The Canadian Ambassador to Costa Rica (also Honduras and Nicaragua), James K. Hill, who was walking on the trails of a tourist center in Río Cuarto de Alajuela, fell from a rock of approximately four meters (13 ft) high.
The Fire Department and the Red Cross received the call at 10:57 am Sunday, June 7.
“This is an adult, who suffered a fall while walking a path of a tourist center in Río Cuarto. This caused him to require help to get out of the area. At all times the condition of the man was stable,” explained firefighters, the first responders.
Locals, who collaborated with first responders at the scene, said Hill had suffered a blow to the forehead and complained of severe pain in the stomach.
For its part, the Red Cross confirmed that the patient suffered an abdominal trauma. In coordination with the Air Surveillance Service (SVA) of the Ministry of Public Security (MSP), Hill was choppered out to hospital in Ciudad Quesada, in San Carlos.
Weather hindered air transport to San Jose.
The helicopter is the same Air Surveillance Service posted in the northern zone on Friday to aid in the monitoring of the northern border.
Coronavirus or COVID-19 spreading concept with growth graph.
(QCOSTARICA) The new coronavirus entered its third month in Costa Rica with a bang, with two of the highest single-day increases in confirmed cases: Sunday (55) and Wednesday (52).
The other days all above 35: Monday (28), Tuesday (21), Thursday (37), Friday (34), and Saturday (35), for a total of 262 new cases in the first week of the month.
The acceleration of the disease is reflected in the figures for the last month: 553 infected were detected in 30 days.
In the first week of May there were 53 new confirmed cases, the second 61, the third 77, and the last week of May 126.
And in only the first week of June, 262, for an average of 52.4 daily. If this trend continues, we will close June with a possible 1,572. That is more than a total of 1,318 for the first three months of the pandemic (March 6 to June 6).
This trend, especially in communities in the border area with Nicaragua, forced the Ministry of Health and the National Emergency Commission (CNE) to extend the orange alert to the La Fortuna district, in San Carlos; and to all the cantons of Pococí, in Limón, and those of Upala, in Alajuela.
San Carlos is the canton where there are the most active cases (people who are sick) so far: 70. In fact, it overtook San José, the largest city in the country, which was in first place with 66 patients.
The active cases are followed by San Ramón (52), Heredia (43), Pococí (37), Cañas (25), Alajuela (20), Abangares (19), Goicoechea (19), Aserrí (17), Puntarenas (17), Liberia ( 15) and Upala (14).
Alexánder Solís, president of the CNE, admitted that “an increased risk of transmission has been detected in some specific cantons and districts.”
The measures of the orange alert, whose objective is to stop the community transmission of SARS-CoV-2, include a special vehicular restriction of 5 pm to 5:00 am, every day, and the closing of commercial establishments at the same time, from Monday to Friday, and totally on weekends.
The list of regions on orange alert (high risk of contagion of the virus) is in place in the following areas:
The entire canton of Pococí, in Limón.
The Peñas Blancas district, in San Ramón.
The Bebedero and Cañas districts, in Cañas, Guanacaste.
The Abangares Boards.
Los Chiles, in the canton of Los Chiles.
La Fortuna, in San Carlos.
The entire canton of Upala.
The rest of the country remains on yellow alert (low risk), therefore the mitigation measures that have been in force since March are maintained, which include the recommendation of staying at home, that is not leave the house unless necessary, hand washing and social distancing in public spaces.
Although wearing a mask is not mandatory, a good decision is wear one, in particular when going shopping and in places where there a groups of people. And leave your sunglasses at home or in the car when going to the supermarket.
No community transmission
One of the major concerns of Health authorities is entering the phase of community transmission.
The director of Health Surveillance, at the Ministry of Health, Rodrigo Marín, on Sunday, June 7, 2020
The director of Health Surveillance, at the Ministry of Health, Rodrigo Marín, on Sunday denied that there is community transmission in the country, but acknowledged that there is a significant increase in cases in the north.
Marín assured that the country is still in phase three, where contagion can be traced and can still be followed up.
“We are stratifying the measures, analyzing risks, monitoring contacts and increasing sampling in areas. We continue with strict surveillance throughout the country, not only for those who reach health services: there are 18 sentinel sites and 33 priority communities.
“We have monitored the risk of the entire country and we can have it stratified for the moment,” said Marín, who clarified that “there is nothing written in stone.”
Rico’s COVID-19 Digest – By now, most of us have gotten used to the idea of popping on a face mask if we’re going indoors to a public place where we can expect to encounter a lot of people—such as a supermakert.
Not the time to be the ‘The Dude’
But, there’s one thing you probably don’t want to have on you when you head into the super, and it’s probably not something you’d expect: sunglasses.
Guilty. Now I leave them in the car.
That’s right, wearing shades indoors is not just a fashion faux pas. It also could create opportunities for picking up unwanted germs, bacteria, and contagions that can put yourself at greater risk of contracting COVID-19.
You increase your risk to COVID exposure when you wear your shades shopping. You wear your sunglasses on your head or clip them on your shirt and frequently touch or adjust them while shopping. It’s an unnecessary risk for a 15-30-minute shopping venture.
You see, and we all do it, whether you’re wearing your sunglasses on your face, on the back of your head, or clipped to your shirt, you’re likely to touch them as you make your way through the aisles.
Any frequently-touched item from the super (like a shopping cart or basket) may have been touched by any number of shoppers and store employees. By touching that, then your glasses, you may be unconsciously spreading the virus.
Sunglasses are generally a plastic surface where coronavirus can ‘live’ from a few hours to several days, dependent upon the material. Shades have bends and folds which are difficult to clean and are a ‘hiding place’ for COVID-19.
What is one the ways COVID-19 spreads? Yes, getting in your eyes? So wouldn’t wearing glasses be a kind of defense?
According to research from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, yes, the proteins from your eyes and even tears can transmit the coronavirus. But no, glasses do not serve as an effective defense, according to a different study published in the medical journal, Contact Lens&Anterior Eye.
It found that a simple glasses frame “does not seal the air around the eyes, and, therefore, cannot provide adequate protection,” said the lead author Lyndon Jones, director of the Centre for Ocular Research&Education at the University of Waterloo in Canada.
Worse, having something on your face that leads you to touch it will increase the likelihood you will directly touch your face—one of the last things you want to do when it comes to avoiding the spread of the virus.
Touching products at the store and then fidgeting with your sunglasses several times increases the chances of it becoming a breeding ground for bacteria and viruses.
So, my suggestion, is to keep your sunglasses in the car, your purse, bag or in their case and don’t touch them until you’ve left the store and disinfected your hands.
And, when shopping, try to minimize the number of personal items you take into the store, ie your cell phone. If you do take you cell phone, who can handle the additional stress of not having their cell phone on them, don’t take it out of your pocket, purse, whatever. Even to answer a call or text.
If you remove and then put on your sunglasses as you enter and leave the store, you run the risk of the COVID-19 virus infecting the mucous membranes, including the nose and eyes.
Every time you touch possibly contaminated surfaces you need to wash your hands before touching any of your personal items. And that includes sunglasses.
(Reuters) – New Zealand has eliminated transmission of the coronavirus domestically and will lift all containment measures except for border controls, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday, making it one of the first countries to do so.
Public and private events, the retail and hospitality industries and all public transport could resume without social distancing norms still in place across much of the world, she said.
“While the job is not done, there is no denying this is a milestone … Thank you, New Zealand,” Ardern told reporters.
“We are confident we have eliminated transmission of the virus in New Zealand for now, but elimination is not a point in time, it is a sustained effort.”
The South Pacific nation of about five million people is emerging from the pandemic while big economies such as Brazil, Britain, India and the United States grapple with the spreading virus.
This was largely due to 75 days of restrictions including about seven weeks of a strict lockdown in which most businesses were shut and everyone except essential workers had to stay at home.
“Today, 75 days later, we are ready,” Ardern told a news conference, announcing the government would drop social distancing restrictions from midnight on Monday and move to a level 1 national alert from Level 2.
Border controls would remain and everyone entering the country would be tested, she said.
There were no active cases in New Zealand for the first time since the virus arrived in late February, the health ministry said. New Zealand has reported 1,154 infections and 22 deaths from the disease.
New Zealand vowed to eliminate, not just contain, the virus. This means stopping transmission for an extended period after the last known case is cleared, while being ready to quickly detect and isolate any new cases including from abroad.
New Zealanders cheered the lifting of curbs and the topic quickly trended on Twitter. Rugby fans in particular were looking forward to attending stadiums to watch the opening games of the domestic competition this weekend.
Ardern said she did a “little dance” when she was told there were no more active COVID-19 cases in New Zealand, surprising her two-year-old daughter, Neve.
“She was caught a little by surprise and she joined it having absolutely no idea why I was dancing around the lounge. She enjoyed it nevertheless,” Ardern said.
ECONOMIC REBUILD
Ardern, 39, has won global praise for her leadership during the pandemic and her popularity has seen stratospheric growth over the last few months.
She is well placed to win a second term in office in September elections, according to recent opinion polls.
Even so, the government will need to show it is up to the task of reviving the economy, which is expected to sink into recession.
Opposition parties have criticized Ardern’s decision to keep restrictions for so long despite there being no new cases for over two weeks.
Ardern did not commit to a timeline for a proposed ‘travel bubble’ to open with Australia, although the tourism industries in both countries have been pushing for it.
“We will need to move cautiously here. No one wants to jeopardize the gains New Zealand has made,” she said.
After five days on a ventilator because of covid-19, Susham “Rita” Singh seemed to have turned a corner. Around midnight on April 8, doctors at Houston Methodist Hospital turned off the sedative drip that had kept the previously healthy 65-year-old in a medically induced coma.
“The expectation is that you should start waking up after six hours, 12 hours or a day,” said her daughter, Silky Singh Pahlajani, a neurologist in New York City. “But it was six-and-a-half days before she started … opening her eyes. I thought she had suffered a massive stroke.
A couple from New Jersey was not stopped by the pandemic to marry on May 30.
Michael Morea, 30, left for the United States two years ago. The search for the popularly called “American dream” led him to leave Buenos Aires, Puntarenas, and travel to New Jersey, with the aim of saving money and then starting a business in Costa Rica; however, COVID-19 took his life in April.
He is joined by Adonay Díaz, 52, who has lived in the U.S. for 30 years and recently married in February. These men are just two of the 23 Costa Ricans who have died in the United States since the first coronavirus case appeared in January: 13 in New Jersey, 4 in New York, 2 in Pennsylvania, 2 in Florida, 1 in Massachusetts, and 1 in Utah.
In March, the streets of New York City looked deserted. The U.S. registers a total of 110.028 COVID-19 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. (Photo: AFP)
According to the Costa Rica ambassador in the U.S., Fernando Llorca, there could be an underreporting in the deaths of Costa Ricans because the official report is not transferred to the embassies. Consular offices record deaths only if a relative or acquaintance reports it.
Llorca pointed out that some of them were illegally in the U.S.
In the case of the deceased, the ambassador mentioned that the country – due to the context of the emergency – ordered the bodies of the people killed by COVID-19 to be buried or cremated as quickly as possible.
The COVID-19 pandemic has inundated the entire planet with death, as daily headlines show.The United States and Costa Rica are not the exception, both add deaths and infections;
However, the numbers are far apart. And even the Costa Ricans killed in the United States are more than double the deaths in Costa Rica.
The state of New Jersey is coming back to reality, assures Libaniel Urbina. In the streets, as usual, this Saturday, May 30, crowds of people were seen circulating and talking, some of them without masks or physical distance. (Photo: Libaniel Urbina/Semanario Universidad)
According to data from the Central American Population Center (CCP) of the University of Costa Rica (UCR), it is estimated that 250,000 Costa Ricans live abroad, of which 125,000 are in the United States; that is, approximately half of the Ticos who live outside the country.
So what factors influence that there are more deaths of Costa Ricans from COVID-19 in the US than in Costa Rica?
For Carmen Caamano, a researcher at the UCR Institute for Social Research, one of the main factors influencing these numbers is the absence of a public health system, which makes immigrants less likely to be cared for when they become ill. Furthermore, there is no primary health care, while in Costa Rica the Ebais (local clinics) fulfill this task.
“Insurance also has small print. They can take care of a (bone) break but in the small print it says that only one x-ray is done. In the end, you don’t know if the bone was repaired because you only have access to one x-ray,” said Caamano.
In addition to this, the policies of persecution against immigrants by US President Donald Trump make it harder for a person who is ill to seek help, for fear of being detained or deported.
“When there are undocumented, there is the terror of going to hospitals. This increases the risk of infection and death. Many are dying at home,” said the researcher.
A couple from New Jersey was not stopped by the pandemic to marry on May 30. Photo: Semanario Universidad
Another important element is that the work performed by the majority of Costa Ricans is related to personal care, restaurant service, cleaning, construction, roofing, gardening, among others; that is to say, they are dedicated to tasks that are not homeworking and that in and of themselves constantly expose them to risks.
“In the case of the undocumented, they are in a more vulnerable condition, since they have to accept any condition from employers so that immigration does not detect them, send them to prison or deported,” he added.
Ambassador Llorca, who is a former president of the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (2017-2018) and former Minister of Health (2015-2017), added that until Monday, June 1, 91 positive cases of SARS-CoV-2 were recorded in Costa Ricans living in the United States.
(QCOSTARICA) If the country fails to curb the COVID-19 contagion curve, the number of cases will have an exponential increase that would make diagnoses go from 30 to 240 per day by the end of the month.
This is revealed by an analysis of the Centro Centroamericano de Población de la Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR) – Central American Population Center of the University of Costa Rica, where it is explained that the number of infections that a sick person can cause has experienced an increase in recent weeks.
It is the R rate of reproduction of a pandemic, which is the average number of people that each infected person infects. “R” indicates by how much each generation of infected multiplies, that is, exponential growth.
On April 16, our country registered the lowest R value, it was barely 0.30, a range that could have “extinguished” the virus; however, as of June 4, the value of R was 1.88 and trending upward.
“This rate R = 1.88 is extremely worrying because it means a potential for doubling every 9 days in the number of people infected. In other words, the country could go from the current approximately 30 daily cases to 240 at the end of June, an amount that would overflow the system’s ability to locate contacts (about 5,000 laboratory tests would be required daily),” the UCR report cites.
Dr. Álvaro Avilés, head of Epidemiology at Hospital México, explained, with examples, what R is and what are the reasons why its value has grown.
He explained that this 1.88 puts us very close to “community contagion”, since the exponential increase in cases would make it impossible to trace contacts and the main concern is that health services are saturated and the system loses the ability to serve all severe and seriously ill.
Despite 1.88, the analysis recognizes that – so far – Costa Rica has managed to keep the pandemic “under control” and that there is scope to prevent the value of “R” from increasing, as long as people abide by sanitary measures. “But if they stay at those levels for several weeks, exponential growth will start to show and health services will overflow,” the document warns.
In mid-April, the country had the lowest R in Ibero-America, but after Easter, it started a growing curve and has caused Costa Rica to position itself as one of the countries where COVID-19 is the fastest spreading.
At the moment, and fortunately, Costa Rica has the lowest mortality rate in Latin America, with 2 accumulated deaths for every 100,000 older people.
(QCOSTARICA) Seven out of ten in Costa Rica had to reduce or eliminate the consumption of foods that are not of basic necessity, as part of the measures to face the impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is revealed by a survey carried out by Unimer Centroamérica to measure the economic and emotional impact of the national emergency, three months after the detection of the first case of the new coronavirus in the country.
According to the study, the family diet has been one of the hardest hit by the crisis. Proof of this is that 41% of those interviewed decreased the portions of food served at home and 32% reduced meal times per day.
In addition, 58% admitted having changed their type of diet, 47% chose to develop a menu to anticipate the quantity and type of foods required, 39% decided to buy food to store and 29% buy directly from suppliers to try to get lower prices.
Faced with these data, Unimer concludes that the pandemic has changed the consumption habits in Costa Rica and that the reduction of expenses became an important way of containing or preventing the crisis.
In fact, 94% of those surveyed stated that in order to face the current situation they have had to reduce the budget not only for food, but also for recreation, payment of services and purchase of personal items.
Another of the measures applied is to use savings to keep the family fed and housed and indicated by 67% of those interviewed.
Among the other measures is withdraw their Labor Capitalization Fund (FCL), stop paying some debts, borrow from relatives, use credit cards and apply for bank loans.
The Unimer survey (digitally) took in the responses of 460 people, between April 17 and 21 last. The survey has a margin of error + -4.57%.
As for the greatest concerns at the moment, work stands out as the greatest. In fact, 73% of those interviewed admit to being tense because of their job stability and that of their family.
Anxiety and depression
The data collected by the Unimer survey not only portrays the economic situation, but also the emotional impact suffered from the pandemic.
In fact, the study indicates that at least 6 out of 10 in Costa Rica have had a significant personal impact in the last three months.
Exploring feelings a little more closely, it turned out that 49% of respondents have experienced anxiety attacks and 38% have felt depressed during the health emergency.
On the other hand, 70% are afraid of contracting COVID-19 and not having the defenses to face it, 65% experience anguish over death figures in other countries, and 55% feel tense due to the restrictions of affection imposed by the sanitary measures.
Unimer points out that the impact on the emotions is alarming and that the management of this alteration depends on their emotional intelligence, as well as on the financial resources they have to face the crisis.
For Elvia Fonseca, director of Qualitative Studies at the consulting firm, there are a number of factors that affect the way people react to difficult situations like the current one.
“Emotional intelligence leads us to face the pandemic in various ways. But factors such as you socioeconomic, educational level, place and type of work, savings, previous lifestyle and support from your immediate environment, are elements that can shape how to live the crisis”, she asserted.
In addition, she underlines that many have put aside their previous lives, to adopt new styles, which can remain or be diluted.
According to Fonseca, assessing aspects such as the resilience and emotional intelligence of the people helps to identify their consumption habits.
Impart of staying at home
Regarding compliance with the recommendation to stay home; 62% of respondents say that they have fully respected it; while 35% have partially done so (because they go out to work or shop) and only 3% have not fully respected it.
When asked with whom they practice confinement during this stage, the respondents indicated: 55% with their partner, 47% with their children, 39% with their mother, 25% with their father, and 24% with their siblings.
The majority (83%) affirm that they have changed their routine drastically during these days. In fact, 89% say they are looking to practice activities that make them feel better, such as exercising, reading, researching, playing, watching movies, etc.
Regarding the follow-up that they have given to the evolution of the pandemic, 90% of the sample continues to be vigilant and inform themselves on the subject of COVID-19 and only 10% avoid reading about the emergency.
In addition, there are mixed feelings about the future: 36% feel that the situation is going to extend and will tend to worsen; 32% consider that the situation can change soon and that everything can improve; while 32% have no idea if it is going to improve or if the situation is going to get worse.
The director of Qualitative Studies at Unimer affirmed that the most important conclusion that the study marks is that the pandemic brought “a new normality to all in Costa Rica” and that this triggers new consumption habits.
“We cannot stay with the thought that there is going to be a pause and that we are going to act as before, in the way we feel and behave.
“At Unimer we believe in a new normal. For some people, this can be very positive and for others very negative, depending on their emotional intelligence and key factors such as their socioeconomic status, the type of work, whether they have savings or not, the style of life they have, and how long they can support it.
“We believe that there is a new way of behaving and this leads us to have new trends, both in the way we are as humans and in the things that we are going to value much more or not,” she concluded.
(QCOSTARICA) Three months after the first case, the country recorded 1,263 positive cases for COVID-19
This, Saturday, June 6, 2020, 35 new cases of COVID-19 are registered; 592 women and 671 men, of whom 991 are Costa Rican and 272 foreigners.
Positive cases are counted in 74 cantons. By age, we have: 1,034 adults, (62 of whom are seniors) and 129 minors.
There are 701 people recovered in 66 cantons. Upala joining the list of cantons with cases recovered by COVID-19. The recovered cases have an age range of zero to 86 years, of which 337 are women and 364 are men, by age we have: 632 adults, 32 older adults and 37 minors.
There are 10 regrettable deaths, one woman and nine men with an age range of 45 to 87 years.
Currently, 19 people are hospitalized, three of them are in intensive care.
(QCOSTARICA) The crisis caused by the coronavirus has hit Costa Rica’s fragile economy really hard, especially the tourism sector. In response, the government has come up with an ambitious plan to raise hemp and medical marijuana to try and heal the country’s economic woes.
Other counties that have invested in the hemp industry have profited considerably. The five largest producers in the world are: China, United States, Canada, France, Chile and, believe it or not, North Korea.
The production of medical marijuana is legal in 21 countries.
Although this proposed plan is still in its preliminary stages the country’s president is trying to move forward with its implementation in an effort to reactivate the economy and generate much-needed revenue.
Hemp is the plant and marijuana is a drug derived from it. The latter can only be obtained from the female hemp plant. This plant has different varieties and strains that are used for a multitude of purposes. Hemp’s fiber, seeds and stems have been used for thousands of years to make a whole gamut of products such as rope, textiles, personal care product, clothing, shoes, food, paper, different types of oil, and biocombustibles (fuel for combustion engines).
In addition to the support of Costa Rica’s president, congresswoman (diputada in Spanish) Zoila Rosa Volio has been a staunch proponent of the industrial use of hemp and medical marijuana.
The latter has been used to effectively treat certain forms of epilepsy, nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy (quimioterapia in Spanish), loss of appetite and weight associated with HIV, chronic pain, multiple sclerosis, insomnia, post-traumatic stress, glaucoma, irritable bowel syndrome and more.
Moreover, if successful this new industry will create jobs and possibly of attracting foreign investment.
However, some fear that the legalization of growing hemp and medical marijuana may give birth to a clandestine illegal market. Currently, marijuana is not legal in Costa Rica but possessing small quantities for personal use is not punishable.
Technically growing marijuana is also against the law, but can be done for personal use only. Marijuana is the second most confiscated drug after cocaine here.
Another interesting proposal by the government is to try and attract more retirees. Currently, ex-pat retirees generate about US$1.5 billion dollars per year. They also employ many Costa Ricans, so it is in the country’s best interest to make it easier for people to retire here.
I wrote Costa Rica’s president about this subject and received a very positive response.
— – –
Christopher Howard has been conducting monthly relocation/retirement tours and writing retirement guidebooks for more than 30 years. See www.liveincostarica.com.
He has a #1 relocation/retirement blog at: http://www.liveincostarica.com/blog, is also the author of the forthcoming 19th edition of “New Golden Door to Retirement and Living in Costa Rica — the official guide to relocation” and the one-of-a-kind bestselling e-book, “Guide to Costa Rican Spanish,” that can also be purchased through Amazon.
(QCOSTARICA) After the U.S. pulled out of Panama on December 31, 1999 a gap was left in the country’s economy. One of the ways the Panamanian government tried to compensate for the loss of U.S. revenue was to try and attract foreign retirees by offering them a whole slew of incentives with the goal of also becoming one of the world’s top retirement havens.
Here are some of the discounts for retirees that Panama offers (retiree visa)
25% off flights (domestic and international)
50% off entertainment.
30% off public transportation.(such as bus, boat, and train fares)
25% off restaurants.
25% off utilities (electrical, telephone and water)
25% off medication, and 10%–20% off of overall healthcare costs.
The problem with the programs has proven to be that unless one asks for a discount on these services, owners of businesses like restaurants, are sometimes reluctant to offer them.
The cost of living in Panama is lower than some of the other countries in the region like Costa Rica (see the link below). However, people seem to fall into the trap of equating the cost of living with quality of life.
This comes as no surprise since saving money is one of the main concerns for ex-pat retirees.
A majority of the organizations that promote Panama emphasize its low cost of living since they know that affordability can be the main reason for choosing where to live. However, there is another important factor that should be considered.
Along with stretching one’s retirement dollars, healthcare is a main determinant when deciding were to choose where to retire abroad. So selecting a country with a top-notch healthcare system is of paramount importance.
Costa Rica’s healthcare wins by a landslide since Panama has been the Central American country most affected by the Coronavirus with 14,004 infections and nearly 386 deaths (June 7).
Because of the rise in cases, the government will reinstitute countrywide quarantine. The country’s people are angry. Trade unions took to the streets of Panama City to protest the government’s decision to reopen the country’s economy, claiming it would lead to a spike in infections and deaths from the coronavirus, which is exactly what happened.
The government’s decision to lift the quarantine measures after 74 days was premature and taken purely out of economic considerations and “above people’s lives.” Workers were virtually sent to “the slaughterhouse” because employers and public transport systems had failed to ensure social distancing measures and workplace protection.
Panama’s healthcare system has not collapsed but could if the number of cases continues to spike.
On the other hand, as of June 6, 2020 Costa Rica has 701 people totally recovered from the virus, only 552 active cases and just 10 deaths (the last reported almost 3 weeks ago) — among the lowest in the world. It has also one of the lowest confirmed infections in the world, 1,263.
What all of this boils down to is that despite being a slightly more affordable and offering a discount program, Panama’s healthcare system cannot hold a candle to Costa Rica’s. In my opinion, this reason alone makes Costa Rica a far better retirement choice.
In addition, Costa Rica has many more places where retirees can choose to live and its natural beauty cannot be surpassed. In contrast, other than Panama City, Coronado, Pedasí and the David/Boquete area there are few desirable areas for living in Panama.
See here the difference in the cost of living between Costa Rica and Panama: https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=Panama&country2=Costa+Rica
Christopher Howard has been conducting monthly relocation/retirement tours and writing retirement guidebooks for more than 30 years. See www.liveincostarica.com.
He has a #1 relocation/retirement blog at: http://www.liveincostarica.com/blog, is also the author of the forthcoming 19th edition of “New Golden Door to Retirement and Living in Costa Rica — the official guide to relocation” and the one-of-a-kind bestselling e-book, “Guide to Costa Rican Spanish,” that can also be purchased through Amazon.
Deputy María Vita Monge presented the project on May 1. Photo: Rafael Pacheco.
(QCOSTARICA) Legislators in Costa Rica will evaluate the possibility of beginning the process of constitutional reform so that the State becomes secular. This was agreed to this Thursday by the party fraction chiefs, on a bill by PUSC legislator María Vita Monge, on May 1.
Legislator María Vita Monge presented the bill on May 1. Photo: Rafael Pacheco.
If the initiative is approved, Article 75 of the Constitution would stipulate: “The Republic of Costa Rica respects religious pluralism. Everyone has the right to assume or abandon certain religious beliefs, or of any kind, as well as freely profess them”.
“The freedom to manifest one’s religion and beliefs is subject only to the limitations prescribed by law and necessary to protect the safety, order, health or common welfare or the rights and freedoms of others.”
Currently, Article 75 states: “The Catholic, Apostolic, Roman Religion is that of the State, which contributes to its maintenance, without preventing the free exercise in the Republic of other cults that are not opposed to universal morality or to the good manners”.
The initiative also seeks to modify Article 194 of the Magna Carta, so that the oath of public officials is as follows: “Do you swear to God, or in the face of your personal beliefs or convictions and promise the country to observe and defend the Constitution, the laws of the Republic, and faithfully fulfill the duties of your destiny?”
In its current form, the oath does not include the excerpt on the sworn person’s personal beliefs or convictions.
The bill states that its approval would not imply eliminating Semana Santa (Easter) holidays, which are regulated in the Labor Code.
It adds that religious education in educational centers would not be prohibited either, since this is the responsibility of the Ministry of Public Education (MEP).
The file details that its objective is state secularism, which seeks to guarantee religious freedom, unlike secularism, a current related to hostility towards religions.
“From no point of view can the concept of secularism advocated in this initiative be used to negatively value religious convictions with expressions of intolerance or implement policies related to promoting atheism or persecution by the State, as it can secularism,” says the document.
Legislator Monge affirmed that all the party benches agreed to start the process. According to her, the only opposition came from Jonathan Prendas.
“I am very satisfied that this project is progressing, there will be colleagues with whom we must continue talking because this at no time intends to remove God from the Political Constitution, on the contrary, it is a project that wants God within the Constitution, but not within politics,” said Monge.
The proposal was signed in total by 20 legislators from the Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC), Liberación Nacional (PLN), Acción Ciudadana (PAC) and Frente Amplio (FA) parties, and independents Zoila Volio and Erick Rodríguez.
Enrique Sánchez, head of the PAC fraction, explained that this project will be processed together with other changes to the Magna Carta supported by its fraction, which consists of reducing the state contribution to the parties and raising the principle of gender parity to constitutional rank.
“Of course we strongly support these three (projects), we are going to see what other constitutional reforms the other fractions propose to start the process,” said Sánchez.
Luis Fernando Chacón, head of the PLN, indicated: “It is an issue that the fraction has not yet discussed, but we do agree to promote the readings to process issues of constitutional reforms, which we have many in the agenda”.
Religion in Costa Rica
Christianity is the largest religion in Costa Rica, with Roman Catholics having the most adherents. Roman Catholicism is the state religion and is entitled to state support according to the 1949 Constitution, but the government generally upholds people’s religious freedom in practice.
Freedom of religion in Costa Rica
The same Article 75 of the Costa Rican Constitution that states that Roman Catholicism is the state religion, provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respects this right in practice.
Religious groups with at least ten members may register with the government in order to be able to raise funds and own property. There is no penalty for not being registered, other than a lack of access to these privileges.
Religious marriage ceremonies other than those conducted by the Catholic Church are not recognized by the government. Couples married through such ceremonies must also obtain a civil union from a public notary in order to have their marriage legally recognized.
The government provides funding to private religious schools regardless of religion.
(Q24N) Peru’s President Martin Vizcarra on Thursday announced the second phrase of its economic reopening amid the country’s ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which registered 4,284 new cases of infection in the past 24 hours.
Vizcarra made the announcement after the council of ministers approved his presidential decree calling for the restart of economic activity as the lockdown continues.
The new phase, which kicks off on Friday, aims to see at least 80 percent of the country’s economy resume operation. Currently, the economy is operating at 50 percent capacity, which Vizcarra said was “not enough to sustain 100 percent” of the country’s needs.
“We want to raise it to 100 percent and then even see growth on top of that,” said Vizcarra.
The areas slated to begin operating include small and medium-size mining enterprises, feed-making for animals, alcoholic beverages and tobacco products, footwear production, printing, and medical tools manufacturing and repair.
Also getting the green light are auto and motorcycle sale, and the sale of sporting equipment and domestic goods.
In the services sector, legal and accounting firms, architecture and engineering companies, research and development, veterinary shops, hotels, car rentals, and private security firms will be able to resume work.
According to Vizcarra, this phase will recover at least 500,000 jobs that went idle after lockdown.
Peru has reported a total of 183,198 cases of COVID-19 infection and 5,031 deaths from the disease.
“The minister of health says 76,228 patients or citizens who have had the virus have already recovered … that accounts for 42 percent, a very significant figure,” said Vizcarra.
(Q24N) The Chilean Ministry of Health on Friday raised the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country to 122,499, with 1,448 deaths.
Health workers transport a COVID-19 patient at San Jose Hospital in Santiago, Chile, (Photo by Jorge Villegas/Q24N)
Over the past 24 hours, 4,207 new infections and 92 new deaths have been registered. Of the new confirmed cases, 3,790 presented symptoms while 417 were asymptomatic.
The ministry said that 1,521 people infected with COVID-19 have been hospitalized in intensive care units, with 1,291 patients on ventilators and 337 in critical condition.
Additionally, the ministry said that 21,780 PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests have been carried out in the past 24 hours, with a total of 668,556 tests administered since the pandemic was first detected in March.
To date, 337 sanitary residences have been constructed to isolate people diagnosed with the disease. The residences provide “accommodation, food, and they have health teams in permanent contact with each of the people who live there,” according to Deputy Secretary of Health Arturo Zuniga.
Authorities have expressed concern over the high number of infections and deaths that continue to be registered in the Metropolitan Region, where the health system is almost at full capacity. Inhabitants of the Metropolitan Region will be under lockdown until next week.
In May, Chile saw an exponential increase in COVID-19 cases, with the largest number of new cases and deaths recorded since the pandemic began in the country.
(Q24N) Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday threatened to withdraw Brazil from the World Health Organization (WHO).
Bolsonaro said Brazil will consider leaving the WHO unless it stops being a “partisan political organization.”
Earlier, the WHO showed an opposite view against Bolsonaro’s efforts to lift lockdowns, as the COVID-19 epidemic was still plaguing the country.
Replying to loosen the social distancing order, WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said a key criteria for lifting lockdowns should be slowing transmission.
With a new record of daily COVID-19 fatalities, Brazil outnumbered Italy to become a country with the third highest infections in the world.
Brazil’ s total COVID-19 deaths have surged to 34,021 after its health ministry on Thursday reported 1,437 new deaths in the past 24 hours. Enditem
(QCOSTARICA) Costa Rica is negotiating to be part of a select group of countries that seeks to reactivate international tourism, through a kind of “tourist bubble” proposed by Australia.
Costa Rica President, Carlos Alvarado, met virtually with leaders from Israel, New Zealand, Australia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Denmark and Norway, countries that would be part of the initiative, reports The Guardian.
These countries, considered “first movers” or first mobilizers, have in common that they are nations that have already begun the lifting of the sanitary restrictions imposed by the Coronavirus.
The movement is driven by Austrian Chancellor Sebastián Kurz.
In this context, Australia proposed that Costa Rica sign a memorandum of understanding with Australia over airline codesharing services.
Attracting Australian travelers to Costa Rica would boost the tourism sector, seeking to recover from the pandemic.
The Alvarado government is exploring direct flights to Australia’s east coast and inclusion in a bubble agreement with New Zealand, working to have arrangements in place to welcome Australians quarantine-free by the beginning of 2021 “at the latest”.
Costa Rica’s ambassador to Australia, Armando Vargas, believes direct flights between the San José and Australia’s east coast is possible, at about 17 hours.
This would mean that visa requirements for Costa Ricans visiting Australia and vice versa will be relaxed.
Currently, visa requirements are much tighter for Costa Ricans visiting Australia than vice-versa. Araya said he hopes the travel bubble would lead to passport immunity between nations.
Costa Rica’s tourism sector accounts for 12% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Dennis Whitelaw, General Manager Marriott Costa Rica. Cortesía/La República.
(QCOSTARICA) “The pandemic has required us to raise our exacting standards to an even higher level with new protocols,” says Dennis Whitelaw, general manager of Marriott hotels in Costa Rica.
Dennis Whitelaw, General Manager Marriott Costa Rica.
In an interview with La Republica, Whitelaw said people are eager to travel as soon as possible but want to minimize health risks by opting for quieter destinations, personalized itineraries, and private travel.
Asked as to Costa Rica’s tourism in the long term, the manager explained:
According to a recent Forbes survey, despite the current coronavirus pandemic, it shows that 72% of Americans are already making plans for their next vacation and 35% of travelers would consider a vacation as early as this summer.
Costa Rica has been positioned by several international media of the stature of El País, BBC Mundo and Conde Nast Traveler as one of the favorite destinations to travel post-covid, and the attractions of the country perfectly match the travel trends that we are seeing it gain strength: an increase in the concept of “slow travel”, meaningful trips where it can be paid through social aid and environmental conservation activities and greater importance for sustainability and ethical practices, as well as open spaces and a closer approach to what natural.
In addition, adding the recent legalization of equal marriage, market research tells us that LGBTQ + travelers are becoming much more visible and a recent survey by The Harris Poll in the United States indicates that LGBTQ + travelers are more willing to travel sooner. than other segments when the crisis ends, including in many cases keeping their vacations already planned for the end of the year.
How do you perceive it in the coming months, especially national tourism?
We see positive signs from Asia and Europe and we are confident in the recovery, we believe that local travel or internal tourism will have a lot of relevance to start the recovery of the industry, with short trips to rediscover their destinations, more trips to nature or open spaces within their countries, at the same time closer to home.
Local tourism has always had an important role and now more. People are eager to travel and therefore working together with tourist offices and other segments will be very important to offer options.
We are sure that national tourism will be the first to be reactivated and we will be ready and eager to receive them again.
What are the measures that Marriott is taking both in Jacó (Los Sueños) and in San José?
The COVID-19 pandemic has required us to raise our exacting standards to an even higher level with new protocols for today’s circumstances. Our hotels use cleaning products and protocols that are effective against viruses, including:
In rooms, hotels use cleaning and disinfection protocols to clean rooms after guests have left and before the next guest arrives, with special attention to high-contact items.
In public spaces, hotels have increased the frequency of cleaning and disinfecting in public spaces, with a focus on the front desk, elevators and elevator buttons, door handles, public restrooms, and even room keys.
In spaces where associates work “behind the scenes,” hotels increase cleaning frequency and focus on high-contact areas such as associate entrances, locker rooms, laundries, and staff offices.
In the coming months, when guests are at hotels within the Marriott properties, they will notice a number of additions to our cleaning regimen designed to set an even higher standard of cleanliness for hotels.
SYKES Costa Rica reported this Friday that it detected the first case of COVID-19 in one of its workers, working in the building located in San Pedro de Montes de Oca.
The company ensures that it has strictly followed the protocols and guidelines established by the Ministry of Health for the care of these cases.
“The health of our workers is a priority and since before the appearance of the first positive case in the country, our company was already executing actions to take extreme health measures and implement teleworking,” SYKES said in a press release.
In addition, the statement added that the San Pedro building has been regularly inspected by officials of the Ministry of Health, the last was on Friday, May 29.
SYKES has been in Costa Rica for more than 20 years and employs more than 5,000 people.
(QCOSTARICA) The notorious increase in positive cases of covid-19 in Costa Rica has once again put on alert a country that until now has been a world example of how to manage the pandemic.
With agile and strong measures, taken when there were 41 cases and zero deaths; With a centralized health system that works together with the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS), the contagion curve was flattened to the point that in the week of Monday, April 20 through Sunday, April 26, there were only 35 new cases.
However, in the first 5 days of June alone, Costa Rica has registered 172 new cases. What is the reason for this significant increase in infections? Does it mean that there is community transmission like in Nicaragua and Panama?
The World Health Organization (WHO) categorizes the state of the pandemic in countries in four phases:
Phase 1: There are no infected people in the country, but the authorities are encouraged to take preventive measures and the population is prepared for the arrival of cases.
Phase 2: The disease doesn’t spread locally. Cases reported are usually people who have had a travel history to an already affected country. That is, they are imported cases; infected people, foreigners or residents who have traveled, who enter the country by land, air or sea, from other countries where there is already circulation of the new coronavirus.
Phase 3: There are ‘clusters’ or contagion groups, but it is possible to identify and isolate them. The country manages clusters of people with COVID-19 who share a geographic location and a common exposure. In order to control this phase and prevent it from moving to phase four, authorities must work quickly to isolate and test COVID-19 on all the people who had or could have contact with the people of these ‘clusters’. There is talk of local transmission, but about 90% of the origin of all cases is known.
Phase 4: Community transmission. There are much larger outbreaks of transmission within the country, and authorities lose track of the chain of infections. There is constant and sustained transmission. The percentage of cases of known origin decreases, and COVID-19 expands throughout the country. The last risk is the possible saturation of health systems.
Officially, Costa Rica is in Phase 3 as described by the WHO. At the press conference this Friday, June 5, Rodrigo Marín, director of Health Surveillance, said: “We guarantee that we do not have community transmission.” And he explained that authorities maintain an active search for cases and the tracking of the chain of infections.
Marín was emphatic but concise. He did not give many details.
Despite this, the Minister of Health, Daniel Salas, has already warned in the past that although there is no evidence that Costa Rica is in phase 4, it cannot be ruled out that there is a “silent community transmission”.
The country in the world that has performed the most COVID-19 tests on its population is Iceland. Until June 5, that country obtained 62,230 samples for analysis. This is 17% of its total population, which is just 364,000 inhabitants.
One of the most relevant lessons Iceland can teach the world is that half of its COVID-19 positive cases had no symptoms. That is, if this scenario with 50% asymptomatic patients is replicated throughout the world, it is possible that you and I have had and passed the COVID-19 without noticing it. And without looking for help in the health services, beyond the normal medicines to treat the flu or a cold.
María Luisa Ávila, a pediatric infectologist and former Minister of Health of Costa Rica from 2006 and 2011, stresses that community transmission is a phenomenon that will come “sooner or later” to the country.
“It may be that we can handle it slowly,” explains Ávila. “There may already be a silent transmission in the community. As this is a virus that in most cases does not produce as many symptoms, and the symptoms are so varied, it may be that cases are already occurring. But here the important thing is to see the number and the increase in the cases that are presented daily. And in the percentage of positive samples. Because that allows us to know what percentage of the population is eventually being exposed or not.”
As of June 5, 2020, the percentage of tests that result positive with COVID-19 in Costa Rica is only 5.8%. In this data, the figure has been reduced, since, in mid-April, the percentage of tests that resulted positive was 8.9%.
Panama, with a population of 4.3 million, has accumulated 1,581 new cases of COVID-19 in the first 4 days of June. As of today, June 6, Panama has 15,463 confirmed cases and 370, as compared to Costa Rica’s 1,228 cases and 10 deaths in a population of 5 million.
Panama and Nicaragua
Costa Rica is between two countries that are already in phase 4 of the pandemic, with community transmission. Panama is an example of what can be done to try to control this phase, while Nicaragua is an example of regrettable management, which represents a mortal danger to its people.
Panama, with a capital that is the world’s air and sea connector, registered its first case on March 9 last. It was a 64-year-old man who had died on March 8 by COVID-19. In other words, the virus had been circulating in the country for days without being detected by health authorities.
To manage the crisis, Panama imposed curfews from 5:00 am to 5:00 pm, a general strict quarantine was imposed, air, sea, and land borders were closed for civilians, all schools were closed, massive events were prohibited, and little by little, economic reopening protocols are also planned.
In Nicaragua, the government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo chose to do nothing, basically. There was a house-to-house visit campaign to distribute leaflets promoting handwashing, but to date, no national health alert has been declared, nor has any type of confinement or quarantine been instituted in the country.
People are taking measures voluntarily, closely following the evolution of the disease in other latitudes.
In fact, in Nicaragua, the government even fires renowned infectious diseases doctors for criticizing the situation in public hospitals, which are usually run by Sandinista political secretaries and not by doctors.
Nicaragua officially reports 1,118 cases of COVID-19 and 46 deaths. For two months, the government only recognized 25 total cases. Then, starting in May, the government, following the reappearance of its dictator, Daniel Ortega, after not being seen publicly for a month, started releasing weekly information on the evolution of cases.
It went from 25 cases to 279; from 279 to 759; from 759 to 1,118. The numbers reported by Nicaragua’s Ministry of Health (Minsa) were confusing and contradictory. For example, while the official number of positive cases was 25, the Minsa reported more than 250 recovered patients.
Until May, the country has only a handful of deaths from COVID-19, but staggering deaths due to “pneumonia”.
The official contagion “curve” in Nicaragua is this:
From worldometers.info
Express burials (from dead straight from hospital to cemetery) are a common occurrence in Nicaragua, and the capacity of many public hospitals is known to be overwhelmed.
The NGO Observatorio Cuidadano (Citizen’s Observatory) estimates the number of infections to be in the thousands, more than 5 to 7 times the official numbers and deaths in the hundreds.
Measures in case of phase 4
The former Minister of Health of Costa Rica, María Luisa Ávila, indicates that in case of experiencing phase 4, Costa Rica should follow the same measures that it has developed so far, but they should be followed with more discipline. “Self-management” is also necessary.
“The measures to be taken are the same as those taken. This is where risk self-management comes into play ”, values Dr. Ávila.
“If you are a person with risk factors, if you are a smoker, if you are obese, if you are a certain age and have a chronic disease, then try to take better care of yourself. And for the rest of the population, hand washing and physical distance of 1.8 meters are the two strongest recommendations out there and the ones most effective. Of course, a well-used mask, with your hair up and not touching it from time to time, is a measure that helps. The same as the face shield,” explained the doctor.
In addition, doctor Guiselle Guzmán, head of the CCSS Collective Health area, points out the following measures to be taken:
“In Costa Rica, we are in stage or phase 3, however, according to the evolution of the disease, it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Health to determine and report the moment in which Costa Rica advances to phase 4 of community transmission. The priority measures of phases 3 and 4 are based on the strategy ‘Sampling (laboratory) / Identification of Cases and Isolation / Tracing of Contacts’ ”.
Costa Rica must be alert
Costa Rica had the lowest R – reproduction – rate in Latin America in mid-April, indicates an analysis by the Central American Population Center of the UCR (CCP-UCR) in an article on June 4.
The R rate explained:
If R equals 1, the number of infected people does not increase or decrease over time, and the epidemic is under control.
If R is less than 1, the epidemic is on the way to extinction.
If the R is greater than 1, there is a proliferation and there may be an exponential increase in cases.
Costa Rica has “a worrying R of 1.88 with an upward trend,” the publication describes. This means that each patient infects almost 2 healthy people.
“This rate R = 1.88 is extremely worrying because it means a potential for doubling every 9 days in the number of people infected,” describes the academic study.“In other words, the country could go from approximately 30 current daily cases to 240 at the end of June, an amount that would overwhelm the system’s ability to locate contacts.”
(QCOSTARICA) Dr. Mario Ruiz, medical director of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS), confirmed the good news on Friday, the now 10-day-old premature baby born at the Liberia hospital is negative for COVID-19.
The neonate had been transferred via area on Tuesday to the National Children’s Hospital (HNN) in San Jose, due to his premature condition. The neonate was first tested for COVID-19 on suspicion five days after the treating physician, a pediatric specialist, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 during a screening that was performed days later in the hospital.
For her part, the director of the HNN, Dr. Olga Arguedas Arguedas, explained that the specialists at the hospital in the assessment of the first day of arrival of the patient determined the need to carry out more control tests to clarify the case.
The results confirmed that contacts of the treating physician with the baby were made using the appropriate personal protective equipment, the clinical symptoms were not clear for COVID-19 and its condition of prematurity (27 weeks ).
A second sample was taken on Tuesday and the third sample 24 hours later. Both gave a negative result.
Another good news is that this week another three-month-old patient with COVID-19 was discharged.
(QCOSTARICA) It’s the weekend and weather permitting, a great time for cycling. But riders are asked not to forget that were are still in a pandemic and social distancing is among the measures that prevents the spread of the COVID-19.
The prohibited routes in the Central Valley.The GeoPortal of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT) that can be found atthis link. (Click on Rutas de 80KM/h o Más).
In recent weeks, many cyclists have been caught riding in groups, and on roads prohibiting bicycles. On Thursday, a cyclist lost his life on the autopista General Cañas when a vehicle lost control.
The Policia de Transito reminds all cyclists that riding on route where the speed is 80 km/h or greater is prohibited. In the Central Valley that includes the sections of the Ruta 1, the Bernado Soto and Genaral Cañas, the Circunvalacion, Ruta 27, Ruta 32, Ruta 2 (road to Cartago).
Article 119 of the Traffic Law totally prohibits cycling on these and other high speed roads across the country.
If the person is stopped pedaling on those highways, they can receive a ticket of ¢54,636 colones (plus costs) and will have their bicycle confiscated.
“Driving on national routes known as highways, which have high operating speeds, 80 kilometers or more, will be exposed to a penalty,” emphasized the Chief of Policia de Transito, Germán Marín.
So one way for cyclists to identify which roads are not allowed is through the GeoPortal of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT) that can be found at this link. (Click on Rutas de 80KM/h o Más).
The map marks with a red line all those routes that are 80 km h or more, which means that cyclists cannot circulate. Likewise, touching the line provides all the information about the national highway.
In addition, the site has a geolocator, that is, it marks the point where the person is located so that they can better locate themselves.
On previous weekends, the traffic police have set up permanent and mobile road checks to stop cyclists from using high-speed routes.
(QCOSTARICA) After almost three months of being closed on weekends, starting today, Saturday, June 6, restaurants, gyms, sodas and food courts will be open. Of course, from 5:00 am to 7:00 pm.
President Carlos Alvarado and First Lady Claudia Dobles making a stop at the Onde Su Agüela restaurant, near the Tapantí National Park. “If we are going out, let’s take care of ourselves and follow the protocols of the Ministry of Health. We can support local trade and revive our regional economy, but with all precautions,” said the prez.
This is established by the second stage of the flexibilization of commercial sanitary measures in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As established:
On weekends, the operation of restaurants, sodas and cafes, food places, gyms and swimming schools is enabled with a capacity of 50%.
Restaurants, hotels and other accommodations may be open from Monday to Sunday with a capacity of 50%. This includes hotels with more than 20 rooms.
Event halls may function exclusively for activities of maximum 30 people (includes organizers, guests and required personnel). Separation measures of a minimum of 1.8 meters must be followed, respecting social bubbles and with lists of attendees with ID number and contact number, subject to the vehicle restriction schedule.
These openings do not apply in the cantons, primarily in the Northern Zone where an orange alert was decreed due to a large number of infections.
The Director of Health Surveillance of the Ministry of Health, Rodrigo Marín, on Fruday called on the population not to let their guard down and respect the “golden rules” to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infections.
Remember to stay at home is possible and if you must go out, wear a mask (not mandatory), maintain social distancing and practice good hygiene such as washing your hands before touching your face, nose or eyes and remember to the cough and sneeze protocol.
A number of retails stores are asking people to apply gel on entering the store, for example, a common practice at all Automercado and Masxmenos supermarkets, at Pricesmart, customers are asked to wash their hands before entering.
Visit of the President of the Republic Carlos Alvarado to the Clodomiro Picado Institute and Declaration of public and national interest of the research project called «Development, Production and Clinical Evaluation of Pharmaceutical Preparations of Anti-SARS-Cov-2 Immunoglobins for the treatment of patients with COVID19» , June 4, 2020. Photo: Roberto Carlos Sánchez @rosanchezphoto
(QCOSTARICA) Román Macaya, president of the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS), explained the work being carried out in Costa Rica to develop, produce and validate the therapeutic effectiveness of two drugs for the treatment of patients with Covid-19.
Costa Rica President Carlos Alvarado visited Thursday, June 4, 2020, the Clodomiro Picado Institute and Declared of public and national interest the research project called «Development, Production and Clinical Evaluation of Pharmaceutical Preparations of Anti-SARS-Cov-2 Immunoglobins for the treatment of patients with COVID19. Photo: Roberto Carlos Sánchez @rosanchezphoto
The project aims to develop, produce and validate the therapeutic effectiveness of two therapeutic preparations of antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus: one of human antibodies purified from the plasma of convalescent patients and the other of equine antibodies purified from the plasma of horses, immunized with viral proteins.
According to Macaya, this Friday the third immunization of six horses is being carried out, a process that will be reviewed the following week to determine if additional immunizations should be made or if it is enough.
If so, those antibodies can be harvested, purified, and used.
“Yesterday (Thursday) we visited the Clodomiro Picado Institute with the president (Alvarado), a declaration of national interest was signed to carry out these treatments on Costa Rican soil with the advantage that if they work we will not be waiting for another country to export it,” said Macaya.
“If so, we are just over a month away from having a product, this not only has a social and health impact in the sense that it would be a treatment that occurs here, but also an economic one. It is a product that will be sued worldwide, Costa Rica will be the first place where this treatment will be applied if it works,” he said.
CCSS President Roman Macaya and MICITT Minister Paola Vega Castillo, joined President Carlos Alvarado in the visit to the Clodomiro Picado Institute on Thursday. Foto: Roberto Carlos Sánchez @rosanchezphoto
“This is Costa Rica’s Manhattan project,” said Macaya, referring to the project that led to the development of nuclear weapons during World War II.
According to Macaya, this visit to the Picado Institute made was the day with “most optimism” generated in the three months of the pandemic.
The CCSS president highlighted that since the proposal of this initiative, great advances have been observed in the process of national development of a therapeutic option for active patients with COVID-19.
He assured that if the treatment options manage to become an effective response, Costa Rica will have used its highest scientific capacity in defense of the population against a global threat.
“These treatments are essential because we will know that the country did it on its own, based on its own capacities, on the accumulated knowledge and on the conviction that we are all included and protected by social security,” he said.
He added that “this is one of three strategies for the development of its own therapies, created in Costa Rica, which demonstrate the country’s capacity for innovation and the great impact that alliances such as this can have between the CCSS, the Clodomiro Picado Institute and the Ministry of Health”.
The first batch of equine plasma is projected to be ready by the end of July 2020. The immunized horses have already received two injections of the viral proteins. The horses are in perfect health and their immune system is responding very well as antibodies against the virus can now be detected, the director del Institute, Dr. Alberto Alape, reported.
The Clodomiro Picado Institute of the Universidad de Costa Rica (ICP-UCR), was founded by Clodomiro Picado Twight (April 17, 1887 – May 16, 1944), also known as “Clorito Picado”, a Costa Rican scientist, born in Nicaragua, who was recognized for his research and discoveries.
He was a pioneer in the research of snakes and serpent venoms; his internationally recognized achievement is the development of various antivenins. His work on molds was a precursor to the formal discovery of penicillin.
After days with significant increases in new cases of COVID-19, this trend was maintained this Friday, as 34 more new cases were registered.
The total number of infections in the last 91 days reached 1,228, with 695 recovered and 10 deaths.
For this Friday, of the total number of infections, there are 968 Costa Ricans and 260 foreigners.
Currently, there are 22 people hospitalized, four of them in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with ages between 55 and 72.
Rodrigo Marín, director of Health Surveillance, of the Ministry of Health, was in charge of releasing the latest report of infections on Friday.
The director recalled that this weekend restaurants open at 50% of their capacity until 7:00 pm, as part of the gradual reactivation process.
For this reason, he asked “not to let your guard down” with the social distancing and hygiene measures, to avoid further spread.
This Wednesday the highest number of infected in a single day was recorded since the first case on March 6: 52 new cases. On Thursday there were 37.
Nicaraguan migrants
A major concern for Costa Rica authorities is the arrival of migrants from Nicaragua, representing a major risk for the country due to community transmission in the neighbor to the north.
Marin explained that the Minister of Security, Micheal Soto (who was not at the press conference Friday) has been touring the northern border and reports that a helicopter will be added to the security measures to close the blind spots of illegal entry.
Added to that concern, explained said Marin, is a prevalence of many in Costa Rica having forgotten that there is a pandemic, neglecting prevention measures, mainly because of the reactivation of economic activities.
Faced with this decision to continue with this process, the director assured that in Costa Rica there is “constant monitoring and strict follow-up of each case,” including all risk areas.
Costa Rica’s Manhattan Project
For his part, Román Macaya, president of the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS), provided a recount of the efforts of the health institution in supplying medical staff with the necessary tools for protection and treatment of patients with COVID-19.
Macaya confirmed that five COVID-19 patients have been treated with convalescent plasma, one of whom had been already discharged.
“The first woman is already at home, much healthier, we have a fifth patient who was treated with plasma yesterday and today is getting a second infusion,” he said.
Macaya recalled that this is one of the three strategies for developing therapies that are carried out in Costa Rica.
Apart from this of the plasma that is in hospitals, the Caja is working on the purification of antibodies from a large number of patients, to apply “a very standardized dose” to new patients.
There is also work to develop antibodies against the virus in horses.
“Yesterday (Thursday) we visited the Clodomiro Picado Institute with the president (Alvarado), a declaration of national interest was signed to carry out these treatments on Costa Rican soil with the advantage that if they work we will not be waiting for another country to export it,” said Macaya.
According to him, this Friday the third immunization of six horses is being carried out, a process that will be reviewed the following week to determine if additional immunizations should be made or if it is enough.
If so, those antibodies can be harvested, purified, and used.
“If so, we are just over a month away from having a product, this not only has a social and health impact in the sense that it would be a treatment that occurs here, but also an economic one. It is a product that will be sued worldwide, Costa Rica will be the first place where this treatment will be applied if it works,” he said.
“This is Costa Rica’s Manhattan project,” said Macaya, referring to the project that led to the development of nuclear weapons during World War II.
According to Macaya, this visit to the Picado Institute made was the day with “most optimism” generated in the three months of the pandemic.
by Jose Antonio Solano S – I have earned the animosity of many for defending Nicaraguan immigrants. I still think that as a nation, not as a people, they deserve the ignorant, shameful and ridiculous Orteguista dictatorship.
I have also heard absurd positions and proposals, disseminated by online media replicated on social networks, even proposing to build a wall.
Trump’s idiocy is as contagious as the virus. We do not want to build the urban train that we have been needing for 40 years and that would finance itself, yet we are going to build a 300 km wall, renouncing free navigation on the San Juan…
BUT, I think that although our authorities had foreseen the scenario of Nicaraguans fleeing the virus, at least what they have hinted, I also feel that President Alvarado and Foreign Minister Solano have NOT been as clear or vehement, as has been Minister Salas, to defend our interests, in this case, our survival.
The voice must be raised internationally. Demand from the international community – PAHO and WHO in conjunction with the OAS and UN security – emergency intervention on our northern border.
The opinion in this article are the authors and do not necessarily reflect that of QCostarica.com.
This is how the new Monseñor Sanabria hospital in Puntarenas will look, the most ambitious project of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) so far in the 21st century.
“Amid the pandemic facing the country, our public health system continues to evolve to protect all people in our country,” said Dr. Roberto Cervantes Barrantes, general manager of the CCSS.
The project represents an investment of about ¢131,7 billion colones and is expected to be ready by the end of 2022.
The new hospital will have 350 beds and will offer new services to patients with cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
The new hospital will serve 316,000 people direct people and at the same time the fluctuating, migrant, tourist, and proximity population such as the population of the Chorotega Region.
The city of Puntarenas, with one of the more important cruise ship dock and destination in the country, is a five-minute drive from the hospital.
The new headquarters will be built on land located in the Barranca district that measures 150,000 square meters, the construction area will be 72,132 square meters.
It will have the following services:
Emergencies with capacity for 43 beds
Hospitalization
Surgical Block with 12 operating rooms
Outpatient consultation and surgery
Delivery care in four rooms
Clinical and administrative support services
External Consultation with 64 offices
Among the new specialties that the Puntarenas hospital will offer are:
Hemodynamics
Optometry
Cardiology
Critical Medicine and intensive care
Gynecology and oncology
Home hospitalization
Chemotherapy
The new hospital center is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.
The spike of 52 new cases on Wednesday and 37 on Thursday of Covid-19 in Costa Rica is linked to agricultural and “packaging” activities, according to Health Minister Daniel Salas.
Banana packing in Costa Rica
“It wasn’t so much because of family contact. Of course, there has been, remember that this is why we use the term social bubble. But it (the sharp increase) has been closely related to more agricultural and packaging activities,” said Salas.
The minister was emphatic that these new cases are not related to the truckers. Last week, an outbreak of 18 new cases in Guanacaste was linked to one trucker.
“There are practically no cases (of truckers) anymore. A few cases are still being reported that have arisen as a result of this trucker. But at that time there was a containment to prevent more cases from being generated,” explained the minister.
Costa Rica on June 3 registered the largest increase in cases in a single day (24 hour period) since the pandemic began on March 6. On Thursday, the increases continued with 37 new cases.
Due to this increase in cases, the government placed several border districts under orange alert, where the measures were tightened and the vehicle restriction was increased. A total of 13 communities are now under this “localized” restriction, without affecting the restrictions in place in the rest of the country.
According to Salas, applying stricter measures to the entire country in response to the localized increases would hinder the re-opening of the economy and the much-needed return of international tourists to the country.
“That will depend a lot on how new cases are posing a threat in parts of the country, where there may be an increase in cases without an epidemiological link,” said Salas.
“At the moment we consider those specific sites to be the sites that are posing an increased risk of higher transmission. Local transmission exists but we have not reached community transmission,” he added.
(QCOSTARICA) After almost 3 months without being able to circulate, the transport units (big buses, small buses, minivans, etc) dedicated to tourism services (“turismo”) will resume operations according to the last number on the license plate.
The Public Transportation Council (CTP) approved this June 2 a special restriction for vehicles to circulate, but with certain guidelines to comply with: both drivers and passengers must wear masks or plastic face shields (caretas in Spanish).
Likewise, the number of authorized passengers per unit may not be exceeded and – in case stopped by authorities – they must provide the hotel, cabin or accommodation reservations to which they are going to drop off or pick up, the telephone number of the place, number of passengers transporting and planned travel times.
Allowing tourist buses to operate goes in hand with the re-opening of hotels and some national parks.
The vehicular restrictions for the tour buses is as follows:
Mondays and Tuesdays: units whose license plate number ends in 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8.
Wednesdays and Thursdays: with the final plate number ending in 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9.
Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays: all units may operate.
“The CTP understands the economic and social situation that affects a large number of families that provide the special transport service. In the case of tourism we have taken the considerations to reactivate the activity in accordance with the evolution of the health emergency,” said Manuel Vega, executive director of the institution.
Vega added that, according to the agreement, the CTP reserves the power to verify the information provided by the operators, and non-compliance to the sanitary measures imposed by the health authority with respect to COVID-19, could lead to the disqualification from operating during the national emergency.
“For particular situations of any unit with permission from the Special Tourism Service, other than the aforementioned parameters, an authorization may be requested from the Executive Directorate of the CTP for its assessment, approval or denial,” concluded the statement from the CTP, attached to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT).
Think it didn’t rain much yesterday? The rainy season has consolidated and intensified throughout the country at the end of May.
Take a look at the numbers provided by the IMN, the national weather service, for the different parts of the country in the 24-hour period
Parrita broke a that goes back to 1941… it had the highest total, over 400 mm (25 mm = 1 inch).
Don’t see the Caribbean on the chart? No, it wasn’t forgotten. The Caribbean follows a different rainy season than the rest of the country.
According to the above, the beginning of the season showed a deficit bias in the Caribbean and Central Pacific region, and only the north of the country registered a slight surplus.
Although many on social networks took it as a slight, residents of the area consider themselves lucky for not getting the heavy rain.
The 2020 tropical storm and hurricane season forecast
