(QCOSTARICA) Costa Rica recorded on Saturday night death number 19 of a positive COVID-19 person, reported the Ministry of Health.
This is a male, young man, who arrived Saturday, in shock, at the San Juan de Dios Hospital, transferred by the Red Cross from a rooming house in downtown San José.
The patient underwent the post-mortem COVID-19 test, resulting in a positive result.
The Ministry of Health assured that the cause of death is still unknown and under investigation since the deceased did not carry documentation his age is also unknown.
On Friday, the Health Minister, Daniel Salas, explained that some people may die with the virus but not because of the virus.
On this, the Ministry of Health will reactivate a commission to analyze the deaths linked to the covid-19 pandemic, in order to review the causes of some of those deaths.
“There are different factors at play: previous complications, risks, randomness. It is part of the analyzes that have to be carried out. That will help this commission,” said Salas, who did not give details on the formation of the group, nor when it will begin to do these studies.
The last post-mortem case was on June 8, a 26-year-old woman who suffered from asthma.
The death of this Saturday, July 4, is the 7th since last Saturday, June 27.
(QCOSTARICA) The Minister of Health, Daniel Salas, reported Saturday, July 4, 310 new cases of the COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, the singled highest day recorded so far.
Health Minister Daniel Salas (middle) during Saturday’s presser at Casa Presidencial. To his right is Christian Guillermet Fernández, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs and his left, Massimo Manzi, Executive Director of the Costa Rican Chamber of Health.
Since March 6, the day the first COVID-19 infection appeared, the country has registered 4,621cases. Of that number, 1,721 have already recovered.
The figure that keeps medical authorities concerned is the number of hospitalized; There are now 73 people in hospital, 3 more from Friday and more than double that of last week, of which 10 are in intensive care.
Regrettably, there have been 18 deaths from COVID-19.
Fumigations
In the last couple of days, a number of municipalities have been carrying out fumigation on public spaces, including spraying vehicles. Minster Salas stated that fumigations carried out by some on public roads are unnecessary in the fight against the coronavirus.
“I want to refer to the issue of disinfection against COVID-19 in public spaces. We have seen examples in other countries and here of fumigations on public roads, remember that SARS-CoV-2 does not persist in the air for a long time. On public roads there is no justification, it has been seen that the use of such sprays can cause eye and skin irritations (…) There is no recommendation, by the World Health Organization, to do this type of spraying with disinfectants on public roads,” said the Minister.
He added that instead of such practices, attention should be paid to closed spaces, especially the maintenance of air conditioners.
“It is recommended to check other risks in closed spaces, not so much on public roads, as air conditioners. The air conditioning has to have updated filters. If it had an inadequate filter that can promote infections in that area,” he emphasized.
Repatriations of Costa Ricans
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that, in recent months, it has repatriated a total of 4,800 Costa Ricans from different parts of the world.
Christian Guillermet Fernández, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs indicated that, since the crisis caused by the pandemic began, they made it a priority to help Costa Ricans who wanted to return to national soil.
“These repatriations have been made by land, sea and air. The coordination work has been exemplary, I say this because of the work that has been done with the Ministry of Health, Immigration and Civil Aviation; Without this coordinated work, it would not be possible to report these numbers,” said Guillermet.
Also, 8,500 foreigners, of 30 nationalities, in Costa Rica after the national emergency was declared on March 23, received assistance to return to their countries. In total, 79 flights were coordinated for this purpose.
(QCOSTARICA) The Banco Central de Costa Rica (Central Bank) published early Friday morning the maximum interest rates for credit operations in colones, dollars, and other currencies, in accordance with the new Ley de Usura – usury law – now in effect.
Through a press release, the Central Bank announced that the maximum interest rate for all types of credit (including credit cards but excepting microcredits) will be 37.69% for colones and 30.36% for U.S. dollars.
For other currencies, ie euros, the rate maximum rate is 7.44%.
From El Financiero, banks with credit card products and interest rates. Column in red the number of credit card products over the usury law
For microcredits (less than ¢675,000 colones), the maximum interest rate will be 53.18% in colones and 42.99% in U.S. dollars.
The usury law enacted last month obliges the Central Bank to update the usury rates in July and January of each year.
Charing interest rates higher than those established by the BCCR will be considered usury for the purposes of the Penal Code.
Important to note that the usury law is not retroactive, only applies to future credits. According to the credit card study by the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce (MEIC), almost 70% of credit cards in the country have interest rates of over 39%.
Also important to note, that usury law prohibits automatic deductions from a worker’s salary that affects minimum wage.
On Thursday, the private bank BAC announced the cancellation of some 187,000 credit cards, the closure of 11 points of service and the layoff of 373 employees, and the reorganizing of its credit product line, citing the usury law as the reason.
(QCOSTARICA) Amid the bad news of the sharp increase in cases and hospitalizations this week, the good news is that 24 people with COVID-19 have now received convalescent plasma therapy.
“Most of these patients have evolved well,” said Mario Ruiz, the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) medical manager.
On the other hand, Ruiz urged more recovered patients between the ages of 18 and 65, with no clinical history and healthy to donate blood.
The blood collection process will take place at the Banco de Sangre (Blood) Bank and the Calderón Guardia, México and San Juan de Dios hospitals.
The blood bank is in urgent need of blood not only from recovered COVID-19 patients but also from donors in genera. The requirements to donate blood are as follows:
Have the desire to help other people voluntarily and without receiving any type of financial recognition (payment) in exchange for donating.
Age: 18 to 65 years.
Weigh more than 50 Kg and more than 1.50 meters in height
Do not fast. Do not consume fats (butter, custard, chorizo, sausage, egg, bacon, etc). Do not consume dairy (milk, yogurt, cheeses). Eat cookies, bread, jams or jellies, coffee or tea without milk. In case of eating something heavy, you must wait between 2 and 3 hours, after the meal, to donate.
Indispensable to carry identification, ie cedula, residency card (DIMEX). The document must be current (not expired) and in good condition.
Be in good health. If you take medications, remember to inform the doctor who values it, remember the name of the medications, it is preferable to take it down and the reason why they are prescribed.
If you have had tattoos you should wait a year.
If you are a woman, you must inform if you are in the menstruation period to assess the condition. You must not be pregnant. After childbirth or abortion, you must wait 6 to 9 months to donate, depending on the situation or if you breastfeed
You should consume fluids a day or two before donating. Ideally water and natural soft drinks. On the day of donation try to drink one or two glasses of water about 30 minutes before donating.
(QCOSTARICA) The United States Embassy in Costa Rica has scheduled flights so that its citizens can return to their country in the coming days, given the increase in cases of COVID-19 in the country.
The U.S. Embassy in San Jose announced Friday it has coordinated with Spirit Airlines to offer commercial repatriation flights from Juan Santamaria Airport (SJO) in San Jose, Costa Rica, to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida (FLL) on Wednesday, July 8 and Wednesday, July 15. These flights will depart SJO at 1:00 pm and arrive at FLL at 6:10 pm.
The Embassy announced on Thursday that flights via Spirit Airlines to Fort Lauderdale, Florida (FLL), from the Juan Santamaría airport were enabled for July 8 and 15, at 1:00 pm.
United Airlines also continues to offer commercial repatriation flights from Juan Santamaria Airport (SJO) in San Jose, Costa Rica to Houston, Texas (IAH) through July 17. These flights will take place on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday through July 17.
The Embassy said in the announcement that these flights are open to public booking; you are encouraged to book ASAP as seats are limited. The U.S. Embassy is not able to assist with arranging onward travel from Ft. Lauderdale or Houston. Policies regarding luggage allowances and seating arrangements will be managed by the airlines.
The cost of these flights will be based on the passenger’s final destinations. These prices are set by Spirit and United Airlines.
Passengers traveling with pets and Emotional Support or Service Animals will need to consult with Spirit or United Airlines regarding additional fees and space availability. Spirit and United Airlines do not allow pets to travel as cargo. Proper documentation and veterinary certificates will be required.
Spirit and United Airlines currently require all passengers to wear face coverings during the check-in process and for the duration of the flight. Health regulations for boarding the United and Spirit flights will be managed according to Costa Rica Ministry of Health guidelines. At this time that includes medical personnel monitoring passenger lines for people with COVID 19 symptoms and asking passengers with symptoms to self-identify. Health regulations for arrival at Houston’s IAH airport and Ft. Lauderdale’s FLL airport are managed by the airport and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) under guidance from CDC and state health officials. At this time there are no specific measures in place at IAH and FLL.
All passengers will be subject to Costa Rica immigration and customs laws and airline policies. The U.S. Embassy is not able to intervene if people are stopped for violations or do not meet airline regulations. U.S. Citizens must have valid passports to enter the United States.
If you do not have a valid U.S. passport, please email ACSsanjose@state.gov immediately to apply for an Emergency Passport. Foreign national passengers must possess an official travel document from their country of nationality and permission to approach a United States port of entry such as a legal permanent resident card, U.S. visa, or Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) pre-approval.
Note that foreign nationals seeking visas must qualify for a nonimmigrant visa under applicable laws, and that per U.S. Presidential Proclamation, most foreign nationals who have been in areas of highest COVID-19 incidence within the past 14 days must be refused embarkation to the United States.
See complete details at www.ustraveldocs.com/cr. The U.S. Embassy will continue to monitor traffic and travel restrictions associated with COVID-19 preventative measures.
Please be aware that foreigners will not be allowed to enter Costa Rica until after current border restrictions are lifted On August 1, 2020. People with residency status who depart Costa Rica at this time will not be allowed to re-enter Costa Rica using their residency status.
The US Embassy released the announcement while Costa Rica records the highest numbers of new cases since the new coronavirus pandemic began; Wednesday 294 cases, followed up with 270 cases on Thursday and 288 on Friday.
The accumulated cases is now 4,311 and 18 deaths since March 6.
The United States is also reaching alarming numbers, setting new records, on Friday reporting at least 51,842 of Friday, marking the third day straight with a daily high of more than 50,000 cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins University., reaching 2.7 million cases detected and more than 130,000 deaths.
(QCOSTARICA) A study by the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce (MEIC) detected “significant” differences in the prices of facemasks to protect against COVID-19: reusables range in the market between ¢1,500 and ¢2,790, while disposables are offered between ¢430 and ¢650.
The Ministry detailed, in a statement, that the price variation is due to the packaging and characteristics of each product.
Facemasks do not have a fixed price, so it cannot be determined if there is speculation in its sale, although the MEIC promised to continue monitoring and analyze any drastic changes, to avoid that businesses charge premiums.
The MEIC market study was carried out on June 24, with visits to a total of 22 establishments, in Santo Domingo de Heredia, San José, Escazú, Goicoechea, Montes de Oca, Moravia, Santa Ana and Tibás, 17 of which were pharmacies and five department stores.
The San Juan de Dios Hospital is one of the most important hospitals in San Jose and the country. It was the first hospital built in the history of Costa Rica and is the oldest in the nation. Its foundation dates back to 1845. It is one of the country's meritorious institutions. It is located at the intersection between Second Avenue and Paseo Colón, in the Hospital district, in the heart of the city of San José.
(QCOSTARICA) The Ministry of Health reported that it is in the process to impose a fine on a couple that concealed from the staff of the Hospital of San Juan de Dios that the husband had COVID-19. The Prosecutor’s Office also opened an ex officio investigation into the case that could lead to criminal charges.
The couple arrived at the hospital on Wednesday because she would be undergoing a cesarean, but they did not report the man’s health condition when the medical consult was taken.
As a result of this, basically a lie, 16 officials from that hospital had to be isolated on Thursday.
“We modified the General Health Law to authorize fines when there is non-compliance. A person who leaves their house (with a sanitary order for COVID-19) is subject to a fine of five base salaries (¢ 2.2 million),” Health Minister Daniel Salas said this Friday at a press conference.
In this case, the mother arrived at the medical center accompanied by her husband, who has a health order for COVID-19. In the emergency patient classification area, she denied having any possible COVID-19 contact.
Subsequently, in Obstetrics medical evaluation, she was again asked if she had any link associated with COVID-19 and again denied this situation.
The medical center learned that the woman was the link to a COVID-19 patient after she made the comment in the hospital room. It was then that the protocol was activated.
At the same time, she and her baby were tested. The mother is positive and the baby negative.
They are both in good health.
The Deputy Prosecutor’s Office of the First Judicial Circuit of San José reported that it decided to open an investigation ex officio in the case, for the alleged crime of disobedience.
“A few people who break sanitary measures can put many more people at risk (…) The few that violate sanitary orders can cause a big problem for us,” said Minister Salas.
With the reverse of the reopening of commercial activities and the extension of the vehicle restriction, measures that apply from this Friday, the use of public parks is even more distant. In the picture the Francia park, in San José. Photo: John Durán
(QCOSTARICA) If in Costa Rica the measures of social distancing, hygiene, and respect for social bubbles are not followed, the projection is 35,000 infections by the end of September. On the contrary, if we heed to the recommendations, the projection is less than half, about 16,000 cases.
With a reversal of the reopening of commercial activities in many areas of the country and stricter vehicle restrictions that took effect today, July 3, the rapid spread of the coronavirus can be slowed down. In the photo, Parque Francia in San Jose. Photo John Durán
These are part of the projections released this Friday by the Minister of Health, Daniel Salas, the result of the work of the Center for Research in Pure Mathematics at the School of Mathematics of the University of Costa Rica (UCR).
They were made with the updated link base, as of June 23.
As for active cases, if there is good behavior, it could reach 4,000 by the beginning of October. But it would be triple, 12,000, if the bubbles and all the other prevention rules are broken.
“See the big difference of having that respite for the health services system and the difference of having 12,000 active cases, all transmitting. This represents not only the collapse of health services, where capacity is diminished but also that there is a loss of capacity to follow-up on the issuance of health orders and the confinement of cases.
“Costa Rica is the one who chooses where we are going,” sentenced the minister.
Obviously, the difference is also abysmal in terms of bed occupancy and intensive care.
If people do not follow the measures, we could see 500 cases a day by September 30, with around 480 hospitalizations, of which 180 would require the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
“You already know what our capacity is, obviously at 180, we would be quite above capacity,” he said.
In a scenario in which people comply with distancing, hygiene and social bubbles, hospitalizations would not exceed 214, 88 of them in the ICU.
The information was provided following the Minister’s report for Friday, July 3, of 288 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, for a cumulative figure of 4,311 since March 6
The number of hospitalized, meanwhile, increases again to reach 73, ten of whom are in the ICU, both records setting.
Minister Salas added that the country will have to manage, if it can, with what it has, explaining that hospital beds can be created, possibly, to meet demands, but it would be in the hands of the same staff.
“There is still solvency within the system without having to do those stretching miracles that we are not sure about. Let us remember that they are the same professionals,” Salas said.
He insisted that it is not a question of waiting to enact measures, but right now it is necessary to take the actions to lower the curve and avoid a “fatal scenario”.
By the numbers
To carry out the projections, Minister Salas said that several assumptions were made, including that a person in the metropolitan area of the country may have daily contact between five and 30 people, while in the provinces, between five and 20.
In addition, some 20 model simulations were made, each of these projections varies in its number of runs in the simulation model.
“The more runs the more robust the model. Several assumptions were used, they are based on the country data that we have seen, which have been documented as we have advanced, with respect to more general data such as the transmission rate or the incubation period,” he said.
However, he clarified that “this is not a trip to the future”, but rather, projections that help make decisions.
When asked about whether or not economic opening was inconvenient given the increase in cases, Minister Salas rejected that it had been a forced process.
He assured that it was the product of analysis and studied decisions, in addition to that it was gradual in the midst of the pandemic.
“If we had opened everything at the same time, I would say that was wrong, but we did it gradually, we did it by presenting the risk scenarios.
“The openings have to happen because if the country does not it will collapse, if we maintain a closure for several months, there is no way for the country to recover,” he claimed.
Salas was emphatic that economic openness should not be confused with social openness.
He insisted that although the majority of the people are responsible, a smaller group that has not been, and that group affects everyone.
At this time, however, phase three of that economic and activity revival plan was put on hold in 27 cantons of the country, which are under orange alert.
Thus, there will be no opening of cinemas, theaters, shops, and restaurants on weekends. Nor can religious activities be carried out
Rico’s TICO BULL – Now this is worrisome. In six days when we’ve had 1,187 new cases of the COVID-19, and six deaths. It took the country almost three months to reach that number of cases (from March 6 to June 4) and one month to record six deaths (March 18 to April 20).
But the real scary part is that there are many in Costa Rica not worried about that and the message by Minister of Planning, Pilar Garrido, on Thursday, as much as debating on social networks of Garrido wearing a scarf with the Cuban flag.
The debate centered on the multicolored scarf with a large number of scarves that on the right side you can see the Cuban flag, which caused netizens to accuse her of being a communist.
Instead of focusing on what is really important at the moment, a great number of Ticos joined the online shitstorm, which regrettably forced the Minister to have to explain why she wore the scarf and officials of Casa Presidencial and the PAC party to downplay the situation.
Did they not capture the moment that our country is in serious jeopardy of joining the other countries of the region in after doing so well, for so long.
Although our numbers today, to us, seem bleak and our government has taken steps to avoid an explosion of the situation that could collapse the health system to the point it may have to turn away patients, we are still doing pretty good.
But, if we don’t heed the words of Health Minister Daniel Salas “we have to take better care of ourselves”, we can easily lose control and could, in the blink of an eye, become the next Panama or Nicaragua.
Here more Tweets in defense of the minister, which should have never been in the first place, surely we have more serious issues to be worried about.
No me pude quedar con las ganas de que Pilar Garrido me enseñara el famoso pañuelo completo. ¡Está hermoso!
Qué pena que las mujeres tengan que estar aclarando cómo andan vestidas. Es falso que la ministra Pilar Garrido utilizara la bandera de Cuba y Venezuela esta tarde. Se trata de una pañoleta de Purificación García, alusiva a Naciones Unidas y que tiene todas las banderas del mundo pic.twitter.com/cZ3N0sEJ4o
El mundo en un pañuelo 🇸🇴🇱🇰🇸🇬🇸🇴🇹🇱🇹🇬🇹🇲🇹🇲🇹🇰🇮🇴🇸🇷🇿🇦🇸🇩🇻🇳🇺🇬🇸🇿🇮🇴🇹🇷🇹🇲🇨🇭🇹🇲🇸🇪🇸🇲🇷🇴🇨🇬🇨🇩🇲🇿🇲🇨🇲🇳🇳🇦🇳🇬🇵🇬🇵🇬🇵🇹🇳🇨🇵🇫 lo que usó hoy la ministra Pilar Garrido 🇦🇷🇩🇿🇪🇸🇸🇻🇰🇭🇨🇷🇨🇿🇰🇷🇰🇵🇰🇭🇩🇰🇹🇩🇨🇮 Las banderas son de las naciones no de los Gobiernos. Eso era… pic.twitter.com/Kr31SJh50s
Funeral workers carry a coffin with the body of a victim of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in a cemetery in Lima, Peru. June 18, 2020 (REUTERS / Sebastián Castaneda)
(Q24N) Deaths from coronavirus in Peru exceeded the 10,000 on Thursday, according to data from the country’s Ministry of Health, after registering 185 deaths in the last 24 hours.
Funeral workers carry a coffin with the body of a victim of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in a cemetery in Lima, Peru. June 18, 2020 (REUTERS / Sebastián Castaneda)
In total, 10,045 deaths have been reported since the start of the pandemic, with 292,004 confirmed cases.
Since the first death from COVID-19, the coronavirus disease, registered on March 24, the virus has not stopped spreading in Peru, one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic in South America.
Unusual deaths
Peru, the sixth country in the world and the second in Latin America with the most cases of COVID-19, registers more than 34,000 unusual deaths since the arrival of the pandemic in its territory, of which about 10,045 had the coronavirus as the confirmed cause of death.
Between March and June, a total of 71,328 people died in Peru, 92% more than in the same period of the previous two years, when approximately 37,000 people died in both 2018 and 2019, according to data from the National Death Information System ( Sinadef).
In total there are some 34,300 deaths above the figures of 2029 and 2018, just over three times the 9,860 deaths confirmed by the virus.
The difference is about 24,400 deceased who can be classified as suspects of COVID-19.
The national system of deaths shows that the mortality figures for other causes of death have remained at normal values during this period, so that this excess of deaths may be directly due to suspected cases of coronavirus, in the absence of proof that this be confirmed exactly.
This has been warned in recent weeks from the Prospective Group, a group of experts from different disciplines that advises the Government on the measures to be taken against the pandemic.
File image of people with masks walking through the Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima, Peru. March 6, 2020 (REUTERS / Sebastián Castañeda)
Three times more deaths in Lima
Lima, the great national epicenter of the pandemic, concentrating 30% of the population and 60% of COVID-19 cases, presents a similar trend in death records.
The Peruvian capital registered between March and June 32,539 deaths, approximately three times the number of deaths that occurred in the same period in 2018 and 2019 under normal circumstances, when some 11,000 deaths were recorded.
In both May and June 2020, more than 11,000 people died. This means that, consecutively, in a single month there were the same number of deaths that are usually recorded over four months.
The deceased in Lima whose confirmed cause of death is the coronavirus number almost 4,600, so that as suspects there would be almost 17,000 deaths that are above the usual number of deaths in the capital.
Activists of the NGO Rio de Paz with protective equipment dig graves on Copacabana beach to symbolize those killed by coronavirus disease during a demonstration in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on June 11, 2020 (REUTERS / Pilar Olivares)
(Q24N) Brazil this Thursday registered the second highest number of daily coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, with 47,984 new infections, bringing the total in the country to 1,501,353, according to the Brazilian media consortium, which collects statistics of the ministries of health in the 26 states of the country when considering the officials as unreliable
Activists of the NGO Rio de Paz with protective equipment dig graves on Copacabana beach to symbolize those killed by coronavirus disease during a demonstration in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on June 11, 2020 (REUTERS / Pilar Olivares)
In relation to the deaths, 1,277 new deaths were registered on Thursday, bringing the death toll to 61,990.
Brazil is the second country in the world with the highest number of cases and deaths due to the virus, behind only the United States, which has around 2.7 million confirmed infections and more than 128,000 deaths.
The Brazilian Ministry of Health has highlighted a recent advance of the disease in the southern and mid-western regions, initially less affected by the disease. Government officials also said that more than 90% of Brazilian municipalities already register cases of coronavirus.
Although the country is at the height of the pandemic, many states and municipalities began their processes of economic reactivation and lack of confidence, including São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the states most affected by the disease in Brazil.
According to the press consortium, São Paulo reached 302,179 cases and 15,351 deaths. The regional government estimated at a press conference on Thursday that the state could reach 23,000 deaths and 470,000 cases of COVID-19 on July 15.
Brazil would have at least 8 million people infected by coronavirus, five times more than the number of cases confirmed by the Government (1.5 million), according to a study commissioned by the Ministry of Health and which examined blood samples from 89,397 Brazilians in 133 cities.
The study, whose results were disclosed this Thursday at a press conference at the Ministry of Health, shows the high rate of underreporting of cases of the disease in Brazil.
According to the study carried out by researchers from the Federal University of Pelotas, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, 3.8% of the people examined between June 21 and 24 had antibodies to COVID-19 in their samples of blood, that is to say that it was infected or had already come into contact with the virus that transmits the disease.
A woman passes in front of a graffiti that shows the President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, adjusting his protective mask, amid the outbreak of coronavirus in Rio de Janeiro on July 2, 2020. REUTERS / Sergio Moraes
Projecting that percentage, the researchers calculate that if 3.8% of the 211 million Brazilians have antibodies to the virus, at least 8 million would have been infected at some point in the last four months.
The study was carried out in three stages (second fortnight in May, first fortnight in June and second fortnight in June) and showed that the number of infected people jumped by 23% between the second and third stages, well below the increase of 53 % measured between the first and the second.
Zolgensma, a gene therapy medicine for treating spinal muscular atrophy in children under the age of two, is now available in Germany. However, a single treatment of the drug, which is produced by Swiss pharmaceuticals company Novartis, comes at the steep price of €1.9 million ($2.1 million).
The manufacturer argues that this is a reasonable price considering that without it, it costs between €2.5 and 4 million to treat the degenerative disease over a lifetime.
Gilead Sciences, which has developed remdesivir, takes a similar line of argument, saying that the drug, which is viewed as a promising tool in the fight against COVID-19, could save costs in the long run.
In an open letter earlier this week, Daniel O’Day, chairman and CEO of Gilead Sciences, wrote: “Taking the example of the United States, earlier hospital discharge would result in hospital savings of approximately $12,000 per patient. Even just considering these immediate savings to the healthcare system alone, we can see the potential value that remdesivir provides.”
“We have decided to price remdesivir well below this value,” he continued. “To ensure broad and equitable access at a time of urgent global need, we have set a price for governments of developed countries of $390 per vial. Based on current treatment patterns, the vast majority of patients are expected to receive a 5-day treatment course using 6 vials of remdesivir, which equates to $2,340 per patient.”
A single treatment of Zolgensma, produced by Swiss pharmaceuticals firm Novartis, costs €1.9 million
What is fair drug pricing?
The editor of the German specialist magazine Arznei-Telegramm, Wolfgang Becker-Brüser, is not convinced. He told DW that the costs of treating COVID-19 without remdesivir had been calculated at random.
“There is an attempt to give the impression that the price is fair,” he said. “However, if there wasn’t a pandemic and so much public attention they might have set the price much higher.”
The Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (vfa) refused to comment. “The vfa does not comment on the pricing schemes of individual companies,” it said in a statement to DW.
But in the past, the vfa has called on the pharmaceuticals sector to show responsibility with regard to consumers and demanded that affordable medicine and vaccines be made available.
An analysis by British researchers cited in the Germany weekly Der Spiegel came to the conclusion that it probably cost about €8 to produce one dose of remdesivir.
However, it is normal for the sale price to be much higher than the production price, considering companies invest huge sums into development.
Gilead Sciences claims that it invested about $1 billion into remdesivir. This is actually at the lower end of the vfa’s scale for developing a new drug. The association told DW that companies tended to invest $1 to 1.6 billion in a new product.
For Wolfgang Becker-Brüser, this is “fantasy.”
“If the development costs are calculated to be so high then it is easy to demand higher prices,” he told DW.
For Alexander Nuyken, a pharmaceuticals expert at the consulting firm EY, there is a reason that development costs are so high: they encompass the risk of failure. “It has to be possible to add a premium for the risks incurred from the development of a drug to its approval,” he said.
Global competition
According to media reports, the US has already secured the entire stock of projected production for July and 90% for August.
Germany, too, has apparently secured supplies. Health Minister Jens Spahn has been applying pressure. He said that he expected “Germany and Europe to have access to supplies to such a drug.” The British government has also said that it has enough reserves.
So far, remdesivir has not been fully approved in any country and there has not been enough research into how effective it really is against the novel coronavirus. But apart from Dexamethason, it is the drug that seems to have the most potential for treating patients with SARS-CoV-2 and limiting the disease’s course.
Alexander Nuyken said that it was not surprising that the world’s wealthy nations were all eager to get hold of supplies. “That’s why it is particularly important that we find common solutions in international alliances.”
There are already several international forums in which this is being attempted and a European vaccine alliance has been formed with the WHO.
However, the problem, as with the global fight against the climate emergency, is that if the US does not play by the same rules, the attempts of other states will be curbed.
Those who benefit, said Becker-Brüser, are the pharmaceuticals giants, “which are in a position to aim higher.”
It will soon become clear how high Gilead Sciences is prepared to go. Right now, the European Union is negotiating with the US company and trying to ensure that all 27 states have supplies in the coming months.
The variation of COVID-19 currently dominating global cases is more infectious than the original strain that emerged in China, according to a new study published Thursday in the scientific journal Cell.
Results of lab-based research published in the journal suggested that the current mutation is more transmissible between people than the previous iteration of the virus, though the finding remains to be proven.
“I think the data is showing that there is a single mutation that actually makes the virus be able to replicate better, and maybe have high viral loads,” top US infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci told the Journal of the American Medical Association about the study, which he was not involved in.
“We don’t have a connection to whether an individual does worse with this or not. It just seems that the virus replicates better and may be more transmissible, but this is still at the stage of trying to confirm that,” he said.
Three to six times as infectious
Researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and Duke University in North Carolina partnered with the University of Sheffield’s COVID-19 Genomics UK research group. The scientists found the current variant of the virus — D614G — makes a small but significant change in the protein that protrudes from the surface of the virus that it uses to invade and infect human cells.
Initial results shared in April were criticized for not proving the mutation itself was responsible for its domination. Other factors or chance could have played a role, critics said
The research team carried out additional experiments, analyzing data of 999 British patients hospitalized with COVID-19. They observed that those with the variant had more viral particles in them, but it had no effect on the severity of their disease.
Laboratory experiments have, meanwhile, shown that the variant is three to six times more capable of infecting human cells.
Real-world implications remain unclear
At this stage, however, conclusions can only be considered “probable,” as such experiments often do not accurately replicate the dynamics of a pandemic.
While the variant currently in circulation is considered more “infectious,” it is possible that it is less “transmissible” between people.
Virologist at the Yale School of Public Health Nathan Grubaugh, who was not involved in the study, said the results do not change much for the general public.
“While there are still important studies needed to determine if this will influence drug or vaccine development in any meaningful way, we don’t expect that D614G will alter our control measures or make individual infections worse,” he wrote in a commentary piece.
“It’s more of a live look into science unfolding: an interesting discovery was made that potentially touches millions of people,” he added, “but we don’t yet know the full scope or impact.”
(QCOSTARICA) The explosion of COVID-19 infections forced in the last couple of weeks, in particular, the last two days with 294 new cases on Wednesday, a record and 270 on Thursday, the Minister of Health, Daniel Salas, admitted during the Thursday press conference, that the dreaded community transmission exists in the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM).
Salas acknowledged that the escalation of cases in recent days exceeded the ability of Health officials to follow the trail of each one, know their links, find contacts and dictate health orders for those people suspected of having the virus.
“This declaration arises because the number of cases has been increasing in a very important way in recent days and that leads to a material impossibility of following them up (…) the acceleration of cases exceeds the ability to carry out investigations in a timely manner,” said Salas.
The Minister admitted to the fact that of the 1,044 new cases from Sunday to Thursday, it was impossible to investigate 65% of them, that is that in at least 678 of the cases it is not known how they were infected.
“The acceleration of cases exceeds the capacity to carry out investigations of in a timely manner,” he said.
Salas said the decision to make the declaration as a “precautionary” measure so that people take more care of themselves since “the risk of becoming infected is the highest that has existed since the start of the pandemic.”
“What this means is: people, we have to take better care of ourselves,” Salas said.
To combat the continued spikes in cases, the government on Thursday announced a series of measures that take effect today, July 3 and for the next 10 days, change in alerts in a number of cantons and districts across the country, the majority of the GAM, to “orange”, in effect reversing the phase 3 opening that began last Saturday, Jule 27.
The highlights of the new measures from July 3 to July 13 are a nationwide vehicular restriction, from Monday to Sunday, from 7:00 pm to 5:00 am and from 5:00 am to 7:00 pm based on the last digit of the license plate.
Border cantons and districts, both the northern border with Nicaragua and southern border with Panama, will have even stricter vehicular restrictions.
In areas of orange alert, many of the commercial activities that were permitted starting last Saturday are closed again.
Facemasks or face shields are now mandatory in supermarkets and retail stores.
For all the measures announced Thursday, click here.
All these decisions are communicated only two days after Salud ruled out community transmission in Pavas, a populous San Jose district with 84,000 inhabitants, where outbreaks of contagion have been detected.
There 1,200 tests were carried out randomly in 13 neighborhoods of the district and 4.5% tested positive. According to Salas, to consider community transmission, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, the percentage must be at least 10% to declare community transmission.
For this July 2, the accumulated number of infections in the country reached 4,023 with 1,589 recovered and 18 deaths (nine men and nine women), the last of which was confirmed Thursday afternoon.
As the contagions accelerated, so did the deaths: six deaths in as many days from Saturday, June 27 to Thursday, July 2, all women.
Worrisome also is a sharp increase in hospitalizations. As of Thursday, July 2, there were 60 patients in hospital with COVID-19, double that of the same day last week, 16 more than two days ago.
The Health system will collapse
Mario Ruiz, medical manager of the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) was emphatic on Thursday, “If a wave of hospitalizations comes, the system collapses”.
The medical manager admits that if hospitalizations skyrocket during that stage, the health system is very likely to collapse. However, he considers that there is still time to avoid that scenario.
“Right now we have a blessing and we must take advantage of it: we are seeing that wave coming (…). So, we have to make decisions so that this wave does not affect us as much, because it will come at some point,” he said.
(QCOSTARICA) With the aim of helping Costa Ricans who suffer the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, legislators hastened the passage of a bill that would give months of exoneration to the basic basket, rents, water and electricity.
The initiative was waived in Congress today, so it will be debated in an accelerated manner.
However, the bill would be approved until mid-July, to exonerate a tax that went into effect in July, as lawmakers went began their week’s vacation today, due to the increase in cases of COVID-19 registered in recent days in the halls of the Legislative Assembly.
(QCOSTARICA) Costa Rica registered this afternoon the death number 18 of a COVID-19 patient, a 38-year-old woman, a foreigner, who lived in the province of San José.
The death occurred in Hospital México where she had been hospitalized since June 30 in intensive care. The woman died five days after the disease was diagnosed.
On June 28 she was admitted to hospital, two days later her health worsened, requiring intensive care.
The deceased had diabetes and obesity, both risk factors for COVID-19.
With this case, nine women and nine men have died since March 6, aged between 26 and 89 years.
This Thursday the country reached 4,023 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus. The first case was detected on March 6.
(QCOSTARICA) BAC Credomatic announced this Thursday, July 2, the layoff of 373 employees, the closing of 11 branches or points of service and will cancel 187,526 credit cards to 79,789 customers.
The bank reported that the measures are taken due to the blow they receive due to the new interest rate caps for financial, commercial, and microcredit operations provided in Law 7472 on Promotion of Competition and Effective Consumer Defense – known as the usury law; and the low current and projected growth for 2020.
“We face and adapt to changes seeking to preserve the trust we have built and ensuring the healthy sustainability of the organization in the new context,” explained Federico Odio, general manager of BAC Credomatic, a private bank.
Hate added that the decisions announced today are difficult for the financial institution, but “necessary and responsible”.
The bank’s results have been affected amid the blow caused by the pandemic to the Costa Rican economy and the financial segments in particular.
The operating profit (which excludes the exchange rate devaluation) decreased 8% in May, compared to the previous year, due to the economic situation known to all, explained Laura Moreno, vice president of Corporate Relations at BAC Credomatic.
It is possible that this situation affects this result for a few more months, taking into account the impact of the pandemic and its evolution in the face of the new normal, Moreno added.
The bank will communicate with each of the clients and give a transition period of 60 days to finalize the closing – pay off – the credit cards.
The balances that the clients have pending to pay will be collected as of September 3, 2020. BAC will grant a term of up to five years to pay.
The clients to whom the cards will be closed belong to segments that the bank cannot continue serving with traditional products and channels, the press release detailed.
The entity did not detail which are those particular segments to which the financing conditions must change.
BAC is evaluating which new credit and microcredit products it will offer to clients who will lose their financing option with the plastics that the entity will close.
The bank also announced that the new caps will affect benefits for other cardholders, such as loyalty programs, promotions, points and facilities offered depending on the type of card and profile.
BAC
BAC Credomatic is a financial group in Central America, with operations in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua (where it was founded and former headquarters in the city of Managua), Costa Rica (current headquarters), Panama, Grand Cayman, The Bahamas, and Florida.
Founded in 1952 in Managua as Banco de América Central, BAC was the forerunner of what is now known as the BAC Credomatic Group.
In the mid-eighties, the Group decided to enter other markets in the region, starting in Costa Rica with the acquisition of what is now known as Banco BAC San José.
In December 2010, Grupo Aval, a Colombian holding company engaged in a wide variety of financial activities, including banking, telecommunications, and real estate; in Colombia and Central America, completed the purchase of the BAC Credomatic banking group.
In 2017 the group started to use BAC Credomatic as a brand for all their bank and credit card services, using a new modern logo.
(QCOSTARICA) The numbers keep piling up. This Thursday, July 2, another 270 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 are registered, for total accumulated cases of 4,023 counted from March 6.
There are 1,589 recovered, 60 hospitalized, six of them in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Seventeen people have died.
Daniel Salas, Minister of Health, declared a “precautionary” community transmission for the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM), given the number of cases registered in recent days.
The advance of infections has prevented the investigation of 65% of those detected this week.
“This is so that people understand that they have to take care of themselves because the risk of becoming infected is the highest since the beginning of the pandemic.
“This means: People, we have to take better care of ourselves,” Salas warned.
According to the Minister, the precautionary statement was made according to guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO), given the large number of cases that have not been able to establish its transmission chains.
Salas was clear, this situation has been reached due to the violation of social bubbles and basic measures, because people who have a cough or fever do not stay home, but go out and expose themselves, and this causes more transmission chains.
“Most of the people respect (the recommendations), but it is important to indicate that in the midst of this escalation, we have not been able to issue all the sanitary orders. We are exceeding the capacity of the Health governing areas, ”said Salas.
For this reason, the minister called people who are suspected of having the virus or contagion contacts to remain in their home, even if they do not have the health order, out of respect and solidarity.
As announced Wednesday by President Carlos Alvarado, the government announced today stricter measures for an expanded area of “orange alert”, while the rest of the country can continue with phase 3.
Among the notable changes that effect on Friday, July 3 and continuing to July 13, are the vehicular restrictions change to 5:00 am to 7:00 pm every day, the mandatory use of a facemask or face shield in supermarkets and retail stores.
(QCOSTARICA) Apply the term used by Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado “hammer and dance” (martillo y baile), we heard today the anticipated measures to curb the spike in the number of new cases of the COVID-19 and increase in hospitalizations.
Starting tomorrow, Friday, July 3 and in effect to July 13, the government announced the “hammer”, expanding the number of communities under “orange” alert in the greater metropolitan area and northern zone, with many others will continue with the “dance”, permitted to continue phase 3 of the opening with some modified restrictions.
Another important point, during the period there will be mandatory use of facemask or face shield at supermarkets and retail stores, and of course, continuing with the application of the other sanitary protocols.
Orange Alert
The areas under “orange alert” and with the maximum sanitary restrictions are:
San Jose province cantons and districts: San José, Curridabat, Montes de Oca, Moravia, Tibás, Goicoechea, Aserrí, Escazú, Desamparados, Alajuelita and Puriscal.
Alajuela province cantons and districts: Alajuela, San Ramón, Palmares, Grecia, Upala, Guatuso, Los Chiles, southeast sector distrricst of La Fortuna de San Carlos (Tres Esquinas, Los Ángeles, Sonafluca, La Perla, San Isidro, El Tanque, San Jorge, Santa Cecilia) and the district of Florencia, San Carlos (La Vega and Bonanza).
Heredia province cantons and districts: Heredia, Santo Domingo and Barva.
Puntarenas province cantons and districts: Puntarenas (except for the districts of Cobano, Lepanto, Monteverde, Isla Chira, Isla Caballo, Isla San Lucas, Isla del Coco and Isla Venado) and Corredores.
Cartago province: canton of La Union.
Guancaster province: canton of Bagaces
Limon province: canton of Pococí.
In the orange alert areas, the vehicular restriction, save for the border areas (), Monday to Sunday, from 7:00 pm to 5:00 am, all vehicles; and from 5:00 am to 7:00 pm based on the last digit of the license plate: 1 & 2 Mondays, 3 & 4 Tuesdays, 5 & 6 Wednesdays, 7 & 8 Thursdays, 9 & 0 Fridays, all even-numbered (0,2, 4, 6, 8) Saturdays and all odd-numbers (1, 3, 5, 7, 9) Sundays.
Weekdays:
Commercial activity can be carried out weekdays between 5:00 am to and 7:00 pm, except for those not enabled such as places of worship, public parks, bars, and events of mass concentration. Hotels will be able to operate from Monday to Sunday with a capacity of 50%.
Weekends:
Allowed to operate (5 am to 7 pm) only supermarkets, pharmacies, medical centers, grocery stores, suppliers, bakeries, butchers, greengrocers, home service, agricultural, veterinary and hygiene supplies, banks, funeral homes, hardware stores, locksmiths, vehicle repair shops, motorcycles, tires and machinery, and lubrication centers.
In the case of supermarkets, suppliers, grocery stores, and mini-supermarkets, on weekends, only the items corresponding to the sale of food, beverages, groceries, cleaning and hygiene supplies, and basic needs.
Not enabled: Restaurants, beauty salons, shops, cinemas, theaters and museums, places of worship, public parks, bars, and events of mass concentration.
Farmer’s fairs may operate with strict protocols, and with a differentiated time for seniors from 5:00 am to 8:30 am.
Yellow Alert
The following are the sanitary measures for all areas under “yellow” alert, which is basically the entire country (excepting the areas under orange alert):
From Monday to Sunday: They continue in phase 3 of reopening from 5:00 am to 7:00 pm, with authorization for the operation of places of worship of maximum 75 people, beaches from 5:00 am to 9:30 am, hotels and restaurants, shops, museums, cinemas and theaters on weekends at 50% capacity.
Not enabled: The operation of public parks, bars, and events of mass concentration.
The nighttime vehicle restriction is total for the entire country from Monday to Sunday, from 7:00 pm to 5:00 am (save for border areas) and for the list of exceptions well known.
The daytime vehicular restrictions will be from 5:00 am to 7:00 pm, based on the last digit of the license plate: 1 & 2 Mondays, 3 & 4 Tuesdays, 5 & 6 Wednesdays, 7 & 8 Thursdays, 9 & 0 Fridays, all even-numbered (0,2, 4, 6, 8) Saturdays and all odd-numbers (1, 3, 5, 7, 9) Sundays.
Border areas will have a vehicular restriction from Monday to Sunday, total from 5:00 pm and 5:00 am and from 5:00 am to 5:00 pm based on the last digit of the license plate as above.
The areas identified as “border areas” are:1. Cantón de La Cruz
2. Cantón de Upala (en alerta naranja)
3. Cantón de Guatuso (en alerta naranja)
4. Cantón de Los Chiles (en alerta naranja)
5. Cantón de San Carlos: Aguas Zarcas, Cutris, Pital, Pocosol y Venecia. Además, el sector sureste del distrito de la Fortuna de San Carlos (Tres Esquinas, Los Ángeles, Sonafluca, La Perla, San Isidro, El Tanque, San Jorge, Santa Cecilia); y La Vega y Bonanza del distrito de Florencia.
6. Cantón de Río Cuarto
7. Distritos de Llanuras del Gaspar y Curuña del cantón de Sarapiquí
8. Distritos de Pacuarito y Reventazón del cantón de Siquirres
9. Los distritos de La Rita, Roxana, Cariari y Colorado del cantón de Pococí (en alerta naranja)
10. Distrito de Duacarí de cantón de Guácimo
11. Cantón de Corredores (en alerta naranja)
12. Distritos de Sabalito y Agua Buena del Cantón de Coto Brus.
Also restricted from 5:00 pm to 5:00 am is navigation on rivers and waterways such as: Medio Queso, Frío, Sistema de Canalización del Caribe Norte (Canales de Tortuguero), Colorado, Sarapiquí and San Carlos.
The announcement made today is in development and we will report changes, explanations and clarifications, if any, as they become available.
(QCOSTARICA) Apple’s new flagship, the Phone 12, is expected to arrive in September as usual, despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
But it will not include EarPods or a power adapter in the box, according to Ming-Chi Kuo, a leading analyst of Apple products and who maintains an almost perfect record when it comes to leaks of new devices.
Kuo said that Apple will instead release a new 20W power adapter as an optional accessory for iPhones and end production of its existing 5W and 18W power adapters later this year. The form factor of the new 20W power adapter is said to be similar to the 18W version, with USB-C Power Delivery for fast charging, as seen in the leaked photo below.
Kuo believes that iPhone 12 production costs will significantly increase due to 5G support, but he expects Apple to sell the new models, without these important accessories for the first time in the life of the popular smartphone, with the intention of keeping the price of the new model in the range that its predecessor the iPhone 11.
And it is that by including a 5G chip at a time when the main mobile operators in the United States, Europe and Asia have begun to launch their new generation networks, it would have made the price of the device more expensive.
Four models are expected: one with a 5.4-inch screen, two 6.1-inch (one premium) and the fourth, which would be the Premium, 6.7-inch, all with an Oled screen and with the “Notch” on its secondary camera, but smaller than on iPhone 11, due to features like FaceID.
The computers would come with an A14 processor manufactured by TSMC, a minimum internal storage capacity of 128 Gb and would have between 4 and 6 Gb of RAM, depending on the range of the device, that is, conventional, Pro or Max.
Arrival in Costa Rican depends on the importer since Gollo and Tiendas Monge usually buy them in the United States at the same time they go to market, while other official distributors such as iShop, iCon and telcos must wait for Apple’s release dates for each region, which takes two to three months to market.
“At Monge, we ratify our commitment to being the first to offer the latest and most advanced technology products that are trending worldwide, the iPhone 12 will be no exception. At this time, the launch date in the country is not confirmed, since it depends on the distribution stages chosen by the authorized distributor,” commented Carlos Fernández, Monge’s communications manager.
(QCOSTARICA) The entry into force of the 1% of the Value Added Tax (VAT) in the basic basket (canasta basica) items, as of this Wednesday, July 1, represents a blow that will not necessarily go unnoticed by an important group of the neediest and low-income population.
Although for the vast majority 1% will represent a few hundred colones at the cash register, for at least 1,200,000 in Costa Rica, whose average expenses are greater than their income, this is not the case. For them, every colon counts.
According to figures at the end of 2019 from the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC), there are 628,829 people who lived with a per capita income of less than ¢58,852 colones (US$101) per month, and another 574,000 people who have done with less than ¢85,493 (US$147).
The situation with this population is that the average expenses exceed that amount month by month; that is to say, the money is not enough, and they must resort to living on borrowed money, aid, or simply on what fate has in store for them day by day.
The situation lived today by the first two deciles (groups of 10% of the population or some 300,000 households), in the middle of a pandemic, could be currently worse.
This difficult situation of squeezing was made even worse for them with the entry of the VAT, in that a large part of their resources must be used precisely in food, in the precisely priced products of the basic basket.
Keep in mind that those products outside the basic basket already pay 13% VAT.
According to INEC, the first quintile of the population (20% with fewer resources) has an average income of ¢68,000 colones per person, and at least ¢30,581 must be used in basic food products.
“If your income is ¢200,000 a month, for a person that ¢2,000 (1% VAT) can mean three or four bus passes to get to and from work. We are making life difficult for them significantly. I am not worried about the middle and upper classes because it is not going to make a big difference to them, but it is for the sector that was already in poverty and its panorama has now been made more difficult,” said economist Eli Feinzaig.
The government proposed a bill to suspend this collection for at least one year, while the current crisis period passes; however, the bill has not found sufficient support in the Legislative Assembly, though there are legislators looking for a consensus on the text to allow the suspension of the 1%, although it has already entered into force.
This Wednesday, the Minister of Planning Pilar Garrido came out in defense of the bill, noting that the reduction in income for the State that would mean not collecting VAT should be covered by some other source.
The collection of the 1% is intended to finance the non-contributory resources of the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS).
(QCOSTARICA) This year, a group of cantons in the country will have to take extreme measures to safeguard their population from the COVID-19 pandemic and the emergencies associated with the rainy season.
According to an investigation by the State of the Nation Program (PEN), said combination of factors puts at risk ten of the eighteen cantons that present a high incidence of disasters related to the rainy season.
The list is made up of:
Desamparados
Alajuela
San Jose
Puntarenas
Cartago
San Carlos
Aserrí
Pococí
Limón
La Unión
From that list, four of the seven cantons with the highest number of COVID-19 cases are also on the listl of sites with the highest propensity to suffer disasters at this time of year.
These are:
San José
San Carlos
Alajuela
Desamparados
With data as of June 26, the PEN researcher, Leonardo Merino, explained that seven cantons monopolized, to date, 46.5% of the positive cases of COVID-19:
San José
San Carlos
Alajuela
Desamparados
Heredia
San Ramón
Alajuelita
“Emergencies are a challenge that the country faces on a daily basis. In the current context of a pandemic, this situation could double strike several areas of the national territory. With the onset of the rains, some cantons will experience disasters derived from events such as landslides, floods, winds and others, which would affect houses, production and even cause the loss of human lives.
Flooding is a result of heavy rains in many areas around the country
“To the foregoing, today is added an unknown type of emergency for Costa Rica due to COVID-19, which will lead to facing an unprecedented scenario of threats, usually under social, economic, labor, and institutional conditions that can worsen the impact that this current scenario it adds to the already known and serious disaster scenario,” Merino analyzed.
Especially at risk due to COVID-19 and the disasters associated with the rainy season is the canton of Desamparados, the most populous in the province of San José. This is due to the number of positive cases of the new coronavirus in its boundaries and the number of annual reports of rainfall, landslides, floods, and other climatic emergencies.
Merino also detected that in some cantons there are similar conditions that increase the risk. Among these elements, the researcher reviewed the high population density; housing problems and overcrowding; poverty; informality; poor working conditions; territorial disorder; land-use changes, and productive activities that do not prioritize risk reduction, among others.
“All these aspects can favor both the high impact of disasters and the spread of contagion, in populations that have limited capacities for confinement, derived from their socioeconomic, housing and work situation,” concluded the researcher.
How to prevent a critical situation from coming true due to the combination of COVID-19 and natural disasters this season? According to Merino, it is essential that the design of public policies consider the particularities of each region and the cantons based on data. In this way, he considered that the current emergency can be attended to and future situations anticipated.
Up to Monday, July 1, the Ministry of Health reported 3,753 cases of COVID-19 and 17 deaths.
A Nicaraguan expat living in Costa Rica takes part in the "Caravan for Liberty and Justice" to protest against the government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, in La Cruz, Costa Rica border with Nicaragua, December 16, 2018. REUTERS/Juan Carlos Ulate
Rico’s TICO BULL – Browsing social networks I still am amazed at how some, at times, seems many still haven’t gotten the facts straight about Costa Rica’s borders, who can enter and who cannot enter. And who can leave.
For illustrative purposes
Questions from those living on the outside and itching to visit or get back to Costa Rica I can understand, they are not bombarded daily with this information, aren’t living the reality of us here. They have their own reality to deal with.
But what of those who live here, some for long time, not just visiting. The news of border restrictions, though official are in Spanish, have been published on English language websites, Italian, French, German and so on.
So, what it is not to get?
Look, right now only Costa Ricans and legal residents who didn’t leave the country after March 24 can enter the country at any border point – land, sea or air – and comply to a 14-day self-isolation order.
Tourists, non-residents, that is those who live in Costa Rica, as if they were residents, but have not the status of a resident, cannot enter the country at this time. The borders to them will be re-opened on August 1, 2020. Unless there is yet another extension.
Leaving Costa Rica, the borders are not closed. Anyone can leave and at any time. The choices are limited, but they can leave.
There is Nicaragua. There are limited scheduled flights from the San Jose airport. You can hire a private charter flight for yourself or a group of friends. The ports are open, you can hire a charter boat.
The options are not many, not only as to the method of travel but also the destination.
Closure of Costa Rican Borders
From the immigration website: As of this Thursday, March 19, at 00:00 hours, the restriction of foreign persons to the national territory began to be applied as dictated by Executive Decree No. 42238 – MGP- S.
According to this decree, only Costa Ricans, and foreigners with a migratory status granted by Migration, that is, people who hold a Special Category, Temporary or Permanent Residence, and who have left the country BEFORE March 24, 2020, may enter the national territory.
Likewise, the following are excepted from the restriction:
International means of land, air and sea transportation of goods.
People who are processing or have regular migratory stay in the country, those who have submitted their procedure in Migration before the effective date of this decree, but must present the file number when entering the country. Foreign people must demonstrate that their immigration category is in force at the time of entering the country.
Foreigners who are duly accredited in the country as diplomatic agents, consular officials, members of diplomatic missions, members of permanent missions or delegations of international organizations based in Costa Rica.
People who are part of crews of international means of air or maritime transport.
Foreigners who make international transit in air terminals, without being allowed to enter beyond the boarding rooms of the respective airports.
Any person who enters the national territory from March 19, must comply with a quarantine of 14 days at their home, for this, the decree empowers the officers of the Immigration Police to notify all persons entering the country from March 19 to comply with said health order, for this the officer will give each person a form where they must indicate the place of residence, full name and ID number and means to communicate with him or her.
This restriction will last until August 1, 2020, at 11:59 p.m., at which time an analysis of the situation will be carried out to determine if the measure ends at that time or extends for a longer time.
Remember that if you are a foreigner with a migratory category, you left the country, and when you left an entry impediment was imposed, it is extended according to the border closing date, so you will not be able to enter the country until the Government indicates reopening of borders.
Pay attention to the last paragraph: Remember if you enter the country illegally your migratory status will be canceled.
Health Minister Daniel Salas at the noon presses on Wednesday
(QCOSTARICA) Although the 294 new cases of COVID-19 reported Wednesday will force the country to step back on measures to reopen, Health Minister, Daniel Salas, affirms that there is still time to contain or flatten the contagion curve.
Health Minister Daniel Salas at the noon presses on Wednesday
Visibly distressed by the epidemiological situation, Salas reiterated the call not to break social bubbles and not to hold parties or meetings in order to reduce contagion.
“We have to try to be strong, brave, because, in the end, it is our country, it is our people who are at stake here; it is the life of many people who are close to you. And we already indicated: if we enter an exponential curve, there will be deaths very often. People we are going to have to say goodbye to because there was no space in a hospital,” says Salas.
The Minister was referring to the limited resources of the health system to deal with a spike in hospitalizations.
This Wednesday, 56 COVID-19 patients were in hospital, six of them in intensive care. This is an increase of 12 in 24 hours, almost double that of early last week.
Hospitalized as of July 1
Wednesday afternoon, the minister confirmed that an official working in the central building of the Ministry of Health tested positive for COVID-19 and both this and close contacts have already been isolated.
Also Wednesday afternoon, the death number 17 by COVID-19 was confirmed. This is the 5th death in as many days, all women.
(QCOSTARICA) Costa Rica registered Wednesday afternoon death number 17 of a COVID-19 patient, a 71-year-old Costa Rican woman, a resident of Alajuela.
The woman died in her home. On Tuesday she went to the Alajuela Hospital for diarrhea and abdominal pain, a COVID-19 was performed, and, according to the Ministry of Health, “she was in stable health, so they sent her to her home. ”
The woman was to have been notified Wednesday of the rest results, that was positive, however, she died prior to receiving it.
She had diabetes and high blood pressure, both risk factors for COVID-19.
The victims of COVID-19
On March 18, Health authorities reported the first death from the virus. It was an 87-year-old man who died in the Alajuela Hospital.
4 days later, the Health Ministry confirmed the death of another senior, also 87 years old, at the Alajuela hospital.
The death of 3 men would be reported during the month of April at the San Juan de Dios Hospital. They were 45, 84, and 69 years old.
Also in April, the sixth death occurred at the Hospital México, when a 54-year-old man died.
The seventh death was reported on May 10 at the Liberia Hospital. The deceased was an 80-year-old man.
3 days later, the eighth death was reported at the San Juan de Dios Hospital, that of a 75-year-old man.
Another 2 deaths occurred in the Hospital México: On the afternoon of May 15, the death of a 58-year-old woman was recorded, while at the night, the death of a 73-year-old man was confirmed.
On June 8, the death of a 26-year-old woman was reported, who was asthmatic and apparently would have been infected with COVID-19. The case was diagnosed with post mortem at the Guatuso clinic.
On June 10, the death of a 64-year-old woman who had been hospitalized in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Hospital México was confirmed.
On June 27, the death of a 78 years old woman, a resident of Nicoya, Guanacaste, was reported in the morning.
Meanwhile, in the night hours of the 27rh, the fourteenth death of a COVID-19 patient was recorded, an 87-year-old Costa Rican woman who lived in the province of San José. The death occurred in the Specialized Patient Care Center with COVID-19 (CEACO) where she had been hospitalized since June 25. The woman was diagnosed with COVID-19 on June 23. The deceased had no other risk factors for becoming seriously ill from COVID-19. However, she did have other underlying conditions that complicated her condition.
In the early hours of Sunday, June 28, fatality number 15 was reported, a 48-year-old woman, a foreigner, and who lived in the province of Heredia. She died in the early hours of the morning at the Hospital México.
On June 30, death number 16 was reported, an 89-year-old woman who lived in the province of San José. She had been in the Specialized Patient Care Center with COVID-19 (Ceaco) since June 25. The woman was diagnosed with COVID-19 on June 22.
(QCOSTARICA) The coronavirus pandemic in Costa Rica has been setting records the last couple of weeks, but the biggest single-day increases in cases was today, July 1, with 294 new cases.
This spike also brings tougher restrictions, including a rollback in the reopening of activities, in particular for the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM), the new focus of contagion.
President Carlos Alvarado was emphatic that the rollback of openings will not be countrywide, rather in areas with the greatest risk and for at least one week.
The restrictive measures will be announced tomorrow Thursday and will go in effect on Friday, July 3.
Alvarado pointed out the sharp increase in cases, in particular in the metropolitan area is not work related, rather primarily to social activities, people misunderstanding the reopening for relaxed social measures.
Although the President didn’t refer specifically to the number of parties in the past week or so, some that have had to be broken up by the police; he was very political in the choice of his words.
“It will be in the center of the country where restriction measures will be applied again, only four days after passing to phase three. These restrictions will be communicated this Thursday to begin to govern on Friday for at least a week, waiting for the impact to be reduced or moderated, although without expecting an immediate reduction in cases,’ said President Carlos Alvarado.
“If two things can be advanced: it will not be in the whole country, but it will certainly have a big impact in the metropolitan area, where it will be implemented. It is important to say, from the preliminary information, many of these cases do not correspond to infections in work centers, they correspond to extracurricular activities, to activities that are social gatherings, crowds, that have to do with the discipline of people. Today we have to protect social bubbles and apply the hammer, that is what corresponds,” concluded the president.
Health report
With the 294 new cases today, the total number of accumulated cases is now 3,753 since the first case on March 6.
Concerning health authorities is not only the record number of new cases, but also a spike in hospitalizations.
Health Minister, Daniel Salas, said 56 COVID-19 patients are in hospital (six of which are in intensive care) an increase of 12 in 24 hours, almost double the record number of 30 last week.
(QCOSTARICA) Users of the Ruta 27 (San Jose – Caldera) will have to dig deeper into their pockets books as an increase in tolls took effect today, July 1.
The adjustment is stipulated in the concession contract signed between the State and Globalvía that operates and maintains the 72 kilometer road from La Sabana in San Jose, to the Calera port, on the Pacific coast.
“This adjustment responds to the behavior of the dollar exchange rate,” Globalvía said in a press release.
For light vehicles, at most stations (except in Escazú) the increase is ¢10 colones. For other class of vehicles, the rates vary.
Below is the official list of tolls that will be in effect starting today or click here.
Road controls are common during the vehicular restrictions. Avoid the sanctions, leave the car at home on the restricted day
(QCOSTARICA) Once again, the Constitutional Court, also known as the Sala IV, rejected an appeal for protection against the sanitary vehicle restriction, endorsing the powers that the administration has to regulate circulation in the streets of the country.
The recent appeal was presented by a Costa Rican identified by his last name Ramírez Víctor, alleging that there was no conclusive evidence that showed that driving increased the risk of COVID-19 infection. In addition, he alleged that the regulations were poorly communicated and the sanctions are disproportionate.
He also maintained that the provision of the seizure of license plates damages his right to go to work and is a confiscatory act since his vehicle is deprived of its use.
In evaluating these arguments, the Court explained that the State has the power to regulate the circulation of the motor vehicles on public roads and reiterated the allegations set forth in previous decisions on resources of this nature, which were also rejected.
In any case, as the Sala IV has already pointed out, freedom of transit is not unlimited, but its exercise must be subject to the fulfillment of certain requirements that the State may establish taking into consideration higher interests.
In addition, it has been repeatedly mentioned that the freedom of transit and movement recognized and protected by the Constitution does not protect the means of transportation but the freedom of every inhabitant of the Republic to move freely from one side to the other of the national territory,” the Court indicated in its decision.
The Court clarifies in the ruling that the freedom of transit protected in the Constitution refers to the possibility of citizens to move around the country or to stay in one place, but it does not mention the type of transportation that should be used. Nor does it stipulate that it be unlimited, which it calls the possibility of the authorities partially restricting it.
“In addition to the above, this Court finds sufficient and valid reasons for the imposition of the measure adopted by means of the directive in question, given that what is intended with this directive is to reduce the movement of vehicles in the center of the capital city. during the hours of greatest road congestion,” reads the decision.
The countrywide sanitary vehicle restriction prohibits circulation depending on the last digit of the license plate: weekdays license plates ending in 1 & 2 are restricted, 3 & 4 on Tuesdays, 5 & 6 on Wednesdays, 7 & 8 on Thursdays, 9 & 0 on Fridays, all even ending plates on Saturdays and all odd ending plates on Sundays.
Currently, the restrictions for all parts of the country, except those areas in the orange alert, are from 5:00 am to 10:00 pm weekdays and 5:00 am to 7:00 pm weekends, based on the last number of the plate as above and from 10:00 pm to 5:00 am weekdays and 7:00 pm to 5:00 m weekends, for all plates.
Restrictions in the orange alert are from 5:00 am to 5:00 pm every, based on the last number of the plate as above and for all plates from 5:00 pm to 5:00 am.
Violation of the vehicular restriction si ¢110,000 colones fine, 6 points on the driver’s license and seizure of the license plates and/or vehicle.
(QCOSTARICA) Betting on the sense of “revenge” that Americans have for having to postpone their travels, should be one of the strategies of Costa Rica when reopening international tourism country, estimates the study by EY consultants, “Why Costa Rica?”
La Republica also reports that in the wake of the pandemic, Americans are more likely to postpone their trips than cancel them, according to a survey by MMGY Global, a tourism company.
Americans are more likely to postpone their trips than cancel them
For example, many cruise tours have been rescheduled under the label of “rematch trips,” regardless of whether this was a tourism sector quite vulnerable to Covid-19.
As of June 8 of this year, 36.7% of American travelers had their next well-defined pleasure trip, the EY study adds.
These factors make up an accumulated demand for leisure that Costa Rica could exploit positively, considering that the United States is its main source of tourists.
Another factor is that half of American travelers are consulting the health protocols of the places where they plan to stay.
In this regard, Costa Rica has designed more than 14 specific protocols for the sector, thanks to the contribution of the Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT).
Another advantage that the report points out is that Costa Rica is attractive for young travelers, being a benchmark in ecotourism and adventure tourism. Younger travelers will be the ones to revive tourism in Covid-19 times, being less vulnerable to the virus.
Likewise, Costa Rica is seen as a safe destination due to the low mortality registered in Covid-19 cases, 16 as of June 30.
Another point, “It helps that the population density accumulates in the center of the country and not in tourist areas,” EY concludes.
Costa Rica will reopen its borders to international tourists on August 1, to travelers from countries with relative control over the expansion of the Covid-19.
Initially, the ICT proposed receiving tourists from the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Canada, on July 1, while the United States would be added later.
At this point in the pandemic, the United States Department of State allows its citizens to leave their country but does not recommend it.
Welcome to paradise
Americans have a good impression of Costa Rica as a post-Covid-19 destination. These are its advantages:
The bill presented on June 11 by the government to postpone the Value Added Tax (VAT) on basic basked items is still under consideration, despite the tax takes effect today, July 1.
(QCOSTARICA) Starting from today, July 1, 2020, articles of the basic basket and agricultural supplies will have a 1% Value Added Tax (VAT), and other changes that apply to some construction and tourism services, and an increase of one percentage point in the income tax for some incomes and surpluses.
In the case of the basic basket, the change applies to 195 products.
Some examples of goods that make up the basic basket are: white rice, beans, fresh liquid milk, some beef, pork and chicken, sausages, tuna in oil, some fruits such as avocado, limes, some vegetables and greens like sweet potatoes, onions, tomatoes, potatoes and chayote, and hygiene items, such as toilet paper. The complete list here.
The calculation of the tax on these basic basket products is complicated, in that in entails tax and credits on producers, their registration, and distributors and marketers, which costs end up passed on to the consumer.
Tourist services tax
Another of the charges will be that of tourist services. This does not touch the entire sector as such.
For example, renting a hotel room already has a 13% VAT, so no changes there. But if you hire services such as a tour, canopy, or a horse ride, for example, an 4% valued added tax applies.
VAT on construction services
All construction services had were exempted from paying the VAT must now start paying 4%. This means that any work that is still in process will be susceptible to this new cost, and that will necessarily cause the developer to have to decide whether to lower their profit margin or charge the client more.
Anyone who provides services related to the sector must now pay the 4% value added tax.
The argument from the construction sector that the VAT should not apply to them on July 1, as it would make the projects more expensive and generate more unemployment and informality.
However, weeks ago the new finance minister Elián Villegas was emphatic that VAT on construction would be charged, although the government was willing to give up on tourism and the basic basket, which has not yet occurred.
A bill, presented by the government on June 11, to postpone the tax to June 30, 2021, is still under discussion in the Legislative Assembly.
(QCOSTARICA) The bill that transfers the holidays for the following or previous Monday, with the aim of promoting local tourism, economic recovery, and job creation, was approved in the first debate on Tuesday.
Carlos Ricardo Benavides, legislator for the PLN party and former president of the Legislative Assembly
If the news seems a repeat, it is. The earlier bill, also approved in first debate by a majority on June 18, failed to obtain sufficient support to second and final debate, and unleashed a war between legislators, former president of the Legislative Assembly, Ricardo Benavides and Roberto Thompson.
Benavides won out over Thompson, both of the PLN party, using a regulatory strategy to return the bill to commission, in order to reduce from seven to four the number of holidays that would create long weekends.
According to the bill approved yesterday (June 30), workers will enjoy 16 long weekends between 2020 and 2024, transferring legal holidays to the following or previous Monday.
The aim of the bill is to promote local tourism, economic recovery, and job creation.
According to Thompson, the loser is the tourism sector, since the new approved bill has fewer holidays transferred than the original text.
For his part, Benavides argued, “Moving all the holidays to a Monday would have a high cost for companies and the State” that would imply a higher cost for companies that must operate on Mondays considered holidays since they have to pay a double salary; However, if it is considered that the original proposal involved up to seven transfers of this type for 2020 and 2021, entrepreneurs will have a lower cost for promoting tourism.
Tourism is one of the main engines of the economy and development of Costa Rica, employing more than 211,000 people directly. In 2019, it generated more than US$4 billion in foreign currency, which represents 8% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The tourism sector has been in check since mid-March when the Carlos Alvarado government decided to restrict borders (last week extended to August 1) because of the Covid-19.
This has caused thousands of people to lose their jobs, while companies in the sector struggle to survive.
In this sense, the government and businessmen are aware that local tourism will be essential to boost the industry.
“We have explained that the Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT), like the private companies affiliated with its chambers and associations, has stopped receiving fresh resources due to the crisis unleashed by Covid-19, that the reactivation will be gradual and slow, which there are no magic solutions and that the priority market for the revival of tourism will be the national market, just as it will happen in other countries,” said María Amalia Revelo, Minister of Tourism.
The calendar
This is the holiday transfer schedule for a Monday between 2020 and 2024. The idea is that the transfer enables long weekends to encourage local tourism. For the period there will be 16 changes.
2020
Holiday
Transfer
Saturday, July 25 (Guanacaste Day)
Monday, July 27
Saturday, August 15 (Mother’s Day)
Monday, August 17
Tuesday, September 15 (Independence Day)
Monday, September 14
Tuesday, December 1, (Abolition of Army Day)
Monday, November 30
2021
Holiday
Transfer
Saturday, May 1 (Labor Day)
Monday, May 3
Sunday, July 25 (Guanacaste Day)
Monday, July 26
Wednesday, September 15 (Independence Day)
Monday, September 13
Wednesday, December 1, (Abolition of Army Day)
Monday, November 26
2022
Holiday
Transfer
Thursday, September 15 (Independence Day)
Monday, September 19
Thursday, December 1, (Abolition of Army Day)
Monday, December 5
2023
Holiday
Transfer
Tuesday, April 11 (Juan Santamaria Day)
Monday, April 10
Tuesday, July 25 (Guanacaste Day)
Monday, July 24
Tuesday, August 15 (Mother’s Day)
Monday, August 14
2024
Holiday
Transfer
Thursday, April 11 (Juan Santamaria Day)
Monday, April 15
Thursday, July 25 (Guanacaste Day)
Monday, July 29
Thursday, August 15 (Mother’s Day)
Monday, August 19
The bill now requires second debate and voting, the signature of President Carlos Alvardo if approved and published in the official government newsletter, La Gaceta, to go into effect.
