice.
Alaska: Waiting for information from the airline.
Albatros Airlines: Suspends operations until further notice.
American Airlines: Repatriation flights to/from Dallas, Texas (DFW) on August 20 and 27.
Avianca: Resumes operations on September 1 to El Salvador (SAL), Guatemala (GUA), Panama (PTY), and Lima Peru (LIM) It resumes operations on October 1 to Bogotá, Colombia (BOG).
British Airways: Resumes operations on October 27.
Condor: Waiting for information from the airline.
Costa Rica Green Airways: Available for charter flights.
Copa Airlines: Repatriation flights scheduled for August 21, 28, and 29.
Delta Airlines: Resumes operations to/from Atlanta on September 18. Resumes operations to/from Los Angeles, California (LAX)on October 28.
Edelweiss: Resumes operations on October 15 towards Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH)
Iberia: Resumed operations on August 3 to Madrid, Spain (MAD).
Interjet: Waiting for information from the airline.
JetBlue: Waiting for information from the airline.
KLM: Suspended operations until further notice.
Latam: Waiting for information from the airline.
Lufthansa: Resumed operations on August 5 to Frankfurt, Germany (FRA).
Sansa: Available for charter flights.
Skyway: Waiting for information from the airline.
Southwest: Restart of operations in 2021.
Spirit: Repatriation flights scheduled to/from Fort Lauderdale, Florida (FLL) on August 28.
United: Scheduled repatriation flights to/from Houston, Texas (IAH) on Monday, Thursday, and Friday in August.
Volaris: Scheduled repatriation flights to/from Mexico City (MEX) on August 25 and 29.
WestJet: Suspended operations until further notice.
Wingo: Resumes operations on September 1 to Panama (PTY) and Bogotá (BOG)
If you have booked on a flight to Costa Rica, best is to check with the airline on the status of the flight. In Costa Rica, the local numbers are listed on the airline directory page here: sjoairport.com/directorio-de-aerolineas/
[HQ] Some of the people who visit the Irazú Volcano National Park leave their masks thrown away in the green areas and trails.
On their Facebook page, park managers posted photos of the masks collected after the weekend visits.
The managers ask the population to make use of the authorized waste receptacles and avoid exposing the park staff.
“The staff has to collect this type of waste, exposing themselves to a possible contagion since we do not know what state the mask is in and it must be removed from the site where it is for the health of other visitors as well,” they published.
The managers assure that the improper disposal of masks “is becoming recurrent”.
(QCOSTARICA) President Carlos Alvarado, this Tuesday singed the law that exempts, for another year, the Value Added Tax (VAT) for tourist services registered with the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT).
The VAT moratorium law for the tourism sector will come into force today, August 19, 2020, and aims to give a break to one of the sectors hardest hit by the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the reform, the collection of VAT for tourism would go into force on July 1, 2021, with a rate of 4%; a year later, in 2022, increasing to to 8%.
Finally, in July 2023, the sector will begin to pay the 13% Value Added Tax.
It should be noted that the deputies approved, the unanimous support of the 39 legislators present on the legislative floor, this bill without setting an alternative source of financing for the State.
The decision was made despite the fact that the Minister of Finance, Elian Villegas, and the Comptroller General, Marta Acosta, warned of the need to define compensation in the State’s tax revenues.
Driving in intensive rain can reduce visibility and loss of brakes.
(QCOSTARICA) For today, Wednesday, we can expect seasonal weather, with muggy morning and isolated showers in the afternoon with thunder and lightning, but on Thursday tropical wave 29 will generate changes.
Driving in intensive rain can reduce visibility and loss of braking action
The national weather service, the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (IMN), says we can expected heavy downpours and strong winds starting Thursday, the intensity depending on the temperature in the Atlantic and the flow of winds that it encounters; this wave can increase the speed of its associated winds and become a low pressure system.
The wave is expected to cross the country towards the Pacific (west), like 28 did, but if it turns into a low pressure system its course will change northbound for the Gulf of Mexico.
Whatever the scenario, there will be lots of rains in our territory, says the IMN.
The most recent tropical wave, number 28, caused weekend floods such as those of the Coronado River in Osa, which distorted the bases of the bridge over the Costanera Sur, closing vehicular passage over the bridge, about 15 kilometers northwest of Ciudad Cortés.
Australia has secured a deal with the drugmaker AstraZeneca to supply a potential Covid-19 vaccine to its entire population free of charge, the government announced Tuesday, becoming the latest country to lock in supplies of the drug should trials succeed.
B
ritish-based AstraZeneca is developing the vaccine in partnership with Oxford University, with advanced trials now underway with thousands of volunteers across multiple countries.
The barracks became a focus of COVID-19, given the overcrowded conditions. Since July they have provoked interventions from Health and other institutions. Photo Alonso Tenorio
(QCOSTARICA) This Tuesday, August 18, the acting Minister of Health, Pedro González, announced that 559 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total confirmed cases to 29,643 since the first case on March 6.
The cuarterías (rooming houses) became a focus of COVID-19, given the overcrowded conditions. Since July they have provoked interventions from Health and other institutions. Photo Alonso Tenorio
The Minister reported 413 people are in hospital, of which 110 are in intensive care units (ICU), with ages ranging from 1 to 97 years.
Ten more deaths linked to COVID-19 were reported: Six men and four women, between 69 and 95 years old. The total fatalities is now 314, ranging in age from 21 to 100 years.
A total of 9,462 people have recovered, but that number is lower than the reality, as Minister González explained there has been a lag in the follow up of recovered patients. The Minister said the exponential increase in the past month taxed the resources of Heatlh officials, who have been playing catch up and are expected to have an updated reported in the coming days.
“The transparency with which they have tried to provide the information in these conferences is information that is collected locally, a technical team consolidates and validates it. With the topic of recovered, in previous conferences it has been explained that there has been a delay because in areas there has been an explosion of cases.
“That exceeded the capacity of the health system. Both the Costa Rican Social Security Fund and the Ministry of Health made changes to close that gap,” said the Minister.
“It is relevant (the number of recovered), but it is not going to stop the infections, even so actions are being taken to close the gap, it is possible that in the coming days they will see an increase in those recovered, but it is due to that,” he said.
Those recovered are people confirmed positive but without symptoms 10 days after diagnosis.
The Ministry of Health on Tuesday issued a statement that Dr. Daniel Salas will be taking his vacation time to attend to a family matter, the recent hospitalization of his father and would return on August 24. Meanwhile, Deputy Minister Gonzalez will continue as acting Minister.
The April protests put many conversations on the table that are still pending. One of them is the longed-for idea of a “New Nicaragua”. A lot of things could be discussed within that topic, as there are varied interpretations of the idea, which also isn’t so new. We’ve had a couple of “New Nicaraguas”, or at least the intent.
However, the topic that I’m interested in addressing has to do with all those widely publicized conceptions about “the Nicaraguan”. As well as the idea of a homogeneous nation that has its genesis in mestizaje, or the mixing of the races.
What’s taught in the schools
I don’t pretend to hold an exhaustive discussion about what the idea of mestizaje signifies, but only to sketch out some areas worth thinking about. To begin, much of the narrative of our educational system considers the conquest and invasion of America a process of dialogue between two cultures. For example, there’s the “meeting of two worlds”. The oft-used euphemism that refers to the imposition of a language, a religion and a way of conceiving reality.
The conquest brought with it a “racial organization of work”. The whites and their legitimate descendants occupied the highest level of the pyramid in the colonial world. Contrary to what the textbooks and official history would have us believe, that form of domination didn’t end with independence. Instead it adapted to the new circumstances under the umbrella of what we know today as racism.
The new times require new ways of conserving power, and that’s where science played an important role. On this theme, Guatemalan Maria Elena Casaus has broadly documented the influence that the believers in the whitening of society exerted over certain Central American thinkers.
She mentions, for example, the influence of French author Ernest Renan (1823-1892) with his idea that “the inferior races are comprised of the African negroes, the Australian Aborigines and the American Indians (…) The superior races such as the white and the Aryan, in addition possess beauty and culture.”
From the 19th to the 20th centuries
There are many more ideas like these plaguing the nineteenth century and surviving well into the twentieth century, where racism re-clothed as pseudo-science came to function as State ideology. The most extreme case was in Guatemala, with the genocide of the Mayan peoples.
The era was marked by heated discussions on race, where the moderates considered that the “degeneracies” that were native to certain groups could be overcome through education and civic instruction. Nicaraguan Salvador Mendieta proposes something similar in his book, La enfermedad de Centroamerica [“The disease of Central America”], published in 1934.
Before continuing, there’s a fundamental clarification that mustn’t be lost from sight, races don’t exist. All humans belong to a single species, and there’s no genetic or scientific basis for believing that skin color presupposes any key differences. What does exist, however, is racism, which isn’t a scientific theory but an ideological construction of colonialism. It dictates the ways in which society should be organized in terms of skin color and culture.
Using these ideas, Peruvian sociologist Anibal Quijano goes on to develop the concept of the “coloniality of power”. He refers to the effects of colonial domination, where the idea of race was nurtured and has survived up until our times. It even came to have great influence on the conformation of the modern States.
Skin color and the pyramid of society
The racial hierarchies place the European white man at the top of the pyramid. Not only is this subject’s skin color “in his favor”. He also has a language, a religious dogma, a way of generating knowledge and productive relations that are superior to those of the non-white. The latter are seen as primitive beings, inferior and savage. It’s no coincidence that the Central American oligarchy who inherited colonial power never lost sight of the European genealogy from which they sprang.
The mestizo, then, comes to be seen as a “semi-civilized” subject, because he’s not a complete savage. It’s better to be half-white than not at all white – understanding “white” as something beyond skin color. It’s better to be an indigenous person that didn’t learn their original tongue, because it’s of no help in the world of the mestizos. Likewise, they can’t trace their genealogy back to any original people, or the good fortune of being born with a slightly lighter skin.
The mestizo, according to the myth “brings the best of both worlds”. Western rationality (their religion, language and form of government) and the folkloric customs attributed to the indigenous (their dances, their parties, and their food). Under this simplistic and conciliatory thesis about the conquest, ideas are spread about the construction of the Nicaraguan identity. This view is exemplified in Pablo Antonio Cuadra’s well-known work El Nicaragüense or spread by the National Tourist Service. The latter integrates this as best they can into their publicity about the land of lakes and volcanoes.
Nicaragua’s Mosquitia and trying to integrate the natives
From the time that the [Atlantic coast area] Mosquitia was reincorporated under the rule of Jose Santos Zelaya, the State’s role in continuing this project of whitening bequeathed to us by colonialism has been visible in a number of ways. Evidence includes the disrespect for the Caribbean coast’s autonomy statutes. Likewise, the predatory lust for the protected territories of the Miskitu or Mayangna indigenous peoples.
This combined with no willingness to preserve the languages of those who inhabit this geographic area we call Nicaragua. This same State has acted as the motor force for homogenizing those who are different. Or those who don’t want to participate in the dream of the mestizo nation.
Geographer Bernard Nietschmann, who is very familiar with the Caribbean Coast, comments how the Sandinista Front wanted to “rescue” the Miskitus in order to incorporate them into the revolution. In their eyes, the only way to make them into “Nicaraguan” peasants was for them to abandon their language, their culture and their history. This included their way of relating to the earth.
The inability of understanding the colonial legacy in America generated analyses like that of Orlando Nunez on the subject of the Nicaraguan rural peoples. The author saw these campesinos as a mix of “the conceptions of Chayanov and Lenin”. In addition, Nunez viewed their form of organization as putting a “set of brakes on production and productivity”.
Beyond a matter of racial quotas, reflecting from our perspective of the mestizo being can help us understand the ways in which power has been exercised and the oligarchies in our country have been formed – oligarchies that in many cases are still active. Recognizing the colonial legacy in our way of looking at the “other”, with their ways of life and organization, can open a genuine debate about how to stop thinking about a homogenous nation as a desirable aspiration, and think about plurality as an ineludible fact.
In a small tent, in an improvised encampment at Penas Blancas, on the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, are Cuban citizens Leidy Laura Cantillo and her husband, both 28. They’ve been there for nearly a week.
Conditions in the Cuban camp on the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua are precarious, the refugees denounce. Photo: Facebook/Miriela Oliva Respuestos
They left Cuba for Panama in mid-January, and now are trying to continue their journey north to the border with the United States.
The day they arrived, there were some 70 tents already there, with an average of two refugees in each. However, they stated that in the last 72 hours the number of people has increased greatly.
Some media sources report that there are now 200 Cubans in the encampment, hoping that the Nicaraguan authorities will allow them to pass through. They fear they could be thrown out of the camp at any moment.
“The situation is very complicated, because there are many children in the camp, and the sanitary conditions are very poor,” Cantillo told the digital news outlet 14ymedio on the phone, using the popular phone application WhatsApp. “My husband was sick with high fevers that we attribute to a possible Dengue infection because there are lots of mosquitos here and we are full of bites.”
In Santa Clara, Cuba, both young people lived and worked with a network of “mules” that import merchandise from a number of countries of the region in order to sell on the informal market.
“Mules” get their trips paid for and a moderate cash payment for allowing the real importer to use their baggage allotment when entering Cuba. From the beginning, that was only a job, so we could get together the money to leave Cuba. We’ve always dreamed about not having our children be born elsewhere.”
A visa to buy merchandise in Panama smoothed the way for the couple, who had no way of foreseeing that the pandemic was about to impose a brusque change to their plans. “We remained in Panama with no money, no friends and without the possibility of working. We decided to continue on the route, and try to beg for a humanitarian gesture, so that we’d be allowed to enter the United States, where we have relatives.”
Cantillo emphasizes that both she, with a degree in Economics, and her husband, a chemical engineer, wouldn’t be “a burden to anyone”. However, for the moment, the dreams they share are mired in “an encampment full of mud and filth.”
“We’re human beings, we don’t deserve to be like, like animals,” she laments. “The only thing we’re asking for is an opportunity to get ahead with our own effort. We don’t want a handout, but only that they let us into a country with opportunities and freedoms, something we don’t’ have in Cuba.”
Cantillo clarified that the majority of the Cubans in this improvised tent city arrived directly in Costa Rica to ask for political asylum. In 2019, that Central American country received more than 1,800 requests for political asylum from Cubans, who have become the third largest group of migrants seeking refuge in Costa Rica, after the Venezuelans and the Nicaraguans.
Under the name “Caravan for United Cubans”, the refugees have been backed by a Change.org petition, that at the moment has only attracted a little over 100 signatures.
Even though testing is not available for citizens inside Nicaragua, the government of Daniel Ortega is not allowing anyone, including Nicaraguans, to enter the country unless they have a negative test for COVID-19.
In addition, Costa Rica has imposed mandatory testing for anyone leaving Costa Rica for Nicaragua. The measure is in response to the situation where hundreds of Nicaraguans were stranded in between borders, their government not allowing them in for not complying to the COVID-19 testing.
[HQ] An inspection carried out by engineers from the National Highway Council (Conavi) confirmed what was feared: the bridge over the Coronado River, on the Costanera Sur, suffers damage to its foundations.
This structure, located at kilometer 179, at the height of Ciudad Cortés, gave in to the attacks of the heavy rains that occurred during the weekend and will remain closed for at least the next 3 weeks.
Conavi, together with the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT), confirmed that they will install a modular bridge to enable the temporary passage of heavy vehicles. However, the closure must be maintained for more weeks due to weather conditions.
The bridge has been closed since last August 15.
“At the same time, work will be done on reinforcing the foundations of the bridge and once these works are completed, a lane will be set up for the passage of light vehicles, while the staff continues with the work that will allow to definitively resolve the damage that presents the bridge ”, detailed a press release provided this Monday by the MOPT.
Mario Rodríguez, executive director of Conavi, assured that the structure “is compromised” and it is necessary to reinforce the work before providing temporary solutions.
Careful what you ask for. The Presidency reports more than a thousand suggestions by citizens in the management of the national emergency since it opened up a forum for input.
(QCOSTARICA) One in four Caja workers with a positive diagnosis for covid-19 works in Nursing.
At August 7, that Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) had confirmed 996 positive cases among all its personnel; 249 of them were nurses
Those 996 workers are part of the 8,293 staff of the CCSS who, up to August 4, had requested an incapacity leave for some cause linked to COVID-19, either because they had contact with positive cases or received a health order to stay in preventive isolation.
Of the 55,000 workers at the Caja, there are 5,800 nursing assistants and about 3,500 nurses. The impact with positive cases of COVID reaches 2.7% of those 9,300 professionals.
The records of the Health Statistics Area, of the Medical Management, also reveal that among this group of 996 positive people, 16% are doctors (157 cases), 15% are technicians or assistants (147 people) and a 14% work in administration (141 workers).
In addition, 12% work in cleaning and maintenance tasks (119 general services people) and 8% are dedicated to supporting patients as assistants (81 workers).
The remaining 10% is distributed among Pharmacy personnel, other health professionals and others.
According to the CCSS data, among those 996 officials, the contagion occurred mainly when they had contact with another infected worker (26% of the group), and 12% when caring for infected patients. There is a group of 558 workers whose contagion route remains under study (56% of the total).
One of the major institutional concerns is how much the pandemic can affect the personnel in charge of direct health care within the CCSS hospitals.
Just the previous week, two workers from the same center died: a general services official in charge of cleaning and a psychiatrist. Both worked at the San Juan de Dios Hospital.
So far, officially, only three deaths have been recorded The first was that of a specialist in Obstetrics and Gynecology, at the San Rafael de Alajuela Hospital, which in March became the epicenter or main disseminator of the SARS-CoV-2 emergency.
Not a week goes by without the CCSS reporting on important groups of professionals who are sent to isolation, which forces them to hire personnel within the job pool they have formed to support during this emergency.
The growth in the demand for critical care is what worries Health authorities the most. At the beginning of July, the number of COVID patients requiring intensive care was in the single digits. As of Monday, August 17, the number of patients in ICU reached 106 of the 397 COVID-19 patients hospitalized.
The concern is because each ICU patient requires not only a bed, but also the strict assistance of highly specialized personnel in the management of a critical service, and there are not enough doctors and nurses with that specialty.
Last week, the CCSS resorted to the reconversion of services to cope with the growth in demand for critical care.
Hospitals such as San Vicente de Paúl, in Heredia, which until now had not treated COVID-19 patients, received their first patients and opened exclusive rooms for COVID.
(QCOSTARICA) The administrator of the Daniel Oduber international airport in Liberia, Guanacaste (LIR), Coriport, expects the first commercial to arrive in September. This will be the first flight with tourists that the terminal will receive since the borders were closed on March 16, as a measure to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
César Jaramillo, general manager of Coriport, explained that, with the exclusion of flights from the United States, the airport has been sitting idle since the reopening of air borders on August 1.
The majority of flights arriving at the Liberia airport are from the U.S.; meanwhile, flights from Europe and Canada typically are seasonal, from October to May.
So far, the only scheduled arrivals to the Liberia airport in September are by Air Canada and Westjet, both from Toronto.
However, posts on social networks indicate that these flights have so far been canceled by the airlines, mainly due to the lack of passengers.
According to Westjet, the first light from Toronto (YYZ) to Liberia (LIR) is for October 10, 2020; Air Canada, on October 6, 2020.
U.S. airlines Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Southwest, and United Airlines also plan to fly to Liberia this year, according to information provided by Civil Aviation (Dirección General de Aviación Civil – DGAC).
However, they are still pending the approval of the Ministry of Health to allow commercial flights from the United States.
The list (August 13) of allowed countries:
Australia
Canada
Switzerland
Vatican State
Luxembourg
Ireland
Japan
New Zealand
Liechtenstein
Monaco
Belgium
Denmark
Spain
Netherlands
Norway
Sweden
Thailand
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
(QCOSTARICA) In a matter of two days, two 21-year-old patients have died from COVID-19, until now the youngest fatalities of the new coronavirus, according to reports from the Ministry of Health.
Among the ten deaths announce d this Monday, the young man suffered from a generalized infection, or severe sepsis, and pneumonia attributed to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, reported Pedro González Morera, Deputy Minister of Health.
It is unknown if he had any risk factors.
On Saturday, August 15, the youngest person up to that moment: a 21-year-old woman from Guanacaste, died at Hospital México and who, as risk conditions, suffered from severe spinal aplasia, a disease that causes the disappearance of cells responsible for the production of blood in the bone marrow.
The ten deaths reported this Monday are six men and four women, between 21 and 89 years old.
In total, as of March 17, 304 people have died from causes related to the new coronavirus: 113 women and 191 men, between 21 and 100 years old.
The number of patients in hospitals also registered an increase this Monday. There are currently 397 people hospitalized, 106 of them in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU); the latter are between zero and 97 years old.
The Ministry of Health reported 619 new cases for Monday, for a total of 29,084 confirmed cases.
The number of patients recovered is now 9,233; a total of 19,547 persons are still active.
The new coronavirus has been present in 188 nations since its appearance in Wuhan, China, last December.
According to the real-time compilation of the Johns Hopkins University (JHU), worldwide, there are 21,755,069 accumulated cases and 776,586 associated deaths.
Rico’s TICO BULL – It’s Monday, August 17, the last day of the holiday weekend. Yet despite being a holiday Monday, it is ‘business as usual’ when it comes to the driving restrictions and store openings.
After two days of store closings and weird vehicular restrictions, today we return to the normal of the ‘closed phase’ of August until Friday, August 21, and then from Saturday, August 23 to Sunday, August 30, back to the ‘August normal’.
It’s OK to feel overwhelmed, we are here to help.
The vehicular restrictions:
In orange alert areas, today, Monday, August 17, only vehicles ending with license plates 1 and 2 CAN circulate today; meanwhile, in yellow alert areas 1 & 2 CANNOT circulate.
This will continue all week: Tuesday 3 & 4 only CAN driver in orange, NOT in yellow; Wednesday 5 & 6 only CAN driver in orange, NOT in yellow; Thursday 7 & 8 only CAN driver in orange, NOT in yellow; Friday 9 & 0 only CAN driver in orange, NOT in yellow.
The daytime vehicular restrictions are from 5:00 am to 9:00 pm in both orange and yellow alert areas.
The total vehicular restrictions, save for the exempted, starts at 9:00 pm and continues to 5:00 am the next morning.
The above applies only to Friday, August 22. For Saturday, August 23 to the 30th, I will update and include any changes that might or might not occur between now and then.
What’s open today or not, this week?
Back to the “closed phase” of commercial activity starting today in orange alert areas only; yellow areas never had a closed phase.
Can open again are all retail stores, including malls, restaurants, beauty salons and barbershops (with appointments) and so on, all at 50% capacity and mandatory wear of a mask or face shield.
Now, today being a legal holiday, many businesses, including banks, are not open today.
For the complete and OFFICIAL list of what is what and whatnot, click here.
Here is the link to the interactive map by CNE for the official orange and yellow delineation.
(QCOSTARICA) Curfews, attacks on the press, arbitrary detentions and minimization of the pandemic are all part of the fight against the new coronavirus in Central America that is rapidly undermining the region’s shaky democratic stability.
The leaders of El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala are using the excuse of urgency to prevent the advance of COVID-19 to violate essential rights of citizens and lean towards the concentration of power.
The extreme case is Nicaragua, whose government took few measures to stop the contagion, in fact continues to promote mass gatherings and refuses to provide “real data” on the impact.
The sample of authoritarian practices in the midst of a health emergency deepens the weakening of democratic norms and institutional transparency in the Isthmus, which had been in sharp decline since the coup in Honduras in 2009.
“The pandemic does not cause democratic regression, rather what it does is give a new opportunity to the most authoritarian forces to try to impose themselves and aggravates this trend in countries where it was already evident,” explained Jorge Vargas Cullell, director of the Estado de la Nación (State of the Nation) program by La Nacion.
“It’s as if someone who came wanting to eat a cake, they put the cake in front of them,” he added.
In El Salvador, at the beginning of the health crisis, President Nayib Bukele issued a decree to detain citizens who violated the quarantine.
Hundreds of people were detained and held in centers under overcrowded and unsanitary conditions. One of the detainees died after not receiving adequate medical attention. Citizens were also arrested for not wearing a mask, an issue that was not contemplated in the presidential decree.
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele
“The president acts as if any policy were valid to stop COVID-19, including the adoption of measures that have led to hundreds of arbitrary arrests,” said José Miguel Vivanco, director for the Americas of the Human Rights Watch organization in April.
Likewise, the governor, who has been in power for just over a year, maintains an open war with the Supreme Court of Justice, since the supervisory body has overthrown at least 10 executive decrees related to the pandemic, including the extension of quarantine.
Bukele responded to the magistrates in this way: “I would have shot them all or something like that if I was really a dictator. You save 1,000 lives in exchange for five”.
Bukele aclara que no es un dictador:
“Los hubiera fusilado a todos o algo así si fuera de verdad un dictador, salvas mil vidas a cambio de cinco”.
Lo dice al respecto de los magistrados de la Sala Constitucional que han frenado sus atropellos al estado de derecho.
Bukele is also leading a discrediting campaign against the role of the media and his link with Congress has deteriorated. Analysts agree that since the Covid-19 crisis began, the ruler’s tone has been characterized by following a confrontational line.
“Bukele has a very authoritarian approach to politics and institutions. He is a very dangerous person and with an enormous degree of support. In this pandemic he has had a particularly confrontational attitude from the verbal point of view,” said Eduardo Ulibarri, former Costa Rican ambassador to the United Nations.
In the case of Honduras, President Juan Orlando Hernández decreed a curfew in March “at the national and absolute level”, with the military in the streets, to contain the advance of the coronavirus.
A student from the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) remains outside the institution after classes were suspended in Honduras due to the global coronavirus covid-19 pandemic, in Tegucigalpa
People could only circulate in order to buy food, medicine, go to health facilities and to authorized workplaces. The measure is still maintained, but with fewer restrictions.
“At the beginning, the Government did not give any space for dialogue to the main sectors of the opposition, only with businessmen, who later distanced themselves from the president. Juan Orlando Hernández received a lot of criticism for this and then the corruption scandals were added,” mentioned the Honduran sociologist and university professor, Eugenio Sosa.
The Hernández government also limited access to information by using the emergency law as an excuse to publish the pandemic data only on an official website, which prevented journalists from raising doubts or questions. The initiative was reversed due to pressure from communicators and citizens.
Hernández announced in June that he was infected with the new coronavirus. The president remained hospitalized for several days due to pneumonia caused by the disease.
Meanwhile, in Guatemala, President Alejandro Gianmmatei was denounced by social organizations after making a statement in which he transferred the responsibility of stopping the COVID-19 to the people. Likewise, in the midst of the state of emergency, attacks on the press and restrictions on access to information proliferated.
A funeral home in the Covid-19 area at the La Verbena Cemetery in Guatemala in Guatemala City
Upon leaving Congress, after presenting his economic plan, Gianmmatei sprayed disinfectant on a group of journalists, an act that frightened communicators and was classified as derogatory. In addition, days later he said: “I would like to put a curfew on the media, but it is not possible.”
The first contagion in Guatemala was registered on March 13 and since then the Executive ordered the closure of shopping centers, prohibited public transportation, restricted vehicle mobility, called for teleworking, and decreed a partial curfew.
Then there is Nicaragua, where the Ortega government’s strategy focused on minimizing the pandemic and rejecting taking measures to curb infections like the rest of the countries in the world.
A woman holds a sign that reads “Love in Times of Covid-19” during a government-sponsored march in Managua, Nicaragua
Contrary to what the health authorities recommend regarding social distancing, President Daniel Ortega focused on urging people to participate in massive acts, thus endangering the lives of citizens.
Likewise, doctors critical of the government were fired from public hospitals after questioning government actions against the spread of the virus. Additionally, health officials say they held overnight burials in cemeteries of victims of the pandemic, whose deaths were due to respiratory problems (pneumonia) since it is forbidden to mention that the real cause is due to COVID-19.
“Here the government made a campaign saying that the virus was not going to enter, that we were protected and that nothing was going to happen, that is, it gave arguments without scientific basis. With the pandemic, the country has presented a very serious problem of self-medication,” assured Nicaraguan epidemiologist Leonel Argüello.
“There are testimonies that say that the doctors were forced to change the diagnosis and not put the word ‘COVID’ at all. The doctors who were fired were because they refused to do this malpractice because they felt was immoral,” said Rafael Amador, also an epidemiologist from Nicaragua.
Beyond the economic and social
“The challenge now (in Central America) is not only to reactivate the economy and transform the social, but it is to maintain and deepen democracy … imagine,” said Alexánder Segovia, President of the Central American Research Institute for Development and Social Change (Incide).
According to Vargas Cullell, Panama and Costa Rica are the only countries in the region in which the context of the pandemic has not been used to take authoritarian measures. For this reason, he believes that this difference further undermines the divide between the Central American nations.
However, the limitations established by Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo in the management of the emergency have faced reproaches and have been described as severe.
“There are several lawsuits of unconstitutionality due to the way in which some measures were taken that imply restriction of freedoms in the metropolitan area,” said Leonor Calderón, a former Panamanian minister.
Panama is the country with the highest contagion rate on the Isthmus. According to Calderón, the interconnectivity that has always been taken as a strong point of the country, in this case, played a trick because the virus entered the territory “from eight different places.”
Blow to regional integration
The new coronavirus pandemic also dealt a strong blow to the integration process of the Central American countries and to the regional institutions that had already been in intensive care since before the health crisis.
“The room for coordination has been minimal, as well as room for the formulation of joint actions and the cooperation to solve problems,” argued Vargas Cullell.
On March 12, the leaders of Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican Republic met virtually and agreed to develop a Regional Contingency Plan aimed at joining forces in the fight against COVID-19.
President Nayib Bukele did not participate in the meeting.
So far no new meeting of the leaders of the Isthmus has taken place.
The lack of regional articulation is also evident in the absence of a leader who shows interest in fostering a political rapprochement between the heads of state.
“At present, there is no president who is there or who wants to make the issue of integration as a cause and who has the political muscle at least to pretend that he can have a chance of success,” Ulibarri stressed.
Analysts insist that the union of the countries could favor the coordination of relevant issues such as intraregional migration, which could skyrocket when land borders are reopened.
The commercial issue is the one that shows the greatest progress due to the interests it entails.
“Together, Central America can achieve many things, but individually it is not going to go very far. What this crisis has shown is that it is the most fragile, dependent, and vulnerable region in Latin America due to its dependence on the United States, inequality, and informal employment,” concluded Segovia.
COVID-19 in Central America (August 16, 2020)
Panama (pop. 4,323,139): 81,940 confirmed cases; 1,767 deaths
(QCOSTARICA) The 16-week freeze in the price of gasoline will conclude at the end of the month, with an increase in prices in early September.
On Friday, August 14, the RECOPE made a request to the Public Services Regulatory Authority (Aresep) for an increase in fuel prices, that have remained at the same high price since the end of April, with the difference going to finance the government’s aid to workers during the national emergency due to covid-19 (Law No. 9840).
The request made to the Aresep is for an increase of ¢29 colones per liter of super and ¢20 for regular. When the new prices go in effect, the cost at the pump will go from ¢572 to ¢601 for super and ¢552 to ¢572 for regular.
Diesel fuel will see an increase of ¢51 increase, prices going from ¢446 to ¢497.
The approval process takes 15 business days, after which the notice is to be published in the official newspaper La Gaceta. Therefore, we can expect the new prices the first week in September.
(QCOSTARICA) Costa Rica registered 63 deaths associated with the new coronavirus in the last week. This is the second week with the highest number of deaths since the first confirmed case of the coronavirus on March 6.
This August 16, the lowest number of deaths since July 22 was reported, the death of 2 men and 1 woman, between 54 and 79 years old, according to the Deputy Minister of Health, Pedro González.
So far, the week with the most deaths is August 3-8, with 73.
In total, the country reports 294 deaths due to COVID-19. They are 109 women and 185 men, with an age range of 21 to 100 years.
On Sunday, August 16, 728 new cases of Covid-19 were reported – 38 due to nexus (that is, that the person presented symptoms during their coexistence with a carrier) and 690 due testing.
The accumulated rose to 28,465 confirmed cases with an age range of 0 to 100 years. A total of 9,062 people have recovered.
Also, the Ministry of Health reported 380 people hospitalized, 102 of them in intensive care (ICU’s). The latter with an age range of 0 to 97 years.
(QCOSTARICA) The Nicaraguan government announced that it is in negotiations with Russia to produce in its territory the vaccine against COVID-19 that the Russians developed and christened “Sputnik V”.
According to the Nicaragua embassy in San José, the neighboring country intends to be the distributor of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V in the region
Through a press release issued by the Nicaraguan embassy in San José, the Ortega government said that a team from its government is in negotiations for the production of this vaccine, for the eventual production takin place at the Mechnikov plant, in Managua.
Nicaragua’s Vice President and First Lady, Rosario Murillo, said that Nicaragua would produce the vaccine with the intention of being the distributor country for the region.
“In our Nicaragua of peace and good, we will be able to manufacture these vaccines, as has been said by the director of the Méchnikov in our country, in addition to consuming locally and protecting Nicaraguan families, we will also be able to export, at least to Mesoamerica. and to the Central American region,” said Murillo.
The press release by Managua, dated August 13, 2020, says a team of state officials met in a teleconference with the director of the Institute of Vaccines and Serums Petersburg, Victor Trujin, and with the manager of the Latin American Institute of Biotechnology Mechnikov, based in Managua, Stanislav Uiba, to coordinate the role of Nicaragua in Russian vaccines.
The Nicaraguan officials included the Minister of Health, Dr. Martha Reyes, the president of the INSS (social security), Dr. Roberto Lopez and Laureano Ortega (son of Rosario Murillo and Daniel Ortega), who is the Presidential Advisor for International Cooperation.
Laureano Ortega, son of Rosario Murillo and Daniel Ortega and Presidential Advisor for International Cooperation, at the head of the table, with the Ministry of Health to his right and the rest of the team negotiating with the Russians on the vaccine. Photo El19digital.com
The statement said that at the meeting, the parties exchanged “on the actions that will be carried out in the coming months with a view to future production in Nicaragua, of the vaccine against COVID-19, which has been developed and registered by the Government of the Russian Federation, for local and international distribution”.
The Mechnikov plant, in Managua. Photo: from El 19 Digital
The statements of the Ortega government have been questioned by opponents. In statements to La Prensa, Dr. Ernesto Medina Sandino, a member of the Nicaraguan Academy of Sciences, assured that there is not a single proof that Nicaragua has produced a vaccine at the Mechnikov plant and said that the announcement is a political strategy of the regime.
Not be a “guinea pig”. Dr. Medina described Murillo’s promise as “pure propaganda. (The Government) is interested in selling us that they are doing wonders in science,” he stressed that calling Mechnikov an institute “is something very pretentious”, since “it is a very modest pharmaceutical factory because it only has one production line, which is injectables.”
“The photos that they (the Government) have given, what they show is a plant for packaging injectables, in the five-milliliter stained glass that vaccines normally come in. Which is very common in the vaccine industry.
“The vaccine against COVID-19 will never be able to be produced by Nicaragua because it is a very complicated vaccine. It is pure propaganda, the government is interested in selling us that they are doing wonders in science,” said Medina, who explained that production involves cultivating the virus, manipulating it genetically and that none of this could be done in Nicaragua.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Tuesday that his country developed the “first” vaccine against the coronavirus, which provides “long-lasting immunity.”
In the weeks prior to this announcement, foreign scientists expressed their concern about the speed of the creation of a vaccine of this type, and the World Health Organization (WHO) called for the respect of “clear guidelines and directives” regarding the development of this product.
So far the official totals admitted to by the Ortega government are 4,155 positive cases of COVID-19 and 128 deaths in Nicaragua.
However, the medical and scientific unions such as the Observatorio Ciudadano say the numbers of infected and deaths are vastly higher than the official numbers and have insisted that the authorities provide “real data” on the impact.
Arrivals a the San Jose airport, the Juan Santamaria (SJO)
(QCOSTARICA) The flexibility of the requirements relevant to foreign nationals wishing to enter Costa Rica was published Friday, August 14, 2020, in the official government newsletter La Gaceta.
The arrivals hall at the San Jose airport (SJO)
Executive Decree 42527-MGP-S eliminates a restriction of entry by air to Costa Rica, for foreign nationals related to Costa Rican nationals, Costa Rican nationals, temporary residents, permanent residents, and people with special categories or estancias as long as they comply with the outlined requirements.
This includes residents who left the country voluntarily after March 25, 2020.
Foreigners related to Costa Ricans
Parents of minor Costa Rican children, minor children of Costa Ricans or children of legal age with disabilities, spouses of Costa Ricans, minor siblings of Costa Ricans (or siblings of legal age with disabilities) that wish to enter the country as tourists may do so as long as they carry the corresponding birth or marriage certificates. The certificates can be purchased online here.
In addition, people entering the country based on this family relation may enter from any country through air borders (airports) and must present the following documentation:
Passport
Round-trip ticket or reservation showing an eventual departure from Costa Rica.
Travel insurance covering medical expenses and accommodations, either through an international carrier or from local, such as the INS.
Foreigners related to Costa Ricans will be required to complete a 14-day quarantine. However, the quarantine is waived if you are coming in from one of the authorized countries, with proof of stay for the past 14 days and carry a negative COVID-19 test taken no more than 48 hours before their flight to Costa Rica.
Permanent Residents, Temporary Residents, People with Special Categories or Estancias
Permanent Residents, Temporary Residents, People with Special Categories or Estancias may enter the country via air regardless of where they are coming from and must present the following documentation:
Passport
Valid DIMEX (immigration status card).
Caja (social security) payments are up to date. This applies to every person trying to enter, including Resident spouses and children. Click here to check your Caja status.
Permanent Residents, Temporary residents, people with Special Categories or Estancias will need to complete a 14-day quarantine. However, the quarantine is waived if you are coming in from one of the authorized countries, with proof of stay for the past 14 days and carry a negative COVID-19 test taken no more than 48 hours before their flight to Costa Rica.
Tourists
Tourists may enter the country as long as they comply with the following:
Valid passport.
Round-trip ticket or reservation to show an eventual departure from Costa Rica. Immigration may ask. Tourists have never been allowed on a one-way ticket.
Arriving from one of the authorized countries. Originally they were Canada, the European Union (Schengen countries), and the United Kingdom. On August 13, the list was expanded. See our report here.
Proof of stay for the past 14 days in one of the authorized countries.
A negative COVID-19 test taken no more than 48 hours before their flight to Costa Rica. The only acceptable test is the real-time polymerase chain reaction test, also called PCR-RT for COVID-19. Rapid test kit results, serological tests, or immunity tests will not be accepted as valid.
Travel insurance that covers hospitalization and accommodation in quarantine is required due to COVID-19.
Tourists will not be required to complete the 14-day quarantine period.
Costa Ricans
Costa Ricans my enter the country via air regardless of where they are coming from and will need to complete the Health Pass and will be subject to a 14-day mandatory self-isolation.
Costa Ricans, though not required, with a negative COVID-19 test taken no more than 48 hours before their flight to Costa Rica and proof of their stay in the country traveling from for the past 14 days will not be required to quarantine.
Important to note
The government has yet to consider special considerations for ex-pats who not legal residents but own a home or business in Costa Rica.
The above noted are guidelines for admission into Costa Rica. It should be clear that Article 13 of the Ley General de Migración y Extranjería, la Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería (General Law on Migration and Foreigners, the General Directorate for Migration and Foreigners) establishes as one of the functions of the immigration service is to prevent the entry of foreigners when there is an impediment or they fail to comply with the requirements established by the legal system.
Entry from certain countries, such as the US, is still not authorized and is only speculation if and when it will be included in the list of authorized countries. However, U.S. citizens and others can enter Costa Rica after spending at least 14 days prior to arrival in Costa Rica in one of the currently authorized countries.
The entry of foreigners (tourists) and legal residents who left after March 24, 2020, is still prohibited at land, sea, and river borders. The ban is in effect until August 31, 2020, unless extended.
Authorized Countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Uruguay, Vatican State.
