(QCOSTARICA) This Wednesday the number of cases doubled that of Tuesday, with the Minister of Health report of 550 new infections in Costa Rica.
The figures that are most worrying, however, are hospitalizations that is now at 285 people, 13 more in the last 24 hours, 50 of those in intensive care.
Román Macaya, executive president of the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) confirmed that there are now 10 patients in the INS Trauma Hospital, the medical center of the national insurer, that made 48 beds available for COVID-19 patients.
For this Wednesday, three more deaths were recorded, the number now reaches 71. The last fatalities associated with the disease were a 45-year-old woman and two men, 64 and 84.
A 45-year-old Costa Rican woman from San José. She was admitted to the San Juan de Dios Hospital, being diagnosed on July 15. She was overweight and had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
84-year-old man, Costa Rican, resident of Alajuela. He was admitted to CEACO, being diagnosed on July 15. In addition to age as a risk factor, he was an ex-smoker.
64-year-old man, Costa Rican, resident of Heredia. He was admitted to CEACO, being diagnosed on July 9. He suffered from high blood pressure.
The cumulative cases is now 12, 361, of which 8,968 are active,
(QCOSTARICA) Health Minister, Daniel Salas, responded that “tomorrow” he will address the details on the opening of the airports to international tourists when asked at the noon press conference this Wednesday.
In the last week, Salas has maintained that the San Jose ad Liberia airports would reopen on August 1.
On Tuesday, the San Jose airport manager, Aeris, said that the airport is ready to receive tourists from the United States, Canada and Europe; however, the final decision on reopening, who is and is permitted entry, from when and when, and protocols are up the Ministry of Health.
Last week, Costa Rica’s civil aviation said that 10 airlines, including U.S. and European airlines, had already submitted their request to resume full operations, most of them with flights starting in the first week of August
The U.S. is Costa Rica’s major tourist market.
This report is in development and will be updated as new information is available.
(QCOSTARICA) The first COVID-19 vaccines could be ready by early next year, a record speed for science. However, their access will not be the same for everyone.
This was explained by Klaus Stohr, one of the most reputed virologists on the planet. He is an expert in SARS disease. In 2003, he played a key role in a World Health Organization (WHO) investigation that swiftly identified a coronavirus as the cause of SARS.
Stohr, who left the WHO to join drugmaker Novartis AG in 2007 and retired a couple of years ago, paints a sobering picture in an interview with Bloomberg.
“Countries like Germany may have a significant amount of vaccine early next year and implementation that can take four, five, six months for the elderly. But the strategy may be different for countries like Brazil, Argentina or Chile that may never receive a single dose of a vaccine,” said Stohr.
“The world will be divided into two groups: those with a vaccine and those without a vaccine.
“We’re in a big, big quandary. We have to throw all the resources we can afford toward the development of a vaccine. On the other hand, I believe common sense tells us vaccines will not be available for the majority of the world.
“There may be, by the end of this year or beginning of next year, a half a billion doses available. The world population is 7.5 billion. Particularly in those countries which have insufficient infrastructure and struggle with their health-care systems and have huge populations, what vaccine are they going to have?
“The majority of the world population will not receive a vaccine. The virus will continue to spread, and it could be two to three years before the virus has affected a large majority of the population,” he added.
Klaus Stohr
The UK, for example, has already pre-purchased 100 million doses of the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca. It also secured 30 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 60 million doses of the Valneva vaccine, all in development. The country’s population is 66 million people.
To mitigate the impact of this inequality, the WHO launched a platform called ACT (Accelerator for Access to Tools against COVID-19), following a diplomatic initiative by Costa Rica.
However, the main vaccines in development are not part of the initiative.
WHO currently registers more than 140 vaccines in development, 23 of which are under clinical evaluation. The only ones in phase 3 of development (final stage) are those of Sinovac (China), the University of Oxford together with AstraZeneca (United Kingdom / Sweden) and Moderna (USA).
Both Sinovac and AstraZeneca will carry out phase clinical trials in Brazil to test the vaccine in the Latin American population. The companies are also carrying out tests in countries in other regions such as South Africa (AstraZeneca) and Bangladesh (Sinovac).
“It may be clear that only those who will have vaccine production on their soil will have access to vaccines during the pandemic. I hope it’s not going to turn out this way, but I fear it will. That hopefully will result in more investment into pandemic preparedness and vaccine preparedness in the coming years, so that the next pandemic will be addressed better than this one,” Stohr closed the Bloomberg interview.
[HQ] Shoe prints and several scratches incriminate a 38-year-old man in the murder of María Luisa Cedeño Quesada in Quepos over the weekend. The body was discovered Monday afternoon when hotel staff went to check why she hadn’t checked out.
The body of the woman was found wrapped in a blanket inside room 21 of the La Mansion Inn hotel, in Manuel Antonio de Quepos, Puntarenas.
It transpired that the woman was half-naked; however, this information was not confirmed by the authorities. What they did affirm is that the victim’s nails were broken, which suggests that there was a confrontation with her alleged attacker, a man identified Herrera Martínez, who at the time of his arrest had several scratches.
This Nicaraguan national had lived in room number 3 of the vacation rental for about a year, and according to the OIJ, he was arrested hours after the body was found, since the version of witnesses and various evidence link him to the case.
In addition to the victim and the detainee, there were two other women in the hotel, as well as the guard and the owner of the hotel,.
Donaldo Bermúdez Rodríguez, head of the OIJ of Quepos and Parrita, stated that, apparently, Herrera helped the owner of the site in some tasks; however, he did not specify which ones.
At the moment, the motive for the crime is not clear, but due to the dynamics of the events, it is not ruled out that it is a crime of a sexual nature.
A man was arrested on suspicion of killing a woman inside a hotel in Manuel Antonio de Quepos, Puntarenas. Photo: OIJ
Luisa Cedeño Quesada in Quepos, 43, is originally from San Carlos de Alajuela, but lived and worked in San Jose, as head of the Cima Hospital Anesthesiology and Recovery Service, according to a publication made by the same medical center on social media.
Cedeño arrived at the La Mansion Inn hotel on Saturday and, according to the OIJ, intended to leave on Monday morning.
The last time she was seen alive was on Sunday at about 9 pm, when he came out for a bottle of wine.
Tuesday night, the hotel’s owner, Harry Bodaan, released a press release: “Our condolences to all the family and relatives of our guest in this difficult situation they are facing. No woman should suffer from violence and this is one of those situations that one wishes never to happen in our town, or in our country, or in the world.
“About the incident that occurred in our hotel at the moment, we can only communicate that it does not involve any of the partners of La Mansión Inn.”
(QCOSTARICA) Up to 250 Nicaraguans are currently stranded in Peñas Blancas, Guanacaste, at the Nicaragua border after the Nicaragua government imposed a new requirement to allow them to enter their territory: verify that they do not carry the new coronavirus.
Costa Rica’s Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería (DGME) – immigration service – confirmed the situation, indicating the Nicaraguans accumulated at that border post during the last 24 hours.
It explained that the foreigners came alone to the border to try to pass to their native country.
In accordance with current legislation, the Nicaraguans have checked (completed immigration controls) out of Costa Rica and as usual, headed for their country.
However, on the Nicaragua side of the border, authorities now require them to have a negative test result for COVID-19. At the moment it is unknown if there are negotiations between both governments, to facilitate their transit.
The Nicaraguans who have already checked out of Costa Rica now wait for authorities let them into their native country; they cannot return to Costa Rica
They cannot return to Costa Rica, stuck between borders.
According to a report on Twitter by Portavoz Cuiadadano, the number of Nicaraguans is 250, many from Panama.
Urgente. Autoridades de migracion del regimen niegan ingreso a más de 250 #nicaraguenses procedentes de Panamá, estando en Peñas Blancas en territorio nacional. Tampoco pueden retornar a Costa Rica pic.twitter.com/VW3JM7DgrP
— Portavoz Ciudadano (@Portavozciunic) July 21, 2020
However, Costa Rica’s immigration said that this group of foreigners has nothing to do with the encapsulated transfers that, in alliance with Panama and Nicaragua, that have been carried out since the beginning of July, with the aim of having Nicaraguans stranded in Panama return, safely, to their country.
“The process agreed between the migratory authorities of Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua for the transit of Nicaraguan from Panama, which is carried out in an encapsulated manner from the southern border, is maintained normally, this being a situation independent of that presented by the Nicaraguans who remain in Peñas Blancas awaiting authorization for entry,” said the DGME.
The Nicaraguans in Panama are mobilized on buses, which they pay for themselves, under strict controls to ensure that they do not enter Costa Rica with symptoms and escorted from border to border.
(QCOSTARICA) The first two batches of a potential drug to treat COVID-19 produced by the Clodomiro Picado Institute of the University of Costa Rica (ICP-UCR) are ready for quality control tests.
The treatment was obtained through the inoculation of proteins against the virus in horses, from which a product known as equine immunoglobulins (antibodies) was obtained.
The batches consist of a total of 1,000 injection bottles and contain antibodies against two different combinations of proteins from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
If this drug were to prove safe and effective, it would be used as a serum in people who are hospitalized with COVID-19. This is one of the three options in which the ICP-UCR works together with the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS). The other two are using plasma from recovered patients, and purifying this plasma and creating specific sera with the antibodies found in the plasma.
At the moment, the data on the equine immunoglobulins already register good results.
“The previous data we have indicate that the formulations comply with the design that we had established,” said Guillermo León Montero, coordinator of the Industrial Division of ICP-UCR.
At this time, the formulations are undergoing quality control tests. One of them is the so-called sterility test, which aims to ensure that this serum is safe for patients.
After this step, it can be sent to the CCSS for use in patients with COVID-19.
The studies are being carried out by the Pharmaceutical Analysis and Advisory Laboratory of the Faculty of Pharmacy of the UCR (Layafa-UCR).
“This quality test seeks to demonstrate the safety of the product in terms of verifying the absence of aerobic bacteria, fungi, and yeasts.
“The test is very important because, if a product with some contamination is applied to the patient, it can produce sepsis and endanger their life,” said Jeimy Blanco Barrantes, coordinator of the Laboratory.
Quality control is not the only exam that this product must pass.
In the United States, the George Mason University is analyzing whether the formulations proposed by Costa Rican scientists inhibit the infectious power of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in culture cells.
If the test is passed, the ICP-UCR will send the formulations to the CCSS, which will carry out a clinical study to conclusively determine if the formulations made are effective and safe for the treatment of patients with COVID-19.
“The formulations have high concentrations of antibodies against viral proteins. In fact, they have significantly higher concentrations than the plasma of convalescent patients. However, only the clinical study will tell if the formulations are effective, “emphasized León.
(QCOSTARICA) The relaxation of the distancing measures motivated the increase in cases of COVID-19 in Costa Rica, said the Ciro Ugarte, head of the Department of Health Emergencies of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), this Tuesday.
Avemida 4 in downtown San Jose
“Costa Rica implemented epidemiological tracking early and adequately during the pandemic. It has been following the contacts. The presence of the cases in border cantons, peri-urban settlements… is well focused, but there is not enough information in other locations and that caused the number of cases to increase,” said Ugarte during a press conference with media in the region.
“We are seeing a second rapid increase in cases in areas with the relaxation of physical distancing. Also due to the perception of few cases, they felt they had a greater opportunity to relax the measures,” he added.
Costa Rica went from registering dozens of daily cases of the disease in the months of March, April and May to reporting between 400 and 500 in the second half of June and a single day of 649 cases on July 9.
The number of hospitalizations, patients requiring intensive care, and deaths also rose, more than doubling in the past two weeks.
The main focuses are now in the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM), which remains on orange alert, which implies trade restrictions, mainly.
Ugarte expressed concern about the loss of the trail of the epidemiological links, but considers that there is still time to work on the situation.
On this matter, Health Minister, Daniel Salas, indicated at a press conference on Monday that with the strict measures of these days they had managed to recover 64% of the links in cases.
“We need to continue the essential strict measures of detection and immediate isolation of confirmed and suspected cases. Quarantine of all contacts, treatment and hospitalization of all cases that are required, and the massive and strict implementation of all public health measures, including face masks, hand washing and being aware of the importance of physical distancing,” said Ugarte.
“If we do not do this, we will surely see situations that we have seen in other countries, not only in the region but throughout the world,” he added.
Carissa Etienne, director of PAHO, pointed out that countries should take into account that the flexibility and openness of the economy must go hand in hand with epidemiological information.
“Decisions must be made according to the behavior of the disease, for that good epidemiological data are required,” concluded Etienne.
The departures hall of the Jusan Santamaria (San Jose) airport
(QCOSTARICA) The Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO), in San Jose, says it already has the sanitary measures in place to receive, starting from August 1, the day the country would reopen borders after four and a half months of closure, to tourists from the United States, Canada, and Europe.
The departures hall of the Juan Santamaria (San Jose) airport
This was confirmed on Tuesday by the director of Civil Aviation, Álvaro Vargas.
What remains to be defined is from which cities.
Vargas ratified that the government maintains for Saturday, August 1 the reopening of flights at both the Santamaría and Daniel Oduber International Airport (LIR), in Liberia, Guanacaste, which are closed to commercial flights from March 18 to prevent the spread of the pandemic.
Aeris Holding, the SJO terminal’s management company, released a video on Tuesday informing about the sanitary protocols to which passengers must submit to enter or leave the country.
The regulations were reviewed at a meeting between the Directorate General of Aviation (DGAC) and Aeris with officials from the Ministries of Health, Transport, and Tourism.
That protocol to avoid contagions and handle cases of COVID-19 in Costa Rica’s main airport has yet to be approved. Some of the measures are already agreed to, others remain under review.
From the point of view of the terminal, visitors upon entering Costa Rica will have to go through a sanitizer carpet. The foam will be applied to the surface at least every three hours.
The airport, in addition, already has signage to maintain distance between people and hygiene guidelines to avoid contagions in both Spanish and English.
In addition, at different points where passengers transit when they get off the planes, there will be at least five cameras that will take the temperature of the visitors on their way to the immigration area, Vargas explained.
If these cameras detect body temperatures above 38 C (100 F) in people, these passengers will go through a health assessment process in rooms with medical equipment.
If necessary, that person will even be transferred to a hospital.
Aside from the mandatory use of masks or face shields, all passengers on flights leaving or entering the country will have to keep their distance from each other before approaching airline attendants or security and immigration controls.
Each officer in charge of verifying passports, tickets and other data will also have to provide gel alcohol to the travelers that they attend and stations have been set up to provide gel alcohol.
In addition, all passenger service personnel will be protected by an acrylic window.
Similarly, there will also be a general reinforcement of cleaning in the terminal, as well as in common areas.
For example, in the security control area, before entering the boarding rooms, passengers will continue to use trays to place personal items prior to the x-ray review.
The cleaning and disinfection of those instruments that touch passengers and terminal personnel will be reinforced.
“A cost survey was made and we were around US$1 million dollars in measures and planned expenses. There is also a cost issue because more cleaning staff will be hired who will be attending to this type of forecast and additionally, there will be more prominent health personnel in the terminal to attend the heat cameras to take temperature and care for patients if necessary, ” explained the director of Civil Aviation.
In the terminal’s duty-free stores, Vargas confirmed that surface disinfection will be expanded and acrylic barriers have also been installed at the payment points to separate customers from those who will serve them.
Vargas clarified that all protocols regarding the arrival of tourists still remain unapproved 100%, as measures such as, for example, the possible obligation for visitors to have medical insurance before coming to Costa Rica or the initial number of flights allowed, remain to be agreed upon, to avoid crowds in the terminal.
(QCOSTARICA) President Carlos Alvarado was greeted Tuesday morning by a group of local merchants who had gathered outside his home in Santa Ana, the government’s action to keep their businesses closed.
Presidential dialogue. An informal chat between the leaders of the protesters and President Carlos Alvarado outside his home in Santa Ana Tuesday morning
The small group, with various banners and masks or face shields, came to ask the president to allow businesses to open to revive the economy.
They brought a document in which they agree to comply with a strict protocol to avoid COVID-19 infections and request that the amount they pay for permits or other payments they must make be temporarily reduced.
President Carlos Alvarado takes the time to talk to the leaders of the protesters gathered outside his home Tuesday morning
They argued that in recent months they have had to fire workers and, furthermore, they have not been able to pay off various debts due to the closing of the businesses.
“All the merchants in Santa Ana are gathered here (outside Alvarado’s house) for the same cause, which is the opening of shops and the support of the government (…).
“We do not see the light, every day there are more closings, more accumulated charges, more layoffs, we ask for help and if we have to invest in stricter protocols we do it,” explained one of the businesswomen who attended the demonstration.
Outside the president’s house in Santa Ana
Carlos Alvarado, before heading to Casa Presidencial in Zapote, did speak for several minutes with the group’s representatives. In addition, he also accepted the documents they had for him.
Outside the president’s house in Santa Ana
The movement was peaceful and those present kept their social distance. They also used safety face coverings and carried alcohol gel.
Currently, in the cantons that remain on an orange alert, which includes Santa Ana, only businesses deemed essential services and home delivery, that is, without people entering the shops, can operate.
This measure has been applied since July 18 in several cantons of the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) and will be in force, at least, until the end of the month.
In San Ramon
This Monday there were also demonstrations in Upala and Pococí, by citizens asking for the reopening of their businesses. In addition, representatives of gyms, barbershops and beauty salons made a peaceful protest in front of the Casa Presidencial, carrying the same message.
(QCOSTARICA) Costa Rica registered this Tuesday 277 new cases of COVID-19, a figure significantly lower than those reported in recent days that have fluctuated between 400 and 600. The accumulated number of infections is now 11,811.
Currently, there are 272 people in hospitals due to the coronavirus, 49 of them in Intensive Care Units (ICU).
Two deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours, to reach 68 deaths associated with the disease.
Faced with this situation, the Minister of the Presidency, Marcelo Prieto, called on citizens to confront the threat of the pandemic with “seriousness, responsibility, attention and care.”
The Minister, who had never been before in the noon press conferences on COVID-19, tried to carry a message of calm at a time when demonstrations are taking place in various communities, that demand the opening of establishments and productive activities in the face of overwhelming losses they suffer.
“On July 13, we had outside (of Casa Presidencial) a small demonstration of people who denied that the pandemic existed or that it was a threat.
“They were asking for activities to be opened and social life to be regularized for what they considered a false alert. Today, one week and one day later, the number of deaths has doubled,” he said.
He recognized that the sanitary measures applied have “a direct effect and have caused economic, social, productive, and labor problems.” However, he stated that the government has tried to respond to the demands of those affected.
“The line of action has been to protect the life and health of Costa Ricans, without neglecting the economic situation. Keeping that balance, we will attend to the different sectors and the orderly opening of the various activities,” he added.
Protests continue
On Monday, representatives of gyms and hairdressers arrived at the Casa Presidencial, in Zapote, to make known their request that the activity be permitted.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Santa Ana merchants protested outside the residence of President Carlos Alvarado, to deliver similar requests.
“We do not see the light, every day there are more closings, more accumulated charges, more layoffs, we ask for help and if we have to invest in stricter protocols we will do it,” explained one of the businesswomen participating in the demonstration in front of the president’s house.
There were also protests in San Ramón and Los Chiles.
[HQ] If you are in an orange alert zone, anywhere from San Ramon to Paraiso de Cartago, the total vehicular restrictions kicks in at 5 pm and time to get the carrito off the road.
The situation Monday after 5:00 pm
The restrictions of 5 am to 5 pm, from Monday to Sunday, apply until July 31.
As a reminder, the following chart details the vehicular restrictions countrywide.
Don’t be one of the hundreds daily that continue to drive on the wrong day or between 5 am to 5 pm. The fine is ¢110,000 colones, six points on your driver’s license (means driver ed on renewal) and possible confiscation of plates and or vehicle.
It was a madhouse at the San Jose airpot arrivals on Friday afternoon. Much more than normal.
(QCOSTARICA) Costa Rica will open airports on August 1 to tourists, but the National Chamber of Tourism (Canatur) estimates that the arrivals will be “dropper” in relation to the average in the months prior to the pandemic.
The arrivals hall at the San Jose airport, pre-pandemic
“With the opening of borders, although it is beginning to reactivate, the amount of income will not be enough. We have estimated that at the beginning it will be about 5% of what was in the pre-Covid era,” said the president of Canatur, Rubén Acón.
According to Acón, with the opening of the borders several things will come into play,. Firstly, the number of airlines that will resume activities will be few, and with a decrease in the frequency of flights. In addition, the health situation of each country will reduce the number of travelers. Another factor will be prices, which will have to drop to be competitive and attract tourists, Acón said.
“We are going to work at a loss for many months,” added the businessman. According to him, the sector, even with this opening, will require financial support from the government.
Sary Valverde, president of the Costa Rican Association of Travel Agencies (ACAV) agreed that opening borders will not immediately resolve the crisis in the sector.
“It is a great expectation that we can open sales by August 1. But that does not mean that we are going to have lots of sales and tourists will not be coming quickly or that Costa Ricans are going to leave on the first flight we have,” said Valverde.
“This new reality of traveling is much more complicated than we expected. It will help us to be a little more measured in our expectations, “he added.
“Necessary” opening
Acón indicated that the opening is “necessary”. This because it would send a signal to the rest of the world that the sector is activating and would allow them to perfect the protocols for the high season; from November to January.
COVID-19 cases in the country, however, are multiplying at an accelerated rate: in a matter of twelve days, the accumulated cases doubled. Acón, however, said the opening will not exacerbate the health crisis.
“There is a mistaken perception that if the air borders are opened, the cases will increase. It is wrong. Tourism is not a source of infection. Air protocols are going to be applied that guarantee that the visitor comes healthy,” assured the businessman.
For his part, Valverde pointed out that the entry of tourists will be low at the beginning but will allow maintaining connectivity with other markets.
“The most important thing today is connectivity. (Beore the pandemic) 29 airlines came to the country. Today, we don’t know how many are going to come. But the most important thing is to have connectivity with Costa Rica’s largest markets: the United States, Europe and Canada,” said Valverde.
Acón, however, clarified that there is still uncertainty about the reopening, since until July 21 – 11 days until the opening – they still do not know the airport protocols. However, he clarified that the other operating protocols are ready.
Of his part, Health Minister Daniel Salas, reconfirmed on Monday that the plan to open the San Jose airport (SJO) and the Liberia airport (LIR) in Guanacaste is still on and that this week we will learn of which countries will be on the welcome list.
A few photos of Playa Jaco posted on Twitter in the last few months, keeping our fingers crossed and dreams of being really back on the beaches again real soon.
Playa Jaco, as the other beaches in areas under yellow alert, are currently only accessible between 5:00 am 9:30 am.
(QCOSTARICA) The Municipality of Garabito, which takes in the popular tourist destination of Playa Jaco, is installing posts 20 meters apart for tourists to visit Jacó beach without exposing themselves to COVID-19 contagion.
On Monday, the tests began with the first 25 bamboo poles installed out of the total of 200 that are to be installed across the five kilometers of the beach in Jacó. The canton is preparing for more tourists after the alert level dropped from orange to yellow, allowing restaurants and shops to serve customers open this week.
Different authorities will be monitoring compliance with the gap between groups, including the Municipal Police, lifeguards and volunteers such as guides and scouts, explained Johan Ramírez, Quality and Continuous Improvement Manager in the Municipality of Garabito.
The Cruz Roja (Red Cross) will also support the distancing initiative while the Chamber of Tourism and Commerce “is fully targeted with the project,” he added.
“We want to include the Fuerza Publica (national police) but it has not been very easy but we hope they will get involved,” said Ramírez.
The municipality will implement a series of changes to prevent contagion, from which it expects that they will be rewarded with additional hours of opening of the beaches, from the current 5:00 am to 9:30 am.
This includes installing 15 sinks for handwashing on the Jacó and Herradura beaches, in addition to 9 public showers, which are expected to start construction later this week or early next.
This week, the Municipal Council is expected to approve additional funds for the construction of 25 public sinks in urban centers, with 11 on the main strip of Jacó, Ramírez explained.
“There is hunger”
The impact of business restrictions as well as the closing of borders to foreign tourists has made Jacó a “ghost town”: storefronts with for rent signs and hotels selling rooms at half the price, according to the mayor., Tobias Murillo.
Through the CNE, the local government and some businessmen and organized groups, efforts have been made to help feed the vulnerable population, but there are still many families that are facing difficulties, he added.
“There is hunger and need, there are people who have to leave the cabinas or houses because they have no way to pay the rent, and they are without electricity or water because they have not been able to face the debts they have,” said the mayor.
“We were the first to close the beaches, we have the best protocol, but it cannot be that the government does not have a true dimension of the damage that improvisation can cause the country,” he concluded.
(QCOSTARICA) The National Union of Local Governments (UNGL), which brings together the Costa Rica’s municipalities, believes that the restrictions imposed by the central government of the Carlos Alvarado in the midst of the pandemic “seem improvised.”
In addition, they criticize that the central government does not take into account their positions, and learning of the decisions until after they have been made, typically at the daily press conferences like everyone else in the country.
The UNGL makes the appeal after the central government received strong criticism from different fronts for the restrictions that apply according to the canton, while the uncertainty over the country’s economic future grows.
The UNGL, in a press released, said: “Added to this is the fact that the decisions seem improvised and the coordination spaces that exist are not used to make the municipal governments aware of the steps to be followed, in a timely manner.”
Business and sectoral chambers, deputies from different legislative fractions and organized groups in the communities ask the government for more flexibility in the midst of the health crisis that affects the world. The Municipality of Garabito and Pococí, in particular, have requested an evaluation of the measures that affect these cantons.
An example is that of the canton of Garabito, an area that includes popular destinations as Jaco, Herradura, Hermosa, and Tarcoles, to name a few, kept under an orange alert when the canton had few cases and the municipality had been maintaining strict sanitary measures, including closing the beaches even before the central government decreed it.
El Guarco y Garabito en alerta amarilla
En conferencia de prensa sobre las alertas emitidas por COVID-19, se omitió el paso de los cantones de El Guarco y Garabito a alerta amarilla.
Las resoluciones y decretos que están en trámite de emisión contienen la información correcta.
The above tweet was posted almost 8 hours after the original announcement excluding Garabito from the orange zone, and 2 days for the CNE to update the alert map, which it has yet to post on social networks.
It took the threat of mayor of the canton, Tobias Murillo, to be disobedient for the Comision Nacional de Emergencias (CNE) removed the orange alert, returning the canton to yellow, within hours of the new measures announced on July 17.
“It is urgent that the mayors know the parameters that are determining the allocation of alerts to prepare the inhabitants, with a certain time, before they are assigned the orange alert limitation, for example,” said Karen Porras, executive director of UNGL.
Juan Pablo Barquero, president of UNGL, believes that closing shops in a given canton can be counterproductive, in the sense that people will move to another to meet their needs.
“It could be counterproductive by spreading the contagion further,” said Barquero.
Mayors of other municipalities in orange alert zones have started raising their voices also.
(Q24N) The Bolsonaro government has no interest in shielding Brazilian Indians from COVID-19, on the contrary, it has long sought to open indigenous lands for mining and agribusiness, considering native peoples to be only a stumbling block, notes indigenous leader Weibe Tapeba and Brazilian scholar Gustavo Guerreiro.
AP Photo / Silvia Izquierdo
Brazil has become a new hotspot for COVID-19 second only to the US in the number of confirmed cases and fatalities. Even the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, who long shrugged off the danger of the coronavirus pandemic, tested positive for the virus.
Meanwhile, human rights activists are ringing the alarm over soaring fatalities among the country’s indigenous population. As of 15 July, Brazil’s Department of Indigenous Health Care (DIHC-DASI) registered 10,889 COVID infections and 218 deaths among Brazilian Indians, while the overall number of cases in the country mounted over 1.96 million.
Mortality rates among Brazilian Indians are almost twice the national rate (12.6% versus 6.4%), as Articulation of the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), an advocacy group, found in June.
How Bolsonaro Gov’t Exposes Brazilian Indians to COVID
“The indigenous peoples of Brazil have been vulnerable since the day the Kariwas (white man) set foot in our territories”, says Weibe Tapeba, a Tapeba Indigenous People leader and legal advisor to the State Federation of Indigenous Peoples of Ceará – FEPOINCE.
Tapeba emphasizes that the Brazilian government failed to adopt efficient measures to combat the spread of the disease in indigenous territories.
“The need to expand human resources, infrastructure ranging from the need to build basic health units and the provision of beds to the need for quick tests, food baskets and personal hygiene kits, would be fundamental in this pandemic moment”, the indigenous leader observes.
There are only about 896,000 native Brazilians – distributed among 305 unique ethnic groups – in the country of 209.5 million. Given that many Amazonian tribe numbers are fewer than 1,000, the coronavirus pandemic is threatening to exterminate them.
“The indigenous people are, historically, an ethnic group marginalized by the Brazilian state. Public services are much more precarious in indigenous villages”, states Gustavo Guerreiro, executive editor of the journal World Tensions and a member of the Brazilian Centre for Solidarity with Peoples and Fight for Peace (CEBRAPAZ).
While indigenous groups have shown a great commitment to maintaining social isolation and practicing self-protection, regular incursions of miners, loggers and illegal settlers into their territories have largely contributed to the spike in COVID-19 cases among Brazilian native peoples, according to the observers.
For its part, the country’s Ministry of Health has yet to roll out a meaningful plan to combat the pandemic among indigenous tribes, Guerreiro points out. Having failed to stretch a helping hand to Brazilian Indians, the government is further exacerbating the situation, according to the scholar.
An indigenous man from the Pataxo tribe attends a protest of indigenous people at the entrance of the Planalto Palace in Brasilia. REUTERS / Ueslei Marcelino
“In his most recent act, Bolsonaro vetoed several crucial points of a law that protects Indians during the pandemic”, he says.
On 8 July, the Brazilian president vetoed provisions of legislation earlier approved by the Congress which obligated the federal government to provide indigenous communities with drinking water, disinfectants and hospital beds amid the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, he turned down funding for the states and local governments envisioning emergency aid for native peoples as well as greater internet access for indigenous communities, which was meant to prevent them from traveling to urban centers. In justifying his decision, Bolsonaro claimed that the provisions were “against the public interest” and “unconstitutional,” as they created excessive expenses for the federal government.
“However, in a historic decision, the Supreme Court forced the president to take necessary measures to preserve and save the lives of the Indians”, he elaborates, referring to the ruling by Justice Luís Roberto Barroso issued the same day, in response to a complaint from the Articulation of the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil and the country’s six opposition political parties.
Land Demarcation Dragged Down & Stopped
Neither Weibe Tapeba nor Gustavo Guerreiro have been surprised by the Bolsonaro government’s actions: according to them, it has been “anti-indigenous” from the start.
“The Brazilian government has the mark of structural racism, prejudice for ethnicity and of not recognizing cultural diversity in our country”, argues Tapeba. “Still a candidate, the current president already categorically indicated that he would be at the side of agribusiness and that he would not demarcate any other indigenous land in the country”.
“It is not just an omission or negligence”, stresses the indigenous leader. “It is the materialization of a power project that tries to exterminate us”.
In August 2019, Bolsonaro was quoted as saying: “As long as I am president, no indigenous land will be demarcated. They own 14 percent of the national territory”. On another occasion, the Brazilian president noted: “Indians are undoubtedly changing … They are increasingly becoming human beings just like us”.
There are at least 610 indigenous lands claimed by Brazilian native peoples which are still pending government action, according to Tapeba. However, Brazilian local authorities, backed by farmers and agribusiness companies, appear to deliberately drag down the solution of the issue through lengthy administrative processes.
“The judicialization tactic has led to processes of demarcation of territories such as that of my Tapeba People, dragging on for decades”, the indigenous leader says. “In the case of my Tapeba People, this process has been going on since the beginning of the 1980s and with no end in sight”.
The land rights of indigenous communities were enshrined in the country’s Constitution of 1988, which recognized them as the first and natural owners of the land, setting a five-year deadline to finalize the demarcation. However, 32 years have passed and this process has not yet been concluded, remaining at the mercy of lengthy legal proceedings and political pressure in the parliamentary sphere, according to Guerreiro.
A young Pankararu Indian, in traditional dress, stands near a pitched tent at an encampment in front of the Brazilian National Congress building in Brasilia, Brazil. A variety of tribal groups plan to camp out in front of the government building until Thursday, in protest against the construction of the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant in the Amazon rainforest. AP Photo / Eraldo Peres
“All government actions are directed against the continuation of the process of demarcation of indigenous lands, by environmental deregulation and the exploitation of mineral resources in their territories”, the scholar notes. “Bolsonaro does not show the slightest respect for constitutional provisions and international treaties that aim to protect the Indians’ way of life, their resources and their culture”.
Bolsonaro Defunds Indigenous Gov’t Agency
Once Bolsonario assumed the presidency he tried to shut down the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI), the Brazilian government body establishing and carrying out policies relating to Brazilian Indians, which includes the objective of demarcating indigenous lands, Tapeba underlines.
The president’s decree further envisaged taking away the responsibility for indigenous land demarcation from the FUNAI and handing it over to the country’s agriculture ministry, a move supported by the agricultural lobby.
“The measures were materialized by means of an administrative reform decree, but it was reversed through a decision of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), which was once under pressure from several indigenous organizations and even political parties”, the Indian leader says.
Bolsonaro did not give up, however, as, being unable to dismantle the body altogether, the president considerably slashed its budget, Tapeba notes, as well as acting to weaken environmental protection mechanisms in the country.
“The government’s clear project is to open indigenous lands for the exploitation of mineral wealth, for agribusiness, for the implantation of large enterprises and to try to legalize what they call ‘self-declaration’ of property, facilitating fraud in the titling of lands incident in indigenous territories”, the indigenous leader warns.
(VOA) A coronavirus vaccine being developed by scientists at Oxford University has been shown to produce a strong immune response, according to early-stage clinical trials.
The results, published Monday in the British medical journal The Lancet, found the vaccine developed by pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and Oxford University generated both antibody and T-cell immune responses, which are hoped to be key to stopping an infection.
“We hope this means the immune system will remember the virus, so that our vaccine will protect people for an extended period,” Andrew Pollard, lead author of the Oxford study, said in a statement released by AstraZeneca.
The trial, part of Oxford’s Phase 2 testing, did not look at whether the vaccine actually protects against coronavirus infection, a question that will be answered in Phase 3 trials that have already begun.
The fast pace of the vaccine effort has been cheered by officials around the world, however health experts warn that much remains unknown about the virus, and more testing is needed to understand how to offer people long-term protection against COVID-19, clinically known as SARS-CoV-2.
“We need more research before we can confirm the vaccine effectively protects against SARS-CoV-2 infection, and for how long any protection lasts,” Pollard said.
About 1,000 people ages 18 to 55 were involved in the Phase 2 Oxford trials, with about half of the subjects receiving the experimental vaccine.
Scientists say immunity was detected in subjects for at least 56 days after getting the shot, but say further tests are needed to determine how long the immunity will last after that period. The experimental vaccine was shown to cause only minor side effects, including fever, fatigue and headaches.
Phase 3 trials of the Oxford vaccine have already begun in Brazil, South Africa and Great Britain, and will soon be expanded to the United States. These trials each involve up to 30,000 volunteers who will help scientists understand whether the experimental vaccine can really prevent people from catching coronavirus and whether it is safe.
How long the Phase 3 trials will last depends on how high the transmission rate is in the test countries. Oxford scientists have said if the transmission rate remains high, they may be able to get enough data in a couple of months to see if the vaccine is working. But if transmission levels drop, it could take up to six months.
The experimental vaccine is made from a weakened form of the common cold virus that has been genetically modified to carry the coronavirus’s spike protein into the body, which is believed to trigger an immune response.
AstraZeneca has signed agreements with many governments to supply its vaccine if it is proved to be effective and granted regulatory approval. The company has already committed to making 2 billion doses. The United States has been promised 300 million doses, a European alliance has secured 400 million doses, while Britain has claimed 100 million doses.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted about the latest trial results Monday,
“This is very positive news. A huge well done to our brilliant, world-leading scientists & researchers.”
Countries around the world have also been developing their own experimental vaccines in a global race to stop the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 600,000 people worldwide.
The World Health Organization lists 23 vaccines in human tests, including the Oxford one, and 140 more in lab studies.
Chinese researchers also published a study Monday in The Lancet of their own experimental coronavirus vaccine. The study showed modest positive results. However, some scientists have expressed concerns based on the early trials that the experimental vaccine might not work on all people because it uses a harmless virus at its core that many people already have immunity to.
China approved the use of its vaccine for its military in June.
U.S. drug maker Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech also reported positive progress Monday on their vaccine candidate.
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(QCOSTARICA) Crhoy.com says Costa Rica’s President Carlos Alvarado is locked in his own information bubble and does not answer questions from the media if they are not about the pandemic.
The online news media outlet accuses the president of giving preference to foreign media while denying it interviews. Other local media, including the Q, has made similar complaints, though not as public.
Does the public sector have privileges in the midst of the pandemic? What measures is the Government going to apply to officials regarding wages and working hours?
Will you request the resignation of Yamileth Astorga due to the damage that AyA has caused to the population at such critical moments?
Did you recommend your ex-minister Nancy Marín to be hired as an adviser at the INS?
What is the work you are doing on the extraordinary budget?
Did you censor (chief of staff) Minister Marcelo Prieto, who has been seen in public again?
When are you going to present a plan – with details, objectives, and execution dates – for the economic reactivation?
Those are some of the questions we all would like to have an answer from the president himself.
Last July 9, the political and governmental atmosphere was more than clouded: the AyA (water utility) collecting exorbitant bills, a Minister of the Presidency (chief of staff) silenced overnight and a former Minister of Communication who now appeared appointed in another position with a millionaire salary, after leaving the government under the allegation that he would dedicate himself to his family.
All the questions written above are real, but could never be asked. They were the questions by a group of journalists from various media outlets who took to Casa Presidencial for Thursday’s noon press conference, after learning that – at last – President Carlos Alvarado would reappear before the press.
But the momentum was curtailed from the entrance with a sneaky pre-censorship. One of the members of the President’s public relations team warned – before the conference – that she would not allow more than three questions, and that the consultations would be solely and exclusively related to COVID-19 since it was “a critical day in the pandemic.”
It was not an isolated case, writes Luis Valverde. The restrictive rules imposed by Casa Presidencial on the media’s access to the President have locked him up in his own bubble, of which there is no other discussion topic than the pandemic. The only reference to another topic was that same day when asserting the right to ask questions freely, one of the journalists skipped over the initial fence raised by the communication team and asked the President – precisely – about the opporunities to ask the questions and concerns of citizens.
Alvarado’s shield was the lack of time, that “he had a lot to do” and that he was asked “petty things”.
However, that lack of time to which the president said he didn’t have, did not prevent him – 15 days priorr – from giving an interview to Time magazine, in which he took advantage throughout the first part to talk about equal marriage and LGBTIQ rights.
CRhoy.com says it requested on July 15 details on the conditions in which that interview was agreed to, but so far it has not received a response from the Presidency communication team.
That was not the only exception.
Since the pandemic began last March, Carlos Alvarado seems to have a certain preference for interviews with international media.
He appeared on April 1 he granted an interview to CNN en Español journalist Camilo Egaña and on May 23 granted time to the French news agency AFP. In local media, he has only been available on the occasion of the second year of his administration, the first week of May.
Belisario Solano, president of the College of Journalists, stated that the attitude of the President and those behind him may be a consequence of what happened in the first stage of press conferences when “many people participated without any journalistic training”, questions were asked lacking structure, without any logic, repetitive and even absurd. All of them through Facebook pages, and mostly informal websites, endorsed by the Government itself.
That gave rise to many memes and comments on social networks. So, it is possible that both the President and his advisers consider it a waste of time to attend the national press?
“In recent days, I have noticed a change in the formulation of questions, in the treatment of issues by journalists, and that has led to a recovery in confidence in journalistic work. Hence, part of my suggestions is to ask the President to resume the relationship with his colleagues and with the professional media, because Costa Rica also has many Camilo Egaña, many Fernando del Rincón, many Jorge Ramos, who deserve to be attended to,” Solano said.
The last time the President was seen in the Auditorium or in any other public activity, answering questions not related to the pandemic, was a month ago due to unemployment figures.
At that time rejoiced that the figure had not been “as high as expected” at 15.7%. A month later, with 20.1%, the President preferred to limit his communication on the subject through a brief statement and the few characters that Twitter allows, without the opportunity to clarify existing doubts about his promised “Employment Agency” touted a year ago.
Before that, he had also evaded local media inquiries on several occasions and for several weeks, one of them during a works inspection at the Circunvalación, where he left all the journalists present with their notepads and microphones in hand.
Francisco Chacón, former Minister of Communication during the Chinchilla administration, pointed out that from the point of view of political strategy it is natural to try to protect the figure of the President, avoid his exposure and take care of his interventions; However, he did confirm that the information management of the current government has been “excessively restricted” information management.
In this same context, tensions between the Casa Presidencial and some media have come to light.
For example, on May 15 the Ministry of Health attempted to damage the reputation of Noticias Repretel (local television news channel 6) by accusing it of issuing false information after having anticipated the news of the death of a victim of COVID-19.
The information was real but the Ministry tried to blame the media instead of taking responsibility for its constant internal information leaks. So far the results of the investigation they promised to carry out are unknown.
And amid all the unanswered questions from the President, his accountability on the UPAD case is still pending.
The Q has made several attempts to join the question and answer period at the daily press conferences, to date, has not received a confirmation reply. And questions posed by email to the communications team either go unanswered or referred to the information stated in press releases.
(QCOSTARICA) In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, there is confusion and uncertainty on air travel to and from Costa Rica, airports open or closed, which airlines are providing flights and which are not.
The depatures hall at the Juan Santamaria international airport (SJO) San Jose, Costa rica
One, the country’s airports are open, but only the Juan Santamaria international airport (SJO) in San Jose is allowed to receive international flights. On August 1, that is expected to change, the government has so far stayed firm that it will allow the entry of international tourists and allow the resumption of flights at both the SJO and the Daniel Oduber airport (LIR) in Liberia, Guanacaste.
For now, the following are airlines that have flights to and from Costa Rica and which do not, from official information of the Juan Santamaría airport to July 20.
Aeroméxico: Suspended operations until further notice.
Air Canada: Resumes operations on September 1 to/from Toronto (YYZ).
Air France: Rescue flight from Paris on July 22. Rescue flight to Paris on July 24. It resumes full operations on October 14.
Air Panama: Suspended operations until further notice.
Air Transat: Suspended operation until further notice.
Alaska: Resumes operations on August 3.
Albatros Airlines: Suspends operations until further notice.
American Airlines: Resumes operations on August 5 to/from Miami (MIA) and Dallas (DFW).
Avianca: It resumes operations on October 1 to/from Bogotá (BOG)
British Airways: Resumes operations on October 17 to/from London (LHR).
Condor: Waiting for information from the airline.
Costa Rica Green Airways: Available for charter flights.
Copa Airlines: It resumes operations on August 6.
Delta Airlines: Resumes operations on August 17 to/from Atlanta (ATL).
Edelweiss: It resumes operations on August 6.
Iberia: Rescue flight from Madrid (MAD) on July 31. Rescue flight to Madrid on July 25 and August 1. It resumes operations on August 3.
Interjet: It resumes operations on August 2 to/from Mexico (MEX).
JetBlue: Waiting for information from the airline.
KLM: Suspended operations until further notice.
Latam: Waiting for information from the airline.
Lufthansa: Resumes operations on August 1 to/from Frankfurt FRA).
Sansa: Waiting for information from the airline.
Skyway: Waiting for information from the airline.
Southwest: Restart of operations in 2021.
Spirit: Rescue flight to Fort Lauderdale on July 22 and 29.
United: Scheduled flights to/from Houston on July 21, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31.
Volaris: Suspended operations until further notice.
West Jet: Suspended operations until further notice.
Wingo: It resumes operations on September 1 towards Panama (PTY) and Bogotá (BOG).
The characteristics of the global health emergency imply a constant update of the data, according to the information provided by the airlines.
Cargo operations maintain their normal itineraries.
(QCOSTARICA) The Ministry of Health and the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) are fine-tuning the details to reduce waiting times for the issuance of quarantine orders by COVID-19.
The idea that the people who undergo the diagnostic test receive, at that very moment, would be ordered to home isolation for 14 days.
Health Minister Daniel Salas said that due to the increase in cases, it is increasingly difficult for them to deliver the sanitary orders and that it is taking up to 48 hours (or more) doe results of the diagnostic tests for COVID-19.
“We are already looking for a way for the health order to be issued through the taking of the sample so that the person remains at home at once,” Salas said.
The ministry has some 2,500 officials who are responsible for these notifications and other tasks; and is already coordinating with Caja staff so that these orders can be added to the work of issuing them.
(QCOSTARICA) Legislators on Monday approved, in the first debate, two bills that exempt tourism and construction services from the payment of the value added tax (VAT) for another year, but without seeking an alternative source of fresh income for the Government.
The bill, which requires second and final debate, stop the tax collection that began to take effect on July 1 last, as established by the Tax Reform Law of 2019.
Both bills received 44 votes in favor and none against.
In the case of tourist services, it is a proposal by the liberationist Roberto Thompson that keeps them exempt for another year and also delays the gradual collection of that tax.
Thus, as of July 1, 2021, all tourist services will begin to pay a rate of 4% VAT, 8% from July 2022 and the general rate, which is 13%, as of July 2023.
The former Minister of Finance, Rodrigo Chaves, had warned that approving this project, as it was presented, would be counterproductive for tourism entrepreneurs, since they could not transfer to their clients the VAT that they do have to pay for their supplies.
Chaves offered an alternative plan in which, according to his calculations, tourism providers could increase their profits even by charging 4% VAT, by granting tax credits. However, the legislators did not accept this proposal.
In the case of construction services, the legislators were inclined to support the initiative of the head of the National Liberation fraction, Luis Fernando Chacón.
The liberationist initiative establishes that associated services, such as engineering, architecture or topography, will begin to pay 4% of VAT in July 2021, also in stages.
As established by law, projects that had been registered and endorsed at the Federated College of Engineers and Architects (CFIA) before September 30, 2019, began to pay that 4% rate from July 1, 2020.
Chacón’s proposal extends the total exemption, even for projects submitted from October 2019 and those submitted until June 30, 2021.
From July 2021 and for one year, all construction projects – registered before and after that date – will pay the 4% rate; from July 2022, the rate will be 8% and from July 2023, the general rate will apply: 13%.
Legislators made this decision despite warnings from the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic regarding the risk of discovering various sources of income without seeking compensation for the State’s tax revenue.
Before both initiatives were voted in the first debate, the head of the Citizen Action Party (PAC), Enrique Sánchez, assured that although the ruling party endorsed the proposals, the Assembly must find compensation for the loss of resources that both plans entail.
“There are options, such as eliminating the exemption from income tax on school wages and others, arising from the deputies. It is necessary given the fall of ¢1.2 trillion in the financial income of the Government ”, emphasized Sánchez.
(QCOSTARICA) With 420 new cases reported this Monday, the number of people infected with COVID-19 in Costa Rica increased to 11,534 in 81 cantons, while the death toll rose from 62 to 66 in the last 24 hours.
For the first time during the daily conferences, Dr. Daniel Salas (left) and Dr. Roman Macaya (right) wore a face covering, respecting the new measure in effect Monday
Hospitalizations are also on the rise. Interned persons went from 241 to 259; 47 of them remain in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). They are people between the ages of 35 and 83. The National Children’s Hospital reports none of the 7 children currently in hospital require intensive care.
Of the hospitalized, a total of 79 are in the COVID-19 center (Ceaco), with a maximum capacity of 88 people, and the rest are in the different medical centers in the country.
As for the latest victims of the virus, health authorities detailed that they are three men and one woman. They all had risk factors:
89-year-old man, a foreigner, a resident of San José. He was admitted to the Calderón Guardia Hospital, being diagnosed by COVID-19 on July 18. He suffered from diabetes, chronic kidney disease, heart disease.
84-year-old man, Costa Rican, a resident of San José. His diagnosis is post-mortem, he dies at home, a history of prostate cancer and high blood pressure.
84-year-old woman, Costa Rican, resident of San José. She was admitted to the San Juan de Dios Hospital, being diagnosed on July 16. She suffered from high blood pressure.
44-year-old man, a foreigner, a resident of San José. He was admitted to the San Juan de Dios Hospital, being diagnosed on July 19. He suffered from diabetes.
For the first time in the health emergency, Health Minister, Daniel Salas Peraza, provided the epidemiological report using a face shield, as did Román Macaya Hayes, executive president of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS).
They did so in compliance with a new guideline, in effect on Monday, which requires the use of this face mask or shield in closed places. The measure does not apply to homes or family compounds.
The conference on Monday was preceded by the confirmation of the esignation the director of Health Surveillance, Rodrigo Marín Rodríguez.
Marín resigned after admitting that he failed to comply with the sanitary protection measures during a boat ride that he carried out this Sunday in the Gulf of Nicoya.
In making the announcement, Salas expressed “deep gratitude” for his former director of Health Surveillance for the work carried out during the pandemic and highlighted his attitude for having recognized his mistake.
“It is a fact that he committed a fault (…) I want to express appreciation to him because he has taken pains to try to move the country forward in the midst of this very difficult pandemic. Thank you for recognizing your fault,” he said.
They have not yet chosen Marin’s replacement, who will return to his regular position at the Ministry of Health.
“We are evaluating who can be the one to assume (the position). They must meet a certain profile and from the administrative and legal point of view with all the requirements that come with being a director at the central level in the ministry,” said Salas.
For his part, Roman Macaya opened is comments with regret and annoyance of the disrespect circulating in the social networks, a video showing him partying it up on a yacht. Macaya was emphatic that he did not make such an excursion, evidenced by his personal presence at the conference table at the time he is cruising as alleged in the video or any trip on a boat this year.
In fact, said Macaya, there are some 8 such videos circulating the social media. “The video was all elaborated, someone took the time to make it. It is false,” said Macaya.
(QCOSTARICA) Confusion abounds on the driving restrictions in Costa Rica starting today, Monday, July 20 and in effect until July 31, 2020.
“Orange” and “yellow” areas, differing hours, and specific purposes have more than one driver thinking, before going (if absolutely necessary) can I drive today. This is evidenced by the emails received in the last couple of days and questions asked on social media groups.
Thus, the following is the official driving restrictions now in force:
In Orange zones there is a complete vehicular restriction is in place from Monday to Sunday from 5:00 pm to 5:00 am. Vehicles cannot circulate from 5:00 am to 5:00 pm based on the last digit of the license plate as follows:
Mondays, plates ending in 1 & 2 cannot circulate
Tuesdays, plates ending in 3 & 4 cannot circulate
Wednesdays, plates ending in 5 & 6 cannot circulate
Thursdays, plates ending in 7 & 8 cannot circulate
Fridays, plates ending in 9 & 0 cannot circulate
Saturdays, plates ending in 0,2,4,6,8 cannot circulate
Sundays, plates ending in 1,3,5,7,9 cannot circulate
Driving should only be to the local supermarkets, pharmacy, butcher/baker, and health services. There are exemptions that are well known by known, ie such as having an employer letter, or in an emergency (better be real).
In Yellow zones, a complete vehicular restriction is in place from 10:00 pm to 5:00 am on weekdays and from 7:00 pm to 5:00 am on weekends. Vehicles cannot circulate based on the last digit of the license plate as follows:
Mondays, from 5:00 am to 10:00 pm, plates ending in 1 & 2 cannot circulate
Tuesdays, from 5:00 am to 10:00 pm, plates ending in 3 & 4 cannot circulate
Wednesdays, from 5:00 am to 10:00 pm, plates ending in 5 & 6 cannot circulate
Thursdays, from 5:00 am to 10:00 pm, plates ending in 7 & 8 cannot circulate
Fridays, from 5:00 am to 10:00 pm, plates ending in 9 & 0 cannot circulate
Saturdays, from 5:00 am to 7:00 pm, plates ending in 0,2,4,6,8 cannot circulate
Sundays, from 5:00 am to 7:00 pm, plates ending in 1,3,5,7,9 cannot circulate
The orange and yellow areas are defined in the following map published by the CNE:
Please note: The CNE has not updated the map above that includes the canton of Garabito (Jaco, Herradura, Hermosa, Tarcoles, etc) as orange.
The CNE has since removed Garabito from orange and is now yellow.
The sanction for violating the vehicular restriction is ¢110,000 colones, six points on the driver’s license (meaning driver ed class on renewal) and subject to confiscation of license plates and/or vehicle.
(QCOSTARICA) Following the controversy and hailstorm of criticism over a weekend boat ride in Guanacaste, Dr. Rodrigo Marín, Director of Health Surveillance, and one of the outspoken voices in this pandemic to maintain strict sanitary measures, resigned this Monday.
Rodrigo Marín (right) now former director of Health Surveillance of the Ministry of Health, appears in an image that circulated on social networks Sunday of a boat ride through the Gulf of Nicoya in Guanacaste. Photo from Facebook.
Marin, on July 10, warned that “It’s alarming, WE STOP PARTYING OR WE’RE F***“, tendered his resignation to the Minister of Health, Daniel Salas, in the early hours of this Monday morning.
In the resignation letter, Marín acknowledges that “it is certainly necessary to lead by example, and yesterday I was not consistent with the message.”
Photo from Facebook.
He refers to the photographs that circulated all over the social networks Sunday evening, in which he appears without a mask or face shield, and close together with other people on the boat in the waters of Nicoya.
“I was wrong, I did not keep the distance outside my bubble and I did not use personal protective equipment,” he said.
“These inopportune actions do not represent the committed action of the Ministry of Health and each of its officials who have been working tirelessly against the emergency,” added Marín.
Marin, who was head of the Epidemiology department of the Ministry of Health, told Minister Salas that his “interest is not to muddy the prevention message that we have given to the population”; therefore, he decided to resign, effective as of this Monday.
Resignation letter published by Ministerio de Salud
Before tendering his resignation, on his Twitter account, Marín recognized early Monday morning having taken a boat ride this Sunday for leisure purposes on his day off, after allegedly reviewing the ICT-P009 protocol of the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) on June 15.
“Having said the above, I offer a public apology to anyone who considers that my actions were not due. I reiterate, I relied on the protocol of the ICT where it indicates that the captain is the one who must wear a mask. Tomorrow I will expand with more details ”, wrote Marín Rodríguez from his account.
According to reports, Marin was asked by his higherups to account for his actions following the appearance of the photos and comments on social networks Sunday evening. The comments varied of support that he has the right to do as he pleases on his day off, that he made a mistake but not the reason to resign, to calls for his resignation and many others that don’t deserve a public forum for their explicit language and message.
The director of Epidemiological Surveillance has been the second most visible face on the part of the Ministry of Health since the start of the pandemic, second to only the Minister of Health, Daniel Salas.
Marín Rodríguez coordinated for several years the vector control struggle in Costa Rica linked to the issue of disease transmission. From the second half of 2019, he was in charge of the Health Surveillance Directorate, in the Ministry of Health, where cases of contagion are seen.
Some of the comments published on Facebook Sunday night:
What Dr.Marin does or does not do in his spare time is his entire problem. As long as we do not have access to a vaccine, I will continue to take care of myself, to take care of my own.
You can not ask people not to go out, do not go to the beach because they are closed, you can not say that if we do not shut ourselves in, we will be f***d, and then you will go for a ride to the sea, without a mask, without keeping distance.
I am fed up with the scolding face and the threatening tone of Dr. SALAS every day at noon, but his colleague does the opposite of what is recommended.
He is a hypocritical HDP!!* Ticos go first!! Out with the Cuban!!**
Marin is FORCED to lead by example!!
If the photos are real they should resign.
Let’s be serious, if the photos are true, the Dr. self-sabotaged. The team that manages has to lead by example.
The Doctorcito is a slobber, how does it occur to him to go for a ride when precisely he sent the whole world to guard themselves. Caesar’s wife not only has to be, but also pretend. He fell, there is nothing more to talk about, ask himr to resign.
You must go, your duties right now is to lead by example, and fail
This guy should resign. One more who receives his full salary while thousands of families are without an income! What vulgarity of government!
I don’t feel like the “government controls me”, I feel like an adult who contributes to society.
*HDP is “hijo de puta” short for ‘Hijueputa’ – derogatory, vulgar, idiomatic – son of a bitch; an objectionable, despicable person and any objectionable thing
**Dr Marin is Cubano-Costarricense – of Cuban origin and naturalized Costa Rican. He emigrated to Costa Rica in 1998.
Officials hope to put Clifford and his fellow trainees to work in pedestrian-heavy areas such as train stations and airports, and at health control stations
(Phys.org) Police in Chile are training dogs to detect people that may be infected with the novel coronavirus by sniffing their sweat.
Clifford is one of three Golden Retrievers that the Chilean Police Canine Training team is preparing to sniff out COVID-19 cases
The dogs—three golden retrievers and a labrador—are between the ages of four and five. Until now they have been used to sniff out illicit drugs, explosives and lost people, police say.
The training program is a joint effort by Chile’s national police, the Carabineros, and specialists at the Universidad Catolica de Chile.
It follows in the footsteps of similar efforts taking place in France, said Julio Santelices, head of the police school of specialties.
Dogs have 330 million olfactory receptors, and an ability to detect smells 50 times better than humans. They can also smell 250 people per hour.
“The virus has no smell, but rather the infection generates metabolic changes” which in turn leads to the release of a particular type of sweat “which is what the dog would detect,” Fernando Mardones, a Universidad Catolica professor of veterinary epidemiology, told AFP.
According to Santelices, tests in Europe and Dubai shown a 95 percent efficiency rate in canine detection of COVID-19 cases.
The canine trainees began their education one month ago, and will use sweat samples taken from COVID-19 patients being treated at the Universidad Catolica’s clinic
Medical Detection Dogs, a British charity set up in 2008 to harness dogs’ sharp sense of smell to detect human diseases, also started training canines to detect COVID-19 in late March.
Four-legged biodetectors
“The importance of this scientific study is that it will allow dogs to become biodetectors, and detect this type of illness at an early stage,” Santelices told AFP.
Mardones said that there is already evidence that dogs can detect diseases such as tuberculosis, parasite infections, and even early stages of cancer.
Canines can detect subtle changes in skin temperature, potentially making them useful in determining if a person has a fever.
According to the World Organisation for Animal Health, the possibility of contagion from a dog is remote.
The canine trainees began their education one month ago, and will use sweat samples taken from COVID-19 patients being treated at the Universidad Catolica’s clinic.
Officials hope to put Clifford and his fellow trainees to work in pedestrian-heavy areas such as train stations and airports, and at health control stations
The experts hope to have the dogs trained and working in the field by August.
The plan is to deploy them with an officer in pedestrian-heavy areas such as train stations and airports and at health control stations.
Chile on Tuesday reported 1,836 new cases of COVID-19—the lowest figure in two months—bringing the total of cases since March 3 to 319,493.
The viral infection has killed more than 11,000 people, according to the most recent Health Ministry official report, which includes “probable” COVID-19 victims.
(BBC.com) A British laboratory on Monday released the preliminary results of a promising study, carried out on a small sample of patients, in the treatment of coronavirus. Using a drug, SNG001, could reduce the risk of developing a severe form of the disease by 79%.
The preliminary results of a clinical trial suggest the new treatment for Covid-19 reduces the number of patients needing intensive care, according to the Southampton-based biotech Synairgen that developed it.
It uses a protein called interferon beta which the body produces when it gets a viral infection. The protein is inhaled directly into the lungs of patients with coronavirus, using a nebulizer, in the hope that it will stimulate an immune response.
The initial findings suggest the treatment cut the odds of a Covid-19 patient in hospital developing severe disease – such as requiring ventilation – by 79%.
Patients were two to three times more likely to recover to the point where everyday activities were not compromised by their illness, Synairgen claims.
It said the trial also indicated “very significant” reductions in breathlessness among patients who received the treatment.
In addition, the average time patients spent in hospital is said to have been reduced by a third, for those receiving the new drug – down from an average of nine days to six days.
The study was carried out on a relatively small sample of patients and has not been evaluated by a reading committee, but it could revolutionize the way the coronavirus is treated.
Synairgen chief executive Richard Marsden said it could be a “major step forward”. “The results confirm our belief that interferon beta (…) has enormous potential as an inhalation treatment to restore the immune response of the lungs, improving protection, accelerating recovery and countering the impact of the SARS virus. -CoV-2,” said Tom Wilkinson, a professor of respiratory medicine at the University of Southampton, who led the trial, in a statement.
The double-blind trial involved 101 volunteers who had been admitted for treatment at nine UK hospitals for Covid-19 infections.
Half of the participants were given the drug, the other half got what is known as a placebo – an inactive substance.
Synairgen said that no deaths were reported in patients treated with SNG001, while three people died after being randomized to placebo.
The measure of breathlessness was also markedly reduced in patients who received the drug, Synairgen added.
Interferon beta is a naturally occurring protein, which regulates the body’s antiviral responses.
(QCOSTARICA) The land borders with Nicaragua and Panama are not within the border reopening plan scheduled for August 1.
Archive photo of the border crossing at Peñas Blancas between Costa Rica and Nicaragua
Thus, foreign tourists (and residents of Costa Rica who left after March 24) can only enter the national territory by air, both through the Juan Santamaría Airport (SJO) in San Jose and the Daniel Oduber Airport (LIR) in Liberia.
This was confirmed by the director of Health Surveillance, Rodrigo Marín, during the Programa Enfoques.
“The northern border and the southern border are going to be closed. (…) I don’t know how many people will be traveling at the moment and what we are going to do is make it as safe as possible, and, furthermore, we are going to allow entry of people from countries that have a considerable decrease in cases,” said Marín.
The announced opening date of August 1 is still standing despite the fact that Costa Rica is experiencing the worst moment in terms of the pandemic.
The death toll on Sunday climbed to 62, eight in the previous 24 hours alone. Reports of 500 new cases a day are now becoming the norm, when only a month ago when the daily reported positive cases were under 100.
The accumulated number of cases is today at 11,114 of which 8,086 are active; 244 COVID-19 patients are in hospital, 44 of them in ICU.
[HQ] The Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) confirmed that the skeletal remains found in Jacó on July 4 last were those of German tourist Karin Holzapfel, who had disappeared on June 28.
Yuney Valverde Chacón, head of the OIJ in Jacó, reported that dental studies confirmed that the remains found was that of 32 years old foreigner woman.
She added that the manner and cause of death have yet to be determined.
This Sunday, the victim’s family published on Facebook, that the German Police was informed that it was Karin.
Steffi Holzapfel, a sister of the deceased wrote thus in social networks: “With deep pain we want to inform you that yesterday, Friday, July 18, and after 19 days of searching, the German police have personally informed us that our beloved daughter, sister, aunt, and friend, has been found lifeless. ”
She also expressed her gratitude to all those who collaborated in the clarification of the case and remained alert to find it.
“Karin Holzapfel. 1988-2020. Beloved daughter, sister, aunt and best friend. In our memories you will live forever. Rest in peace,” adds the family statement, published by Iffets Rentluz.
The OIJ confirmed that the International Police (Interpol) participated in the case of Karin, whose disappearance was reported officially on June 28.
On July 4 in Isla Herradura, near Herradura beach, remains were found and with the help of Interpol, was compared with the dental images of the foreigner, both analyzes coinciding.
For now, the case is under investigation, as there are no details on the cause of her death, since what they found was a skeleton, currently in the Heredia forensic science complex.
(TODAY NICARAGUA) Without offering an exit route to the political, economic and health crisis, dictator Daniel Ortega reappeared this Sunday for the 41st anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution, after 39 days of absence from public view.
Although for the first time he was seen momentarily wearing a face mask to prevent the spread of Covid-19, when he did talk, he minimized the disease, mentioning mortality figures not related to the coronavirus., affirming that he has managed to “successfully” face the pandemic, although numbers by independent organizations deny it.
He also stated that “the worst epidemic is hunger and savage capitalism”, in an attempt to justify its mismanagement of the health crisis, which has caused increased unemployment in Nicaragua and threatens to plunge the gross domestic product (GDP) by more than eight percent this year, a situation that is aggravated by two years of recession.
His speech of at least one hour focused on reading health-related figures.
“Medicine for the poor, medicine for workers, medicine for the people,” Ortega praised amid the ovation from the select members of the Sandinista Youth (JS) who attended this exclusive event.
Despite the fact that the pandemic in the world has killed more than 600,000 people, Ortega yesterday hinted that in Nicaragua – a country where no measures have been taken to contain the virus – people are dying mostly for other reasons, less for the COVID-19.
According to his accounts, until June 30 at least 12,100 people have died in the country, of which only almost a hundred by the spread of the virus.
The official figures of the deceased released by Ortega’s ministry of health is 99. However, figures by the independent Observatorio Cuidadano outs the real figures from 7 to 10 times that.
Still, in another part of his speech, Ortega acknowledged that citizens do not go to hopsital until their condition is serious.
“For not arriving at the hospital, they arrive until they are lacking oxygen, until they feel suffocated, until they are suffocating. And already at that moment, that person who arrived at the hospital, has already affected their lungs,” Ortega justified, in an empty speech, with no proposal for a solution to the three crises that plague the country, increasing despair among Nicaraguans.
“Be careful with the ambassadors”
What’s an Ortega speech with an attack on the United States, Nicaragua’s main trade ally. He did not waste the opportunity.
Ortega sent a message to the “ambassadors of the United States”, making it clear that their actions must be monitored, although this time he did not mention the sanctions applied by that country to his relatives and most loyal officials, several of whom accompanied him on the stage, in one of the more lackluster in decades acts of the celebration of the triumph of the revolution.
“Be careful with the Yankee ambassadors”, repeated Ortega, when he related the moment when his hero, General Augusto C. Sandino, signed the peace, but was assassinated by a “plan of the Yankees with (Anastasio) Somoza”, in which plan the dictator pointed, without the ambassador of the United States of that time having the evidence.
Ortega did not refer to electoral reforms, which is an item on the political agenda, because opponents demand changes in the electoral system before the 2021 elections.
Nor did he propose to the nation a plan to contain the pandemic and alleviate the economic and social impact it has caused. And worse yet, he did not talk about what he will do to overcome the political crisis.
First July 19 without mass meeting
This was the first time in 40 years that a massive gathering of Sandinistas was not held, to commemorate the fall of the Somoza dictatorship 41 years ago. Sunday’s act was carried out with the officials closest to Ortega, the majority sanctioned by the United States, and surrounded at a distance by members of the Sandinista Youth (JS).
His wife and vice-president, Rosario Murillo, and the Army chief, General Julio César Avilés, sat at either side of Ortega as well as the Generals Bayardo Rodríguez and Marvin Corrales, chief of the General Staff and the Army inspector general, respectively.
Other of the sanctioned assistants were the president of the National Assembly, Gustavo Porras; the Minister of Health, Sonia Castro; the director of the Nicaraguan Social Security Institute (INSS), Roberto López, and the minister of Finance and Public Credit, Iván Acosta.
As usual, the members of the JS attended uniformed with the new 41/19 shirt, all with face masks and physical distance of at least one meter, a physical distance that contrasts with the massive events that the regime has promoted since the COVID- 19 arrived in the country last March.
(TODAY NICARAGUA) Flying to Nicaragua in these times of pandemic is not as simple as buying a ticket, boarding the flight and landing in Managua.
Airlines are now required to send photocopies of the passports of passengers and flight crews 72 hours in advance for authorization to arrive in the country.
The Nicaraguan Institute of Civil Aeronautics (INAC) notified the airlines on July 18, indicating that the photocopies must be attached to “the technical documentation of the aircraft, for due process (authorization)”.
On Tuesday, July 14, the government of Daniel Ortega announced, with great fanfare, the reopening of the Aeropuerto Internacional Augusto Cesar Sandino (Managua international airport – MAG). However, hours and days later “they hardened requirements” to travel to the country.
One of the problems faced by the airlines to meet ” 72 hours in advance” requirement is the fact that the majority of travelers buy their tickets online.
But there’s more, more confusion.
The owner of a tour operator in Nicaragua, on the basis of anonymity, said that their understanding was that “only charter flights” were required to deliver photocopies: “The list is sent 72 hours in advance to the Foreign Ministry to notify Immigration, and those are the only passengers allowed to board”.
The tour operator warned that the cumbersome request for customers would bring losses to the business.
Health protocol
The Ministry of Health (Minsa) and INAC approved a protocol for the arrival of national and foreign travelers. They will demand the results of Covid-19 exams, taken no more than 72 hours before traveling to Nicaragua.
The protocol also stipulates that foreign travelers arriving with respiratory symptoms may not enter the country. Nicaraguans who present these symptoms will be allowed in, but will be told to stay at home.
Meanwhile, leaving Nicaragua will be costly.
Minsa announced on July 17 that foreigners wanting to leave Nicaragua to a country that requests a negative COVID-19 test result, the test must be done in the Minsa central laboratory, the Complejo Nacional de Salud Dra. Concepción Palacios, and at a cost of US$150 dollars.
Nicaragua is the only country in Central America to charge for public COVID-19 testing.
(QCOSTARICA) “Are we going to let it be a cannibalism of sectorial interests that governs the debate? Or will solidarity prevail?” asked Costa Rica’s President, Carlos Alvarado, in an audio message sent this Sunday to his government team.
“It is necessary that we unite, without union there will be no good future, or we unite or sink”, he added in the recording of 5 minutes and 27 seconds, after anticipating that a “very hard stage” is coming for Costa Rica due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“This attitude decision should be the one that gives the government and legislators room to adopt the measures that the country needs, putting the responsibility first, and not of the group pressure or political threats in the face of the looming electoral process that is taking place,” said the president.
Alvarado said he shares the same anguish that those who do not know how they will put food to their table or fear that a family member becomes ill with COVID-19.
“There are valid questions, how and what will be negotiated with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)? How will sanitary measures continue to be adopted in the aftermath of the pandemic? What will happen to unemployment?”
“Today I want to emphasize a question that must precede all the ones that the country must answer and that the whole country, each sector and each one of us within ourselves must answer. The question is, what is the attitude with which we will face the necessary decisions?” Alvarado pointed out.
He added that in the coming months, each person “should put their hands on their hearts and say what I am going to do to solve this, instead of starting by saying why I am exceptional and why they should exempt me.”
Likewise, he urged those in better economic conditions to contribute more to solve the crisis.
“Contrary, it would be everyone for themselves that might lead to rupture and contradiction within the Costa Rican family,” he said.
“Just as in health matters we fight with everything so that our hospital system is not saturated, as we have painfully seen in sister countries, and just as we apply solidarity and institutional deployment to protect the most affected communities, so we must apply our humanity and solidarity for the economic and social measures that we adopt,” he declared.
In order to reach solutions, the president assured that he had begun a dialogue with the heads of the Legislative Assembly fractions.
“I have no doubt, none at all, that we can get ahead,” Alvarado concluded.
More sick, more deceased, more unemployment …
The president sent this message as the country faces its most critical moment for the COVID-19 pandemic.
This Sunday, 563 new infections were confirmed, for a total of 11,114 people since the first case of a new coronavirus was confirmed on March 6.
Of the 8,086 active cases, 241 are hospitalized, the highest number yet; Of these, 44 are in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU), another highest number yet.
More highest numbers are the 8 deaths recorded in the 24 hours between Saturday and Sunday’s daily press conference, bringing the total deaths to 62 due to COVID-19, another highest number so far.
Confinement measures to lower these numbers have caused the unemployment rate to reach 20.1% for the months of March, April and May. This means an increase of 8.8 percentage points compared to the same period in 2019.
To deal with the serious economic crisis, the Government has provided subsidies to affected workers, through the Bono Protoger, and has provided loans to medium and small businesses.
However, the shortage of tax revenues led the Executive Branch to turn to other financing channels, such as the quick US$508 million loan approved by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in April.
Associated with this financing, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) announced, on May 22, that it had approved a loan for US$250 million.
With the IMF itself, the Government is negotiating a stand-by agreement, mentioned by Alvarado in the audio message, that would allow him access to US$2.25 billion in exchange for applying strong adjustments to state finances.
On the expenditure side, the Executive Branch proposed to legislators a net reduction of ¢195 billion colones for the new extraordinary budget, with a projection from the Ministry of Finance, that 2020 will leave a fiscal deficit of 9.7% of the product gross domestic (GDP).
In addition, he proposed a bill to reduce by 15% the hours and wages of public employees who earn more than ¢1.5 million colones monthly and who do not belong to an institution related to the intervention of the pandemic.
To be in line with that initiative, on Friday Alvarado issued a decree to cut his salary by 15% and deposit that money in the National Emergency Fund to attend to the country’s health situation.
