(Prensa Latina/Q Costa Rica) With more than 717 new cases, the number of Covid-19 infections in Argentina this Saturday reached more than 15,000, while the number of deaths rose to 524 throughout the country.
In a new report, health authorities said that 93 percent of patients with the virus were diagnosed in the capital and the province of Buenos Aires, and of the 15,419 infected since the start of the pandemic on March 6, more than 5,000 have made a satisfactory recovery.
Anxiety is growing in the capital and the so-called ‘courbano bonaerense’, especially in the vulnerable areas, which have been hit the hardest, while the governments of these two localities are demanding to be aware and avoid being on the streets unnecessarily, while since Saturday a new obligatory permit to move around the city has been in place.
With a mortality rate of 11.5 per million inhabitants, the virus continues to hit Argentina.
Of the confirmed cases, 968 are imported, 6,727 close contacts of confirmed cases and the contagion by community circulation totals 5,408.
The main age groups affected are people between 20 and 59, with an average age of 37.
UPDATE: June 16. The AyA admitted to an error and will be correcting all May bills. See full story here.
UPDATE June 13: Never did get the email, but did get an adjustment to my water bill, a whole 5,000 colones reduction. I know owe for the May billing 29,046 colones. My average for the 12 months prior is 6,000 colones. Another call will be on Monday. Stay tuned.
(Rico’s DIGEST) Keep an eye on your utility bills, especially water. My water bill for the month of May is ¢34,000 colones, almost six times my monthly billing for the past 12 months.
The AyA Santa Ana office located behind the Proximart store plaza
Why?
I can’t tell you why. Have had no leaks in the house. We are the same two people and now 3 dogs. Yet.
The hysterical. Normally one visits the nearest office of the Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AyA) to complain and have the bill adjusted or have the institution investigate.
The process is important for two reasons. One, it automatically stops collection on the bill in question, that is you don’t have to pay until there is a decision by the AyA and won’t see your water service cut. And two, the complaint has to be made during the billing period, forget about after the pay date has passed.
While the AyA website allows users to check on their current and historical billing, report problems with water service (averias in Spanish), check on current and planned water cuts, etc, filing a complaint is no easy matter.
One, you really have to look to find the link to the complaints page and second, it is about sending an email.
With the water utility, it is less stressful to visit an office than navigate their website or make a call. Part, you never know if the email gets trough, since response is slow, if at all.
Since my bill comes due on June 2, I decided Thursday would be the perfect day to visit the AyA Santa Ana office, on Friday I have a vehicular restriction.
The office is closed. The wachiman (parking lot attendant) informs me it has been for more than a month. All due to the coronavirus pandemic. How nice. Could have been useful to have that information on the website. I doubled checked, it isn’t.
There is a number posted at the closed door, the same 800 number for all other AyA things.
I call the number, admit it wasn’t a long wait, less than 5 minutes. I had my cup of coffee ready, my phone on speaker and replying to emails, following up on current events etc. After the first minute, the short message constantly repeated over and over became background noise.
Finally, I got to a speak to a live agent. She took my information, confirmed it was my billing, my email and phone number and after an unusually long pause – completely dead air, I wondered if I had been hung up on – she came back on, told me my complaint was recorded and that I would get an email within 5 days (next Friday).
In the event I don’t get the email, she asked me to call back in.
(QCOSTARICA) You could see on Friday he lacked the fervor of recent weeks. He looked tired. You could see his exhaustion. Shortly after the press conference ended Health Minister, Daniel Salas, was forced to explain the lack of energy with which he gave the latest report.
Health Minister, Dr. Daniel Salas (standing), looked tired, exhausted and spoke in a monotone, his voice is flat, at Friday’s presser.
He did it through a 38-second WhatsApp audio shared to the media.
In his message, Salas acknowledged suffering from fatigue caused by “long working hours”, but clarified that he maintains the commitment to face the coronavirus pandemic.
“Perhaps they have seen me less energetic in the last press conferences and, with total sincerity, I tell you that it has been long days, very hard work.
“Since January, the entire Ministry has been focused on addressing the pandemic, protecting the population and, well, I just wanted to take the opportunity to reiterate my commitment that is permanent and my absolute will to continue working for the well-being of all of Costa Rica.
“So let’s go ahead and take good care of ourselves,” said Salas.
The message came after announcing that the country will start of phase two of the re-opening – easing of measures – set out in the chronogram a few weeks back.
On Monday, June 1, there will be a slight increase in the country’s economic activity.
Perhaps motivating his need to explain his less than lackluster press conference was the departure of three ministers in less than 24 hours prior to the presser.
With the message, Salas silenced any rumor about a possible change in his roled in the Health portfolio, where he has led the baton of the strategy to combat the covid-19 pandemic, a disease caused by the new coronavirus.
Among its repeated manifestations is the defense of measures to avoid spikes in infections that can lead to the collapse of the health system and more deaths, despite the cost to the economy that other sectors are demanding.
On Friday, Salas announced that Costa Rica reached 1,022 confirmed cases of the disease.
The Minister was emphatic that the country has not yet entered into community transmission yet, and on the contrary, there is a low hospitalization (only 12 patients, of which 2 are in ICU) and ten deaths as of Friday.
Although it was not until March 6 when the first case of covid-19 in the country was confirmed, Salas maintained that the Ministry of Health had been preparing since January for the health emergency.
Dr. Daniel Salas has held the position since November 29, 2018.
While truckers and their cargo sit idle waiting for a politial resoluion to the border crossing stalement, the border is open to the movement of people
(QCOSTARICA) The Nicaraguan Government issued an agreement, which establishes reciprocal treatment for Costa Rican cargo carriers in its territory, in response to the measures imposed by Costa Rica for the control of possible covid-19 infections.
While truckers and their cargo sit idle waiting for a political resolution to the border crossing stalemate, the border is open to the movement of people; Nicaragua has no restrictions on who can enter, while Costa Rica only permits nationals and residents to enter. The exclusion of foreigners is until June 30.
In this way, Costa Rican truckers will enter with GPS monitoring or control, will transit pre-defined routes, will arrive at pre-established bonded warehouses, and will have a maximum stay of 72 hours in that country.
The Nicaraguan measure adds that Costa Rican trucks cannot load in that country, that is, they must return empty, and that they will circulate with a police escort.
These last two measures are not among the conditions in force in Costa Rica.
The Minister of Foreign Trade (Comex), Dyalá Jiménez, clarified that the loading and loading of cargo in Costa Rica is open and that the control is only with GPS, except when the truckers in transit from border to border move in police escorted caravans.
Jiménez explained, through the Comex press office, that she will address this issue after a virtual meeting of the Council of Ministers of Economic Integration (Comieco), which was to take place Friday afternoon, but postponed to today, Saturday, to include representatives of the Federation of Transport Chambers of Central America (Fecatrans).
The Costa Rican trade Minister did not refer to the implications of the Nicaraguan announcement.
Costa Rica offered the region, on May 28, slightly more flexible measures, including that dangerous, perishable and refrigerated goods to be delivered directly to the end user, bypassing the bonded warehouse step.
Details of the agreement of Nicaraguan authorities is confusing, as it does not clarify whether the documentation process at the border is restarted and thus allow the transit of cargo.
Nicaragua ordered on May 18 its customs officials not to process cargo documentation, in effect shutting the border to the movement of cargo.
In addition, an eventual opening of the border by the Nicaraguan authorities also does not guarantee the restart of the transit of goods. This, because the truckers of that country continue to refuse to meet the requirements imposed by Costa Rica.
With 1,022 covid-19 confirmed cases as of this Friday, May 29, Costa Rica is preparing to enter a new phase of reopening activities starting Monday.
Dr. Daniel Salas showed clear signs of fatigue while speaking at the press conference today, Friday
According to information from the Minister of Health, Daniel Salas, starting June 1 all hotels, cabinas, and accommodation establishments will be allowed to operate at 50% of their capacity, every day of the week.
Initially, in the first phase, only hotels with less than 20 rooms could do it.
Sodas, restaurants, food courts, gyms and swimming schools will also resume activities on Monday, at a capacity of 50%.
The event halls can function exclusively for activities with a maximum of 30 people, including organizers, guests and required personnel.
“The separation measures of 1.8 meters must be observed, respecting social bubbles and with lists of attendees with ID and contact number, subject to vehicle restrictions,” said the minister.
Museums and academies of arts without contact may also operate from 5 am at 10 pm with a capacity decreased to 50%, from Monday to Friday.
Salas also informed of the public sector is authorized the cumulative workday, that is, to work longer hours four days a week, to have a working day off. It would apply to the public sector.
“Public institutions will continue working with the basic operating plan. This is important because the implementation of the cumulative day is authorized. This means that you can work 10 hours a day four days a week, with the possibility of choosing Monday or Friday as an additional day off,” he reported.
Tourism transport
Starting Monday, special tourism transport with restrictions and special measures established by the Public Transport Council (CTP) will be permitted until June 19, for a period of evaluation of the behavior of the covid-19 curve, but also of compliance with the measures by the users.
Greater openness starting June 20 could be permitted.
Casinos, bars and clubs will remain closed, in addition to the prohibition of activities of mass concentration such as public shows. The Teatro Salazar and the Melico Salazar will continue to be closed.
Community fairs are also not allowed. The Parque de Diverrsiones and other like activities will remain closed.
Border restrictions continue. The prohibition of the entry of foreigners (tourists) is extended to June 30. Only nationals or residents (who left the country before March 24) will be permitted entry, subject to a mandatory 14-day isolation order. See more here.
The vehicular restrictions will remain the same, from Monday to Friday, between 5:00 am and 10:00 pm, vehicles are restricted based on the last digit of the license plates; from 10:00 pm to 5:00 am, all vehicles are restricted unless they are in the exemption list.
On weekends, Saturdays and Sundays, the daytime vehicular restrictions are from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm (on Saturdays all even plates are restricted, on Sundays all odd plates); the nighttime restrictions is from 7:00 pm to 5:00 am.
“Although we know that we take care that society advances and economic activities are resumed, there is an imminent risk that there will be simultaneous cases and that we will lose the status of non-community transmission, so I ask the population to follow this discipline of complying with the golden rules: If someone is sick, they do not have to go anywhere.
“We have seen that many cases are still associated with transgressions of social bubbles, sharing with family members and that the respective measures were not kept. I know it is difficult, I know that many are wanting to hug loved ones, many people who want to have face-to-face contact with friends, but this is not a matter of mine, it is a matter that the virus and nature put in front of us,” said Salas, showing clear signs of fatigue while speaking.
This second phase of reopening, however, comes with a caveat.
“I want to emphasize that over the weekend and during the week we are going to increase the monitoring of the Fuerza Publica (police), Health, Ministry of Economy and corresponding rectors of each activity, that the measures are being complied with.”
“We are going to be visiting randomly. If a center does not comply, not only is the activity canceled, but their operating permit is suspended for a full month, because here we remember that we are allowing activities under the premise that we are living under a pandemic, that the rules have changed and that we cannot be careless with sanitary measures”, Salas said.
Increase in cases. The second phase of reopening is moving forward despite the significant increase in cases in recent days. This Friday there were 22; on Thursday 16 and on Wednesday 28.
The total number of confirmed cases, from the first on March 6, is now 1,022 of which 480 are women and 522 men. A total of 830 Costa Ricans and 192 foreigners have being infected with the covid-19.
To date, a total of 653 people have recovered. There are 13 people in hospital, of which 2 are in intensive care. The total number of deaths remains at 10.
“To continue with 10 cases or less per day in the rest of the pandemic it is very difficult to occur, but it is true that we are monitoring not only national behavior, but also cantonal and district behavior, in the sense that If we see any movement, something that gives us an indication that there is an expanded risk of establishing a greater transmission, we can apply a restriction specifically for that canton or district and we can announce that at any time, if that risk is verified,” added Minister Salas.
One of the major threats facing Costa Rica is the situation north of the border, Nicaragua, where community transmission is confirmed.
For this, starting today, Friday, in another attempt to prevent the spread in the country, the Public Transport Council (CTP) instructed bus companies and their drivers of cross-border service to request identification from their passengers to ensure that they are not irregular foreigners (illegals), who may represent the danger of spread.
The decision is made after reviewing recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO) based on the study in the medical journal Lancet, which warn of possible side effects.
Macaya clarified that the context in which that drug is used in the country is very different from that of the 96,000 patients that were evaluated in the published study.
(QCOSTARICA) Costa Rica Health Minister, Daniel Salas, on Friday, announced the extension of the border restrictions for an additional fifteen days, that is, until June 30.
The arrivals level at the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO), also known as the San Jose airport
During the restrictions, Costa Rica will continue to deny the entry of tourists; only Costa Ricans and residents (who left the country prior to March 24) will be permitted entry, be tested for covid-19, and subject to a mandatory 14-day isolation order.
The move frustrates the announced plan by the German airline, Lufthansa, to reactivate flights to/from Costa Rica starting June 17.
For foreigners, exceptions may be made for “humanitarian cases,” as had been stated weeks ago by the Minister of Public Security, Micheal Soto, for instances approved by the immigration service, the Ministry of Health, and Foreign Ministry.
Airline crews and diplomats will also be allowed to enter the country. Last week, a plan was announced to keep cargo moving, allowing truckers, up to 72 hours, to enter Costa Rica to take on a load or unload their cargo at a bonded warehouse and traveling under a defined route.
Minister Salas reminded that legal residents in Costa Rica who leave the country will not be allowed entry during the national emergency and may lose their residency status.
Tourist stays in Costa Rica are normally limited to a maximum of 90 days. However, foreigners who entered Costa Rica on a tourist visa after December 17, 2019, can legally remain in Costa Rica until August 18, 2020. The extension is automatic and they will legally be able to drive during their stay.
Following the start of the border restrictions, commercial flights were suspended. Although there have been announced plans to resume service, the only airline and with limited service between the United States and Costa Rica is United, with direct flights between Houston, Texas (IAH), and San Jose (SJO).
Minister Salas continued his call asking the population to avoid nonessential travel and stay at home.
The German airline, Lufthansa, announced two weekly flights between Costa Rica and the city of Frankfurt starting on Wednesday, June 17.
The days of operation, according to the airline will be Wednesdays and Saturdays from the Juan Santamaría International (SJO) Airport in San Jose, departing Costa Rica at 5:35 pm, arriving in Frankfurt the next day at 3:00 pm.
Meanwhile, the flight from Germany departs Frankfurt at 1:40 pm local time.
The plane the airline plans to use is an A340-300.
This is subject to Costa Rica opening the country to the arrival of tourists, which are prohibited entry until June 15.
Currently, only Costa Ricans and residents (if they did not leave the country after March 23) are allowed entry and subject to covid-19 testing and a mandatory 14-day isolation order.
The airline said that travelers must wear a mask that covers the nose and mouth, mandatory throughout the trip. In addition, as a preventive measure, the airline ensures that the planes have air filters that eliminate 99.98% of viruses and particles and that they are cleaned and disinfected after each trip.
Meanwhile, those interested should carefully review the situation of the countries, in the face of the epidemic due to the new coronavirus, due to the limitations that most nations have established, ranging from income impediments to mandatory quarantines, which could spoil holidays.
“Passengers must proactively inform themselves of current biosafety regulations, as well as entry and exit requirements of destinations when planning the trip, due to the constant changes that govern and occur in each country,” says the Lufthansa announcement.
The European Union still maintains restrictions for non-European travelers.
A round trip departing San Jose on June 17 and returning on June 27, is (Friday, May 29, 12:05 pm) US$526 dollars at the lowest fare level “economy basic”, on the Lufthansa website.
The fare for the trip from Frankfurt to San Jose and return for the same dates is US$657 (593 EUR)
The atmospheric instability presented in recent days has generated significant accumulated rainfall, especially along the Pacific, Central Valley and some sectors of the North Zone and Sarapiquí.
According to the national weather system (IMN) stations, the highest amounts of rainfall (between 100 mm and 120 mm) were recorded this Wednesday in the surroundings of the mountains of the Northern Caribbean and the Northern Zone; while, in the Central Valley, and particularly in San José, amounts close to 80 mm were recorded.
This generated an increase in incidents, specifically related to overflows of rivers and landslides, so the National Emergency Commission (CNE) decided to decree a yellow and green alert for some sectors of the country, as follows:
YELLOW ALERT
South Pacific
Central Pacific
North pacific
Central Valley
Sarapiqui
GREEN ALERT
North Zone
Caribbean
For this Friday, May 29, the influence of the Intertropical Convergence Zone is still present in Costa Rica, it favors for heavy rainfall to occur during the afternoon and part of the night.
In addition, a low-pressure system is presented – also part of the Intertropical Convergence Zone – remains stationary off the coasts of El Salvador and Guatemala. The models indicate that it will be moving to these countries over the weekend, while reinforcing the rains in its surroundings.
The CNE and the IMN closely monitor the Tropical Wave (N.2), which is expected to arrive from Friday and its effect throughout the weekend.
(QCOSTARICA) The Costa Rican Social Security Fund (Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social – CCSS) suspended the use of hydroxychloroquine in patients with COVID-19.
Through a press release, they Caja said that from today (Thursday) the temporary suspension of hydroxychloroquine.
Dr. Mario Ruiz Cubillo, medical manager of the CCSS confirmed the suspension of hydroxychloroquine and withdrawal of the administration of lopinavir-ritonavir are ordered as treatment for COVID-19 patients after the recommendation of the Central Committee of Pharmacotherapy (CCF).
The committee reviewed the evidence published until May 25, 2020, regarding the effectiveness of these 2 drugs at the international level in order to decide the relevance of maintaining treatment in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ruiz was emphatic that it is a temporary measure while the CCSS endorses a research protocol on the use of the drug hydroxychloroquine.
He added that “every time new information on therapies for COVID-19 appears, the CCF analyzes it to assess whether the therapies that are implemented in the Institution are modified.”
According to the specialist, protocols are subject to constant change, especially in situations of health emergencies, in the Costa Rica context and in the face of this new disease and in light of the scientific evidence generated in the world.
For her part, Dr. Angélica Vargas Camacho, head of the Area of Medicines and Clinical Therapeutics, of the Pharmacoepidemiology Directorate, pointed out that the Central Committee of Pharmacotherapy supports the decision.
“In the best scientific evidence, which allows making reliable decisions on the Selection of drugs with proven efficacy and safety, under this principle, the use of hydroxychloroquine for patients infected with COVID-19 was supported.
“As explained, as a precautionary measure, based on the new update of the scientific information published to date and considering the position of the World Health Organization (WHO), as an international reference entity, the Committee recommended the temporary suspension of the treatment of hydroxychloroquine and withdrawal of lopinavir ritonavir for COVID-19.
“This measure is temporary while the institution endorses a research protocol by a scientific ethical committee, in response to the WHO recommendation of “use only in the framework of duly registered, approved and ethically accepted research studies,” explained Dr. Vargas.
Ruiz added that the CCSS is respectful of the WHO recommendations, however, he emphasized that the institution has the technical capacity to define “the pharmacological management strategy as to public health measures and always seeking the greatest benefit for our patients”.
Likewise, he mentioned that to date, no medicine has an official approved indication for the treatment of COVID-19, as recognized by the international body.
Dr. Vargas reiterated that hydroxychloroquine in the institutional context has been used for many years in various pathologies, including the treatment of malaria and also of chronic diseases with an immunological component, such as rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus, which is why has extensive clinical experience of use in these indications.
She also emphasized that no medication is innocuous, therefore, the prescribing physician must always make the clinical assessment of the patient prior to prescribing the medication, thinking of the greatest therapeutic benefit.
“All patients receive information about the benefit and possible adverse effects of the treatment and sign their consent under informed consent,” she said.
Likewise, the CCSS affirms that it guarantees the daily individualized follow-up of COVID-19 patients to monitor and control the clinical evolution and possible effects that they present with the use of the drug.
(QCOSTARICA) Bus companies that transport passengers between Nicaragua and Costa Rica (and vice versa) must request from passengers the cedula (identity card), residency document (DIMEX) or their passport that certifies their legal presence in Costa Rica.
This measure is complemented by the guideline that restricts the entry of foreigners to the country. Currently, only Costa Ricans or foreigners with residence (if they have not left the country after March 23) can enter.
Bus companies must request the documents at the time of ticket sales or by the driver when boarding at a road stop. Without exception.
“In the event of omitting said provision, their representatives could be exposed to administrative sanctions that could lead to the opening of procedures for cancellation of the concession or permit currently held by those represented,” said the Consejo de Transporte Público (CTP) – Public Transport Council, in a statement referred to companies that operate cross-border services.
The CTP urges that in the event of altercations or “situations” with passengers, the bus drivers can request the assistance of the police, Fuerza Publica or Policia de Transito.
The objective of this measure is to minimize the transfer of people who enter under an irregular migratory condition – illegally – taking into account that Nicaragua is a focus of risk for the spread of COVID-19 in Costa Rica.
As of May 28, the country reported 1,000 confirmed cases and 10 deaths since the first on March 6.
Meanwhile, Nicaragua has officially reported 759 positive cases and 35 deaths. However, Nicaragua NGO’s like Observatorio Cuidadano say the real numbers are much higher, estimating the number of infections closer to 3,000 and around 600 deaths.
The NGO says the figures are extrapolated from the confusing messages and numbers published by that country’s Ministry of Health (Minsa), reports of health workers at state and private hospitals, and press reports of the burials.
This week the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) warned that Nicaragua is facing a phase of community contagion from COVID-19 and urged the Daniel Ortega government to make the emergency management transparent.
(RICO’S DIGEST) – I couldn’t believe what I was hearing the other day watching the live press conference from Casa Presidencial on the coronavirus in Costa Rica.
The Minister of Public Security, Michael Soto
Here was this bald man saying:
“Suddenly in this moment and in this circumstance, we would like to have a solid, physical barrier like a wall, and well, we don’t have it. I repeat, at this time and in this circumstance.”
I had to double-check if I had the right channel and the right country. WTF? A border wall? In Costa Rica?
Did I hear wrong?
Nope.
Here was the Ministro de Seguridad Pública de Costa Rica (Minister of Public Security), Michael Soto, talking about the police efforts at the northern border with Nicaragua and about a wall?
On social networks, comments included:
“They are already understanding (US President Donald) Trump, we must defend our country, our country comes first, we already saw how necessary it is to defend the borders (…),” Alberto S.
“I remember that in the government of Miguel Angel Rodriguez (1998-2002) this possibility was raised and the same people who said no now wish they had, as well as those who criticized Trump when he said about the wall with Mexico, well, gentlemen, you see it as “inclusion” for everyone. It is how they paint it now that our health system is at risk because of the pile of infected Nicas that are going to get in. We are going to put our families at risk, thanks PAC for loading you back into my country,” Varg Vikernes.
“Possibly the majority of Ticos agree that we need a barrier or wall to protect us from the invasion of undocumented immigrants (…),” Leo.
Again, WTF is going? Have we stooped this low in the xenophobic scale? Do Ticos forget who works in the jobs they don’t want to do, ie construction, cleaning toilets?
On Friday, Soto denied a rumor that was circulating about his resignation, spread by none other than Albino Vargas, one, if not the most, influential union leader in the country, who wrote on Twitter”
De buena fuente me indican que también habría presentado su renuncia Michael Soto, de Seguridad Pública. Alvarado no se la habría aceptado pero queda en “lista de espera”. ¿Podría la gente de prensa retomar este aspecto?
“From a good source, they indicate that Michael Soto, from Public Security, had also resigned. (President) Alvarado would not have accepted it but it remains on the ‘waiting list’.Could the press come back to this aspect?”
Soto replied quickly and without expressly naming him, with a sharp message asking the union leader to stop spreading false news about his resignation.
Sin nombrarlo expresamente, el ministro de Seguridad, Michael Soto le pide al sindicalista Albino Vargas que deje de difundir noticias falsas sobre su renuncia pic.twitter.com/wF1RnseWer
I believe Soto owes Costa Ricans, Nicaraguans and all migrants a public apology.
The talk of a border wall, that most likely will never materialize, goes completely against the image that the country sells to the world, as a pacifist country and protector of the rights of individuals.
What is your opinion? Send your comments by email or post to our official Facebook page.
“When I woke up, my neighborhood was in flames… we had rioting and looting on the streets…”
When I tell people that I am from Minnesota, people usually smile and say “I know someone from there… good Scandinavian people… and they gotta lot of lakes don’t they?”
Minnesota welcome sign
But after the murder by the police in my home town and rioting and looting in the neighborhood that I grew up in… I wonder what the hell happened to the socialist leaning, mild mannered people I grew up with? Shit, the first house I ever owned was only a couple of blocks from where all of this took place.
Maybe, but honestly, knowing the type of people that truly live in Minnesota and still having family, friends and relatives that live there… I really wonder how far the U.S. has fallen.
And we had just recognized those that served America on Memorial Day… and now this?
Yes, this is about a murder that should not have happened. But another death occurred because the protests got totally out of hand.
Maybe in Chicago… maybe New York City or Los Angeles…
But Minneapolis?
It hits me hard.
Yes, I have been gone for many years… but this? It hurts… because it shows how much our country has changed. And this is not just about a simple virus killing people any longer…
What we are seeing is rage, anger and people disgusted with our system…and not being satisfied with the answers to their questions and their unhappiness.
And it is not just about dissatisfaction with a war, like back in the late 60s… It is damn near everything… And it isn’t just one age group or even two that are unhappy…
People trust almost nothing any longer… They don’t know where to turn… And no one listens and nothing changes…
It is now becoming millions of people that are dissatisfied … and that is not even an exaggeration. It is a simple fact.
Confusing? Damn right it is.
Because no one has answers… and people are not only disgusted and unhappy like never before…
They are as close to a powder keg as I have ever seen or heard.
This is NOT a small minority any longer… a group of whiners that got “out of hand”… it is much more.
It is all ages now… and they are not only talking about leaving the country so that they don’t have to deal with it any longer.
They are doing it.
People have moved to Costa Rica for decades and no one really considered that TODAY was just a little different…
It is… a lot different.
Because these people, myself included, are escaping to “somewhere” where another life IS possible and the word “trust” is not just something you see on a coin.
Due to the economic crisis of COVID-19, many workers have seen their working hours reduced, their contracts suspended or even terminated. However, pregnant women are protected in this situation.
If a worker becomes pregnant, the employer cannot suspend or terminate their work contract and is obliged to return her immediately to her work 100% after the pregnancy, if her health condition allows it.
This is ensured by Article 6 of the Authorization Law for the Reduction of Work Days (Ley Autorización de Reducción de Jornadas de Trabajo) approved in April.
The protection extends also to businesses that have shut down due to the national emergency.
Paola Gutiérrez, a labor lawyer, explained, in these cases the measure that would be applied to avoid breaking the law is to recognize the payment of her regular salary. This so that there is no affectation.
“Let’s talk, for example, about a hotel that is completely closed. This special protection would apply to her if she had reported the pregnancy, where she could not be affected by the measure (the shutdown),” said the lawyer.
However, there is a debate on this issue. The argument put forth by some labor lawyers is that the assumption was not considered by the legislator when approving this protection, so the case may have to be decided by a judge.
However, Gutiérrez assures that to avoid the risk of a court battle, the full salary should be paid.
(QCOSTARICA) San Jose mayor, Johnny Araya, this Thursday morning, announced the cancelation of the traditional year-end Festival de la Luz (Light Festival), held every December, for this year
The mayor cited covid-19 as the reason behind cancelation and added that his office is working with the major television stations in the country to bring the bands and some of the traditional acts that make up the annual festival in the streets of downtown San Jose virtually into the homes of Costa Ricans.
Hundreds of thousands brave the chilly December night air to attend in person the Festival de la Luz, many grabbing a spot on the parade route from early morning, while many more take in the Christmas festivities on television.
The mayor added that the future of the traditional Zapote Fair that kicks off on Christmas Day and runs for two weeks, is uncertain.
Araya said at a press conference that it is the responsibility of the municipalities to take measures that protect the population and that is why they canceled the Light Festival.
In addition, the mayor said that there are also negative economic effects on the institution he directs and that they must prioritize resources to attend to families that request help in the midst of the pandemic.
“The income of our municipality has and will continue to be significantly reduced by the crisis. The numbers are very complex to handle and in a responsible way we are also taking a series of measures to cut expenses and to be able – primarily – to attend to and guarantee the provision of public services that correspond to the municipality of San José,” said Araya.
According to Araya, the San José Celebrations (Zapote), contrary to the Leight Festival, generate income for the municipality, but health is more important.
(QCOSTARICA) Dengue cases continue to rise nationwide, but the Brunca Region, in the zona sur (southern zone) has become a focus of concern for health authorities.
As of May 23, 450 cases were recorded in that region, 215 of them in Pérez Zeledón, for which the Ministry of Health declared a “dengue outbreak” in the area.
Nationwide, 2,689 cases are reported, which represents almost 3 times more than the 920 cases that were registered on the same date in 2019.
The Brunca Region has invested about ¢80 million colones from January to April 2020 for vector control, both in human and material resources, however, it reiterates to the population the individual responsibility of:
Eliminate breeding areas such as used tires, containers, buckets, animal waterers and black plastics.
(QCOSTARICA) President Carlos Alvaradothis Thursday announced changes in the ministers of Finance, Communication, and Science and Technology: Rodrigo Chaves, Luis Adrián Salazar and Nancy Marín.
The now former ministers, Rodrigo Chaves, Luis Adrián Salazar and Nancy Marín.
Elián Villegas, current president of the National Insurance Institute (INS) since 2015, and who has more than 25 years of experience in the financial sector, on June 1 will assume the post of Minister of Finance, replacing Rodrigo Chaves who resigned after seven months of coming to government.
The Ministry of Communication will be in charge of Agustín Castro, who served as vice minister of the Presidency when that portfolio was led by Rodolfo Piza.
Meanwhile, the leadership of the Ministry of Science and Technology will be assumed by the current Deputy Minister Paola Vega.
According to the press release announced by Casa Presidencial, the exits are due to the search for a “refreshing of leadership in the middle of the government.”
“I want to thank Mr. Rodrigo Chaves, Mr. Luis Adrián Salazar and Mrs. Nancy Marín for the work that Costa Rica and the Administration have carried out in recent months and years,” said the president in a video message sent to the press.
Of the three officials, only Salazar began his administration at the beginning of the Alvarado Quesada Administration, in May 2018.
Rodrigo Chaves was sworn in as Finance Minister on November 25, 2019, by President Carlos Alvarado, following the resignation of Rocío Aguilar. The now-former minister left a senior management position at the World Bank in Indonesia to take over the country’s public finances.
While Marín was in charge of the government’s Communication since January last year, when he relieved Juan Carlos Mendoza.
Chaves and Marín had a public disagreement exactly two months ago when the now-former Treasurer announced a plan that, he said, the government had to collect a solidarity tax on wages above ¢500,000 colones, in order to support the people whose income fell as a result of the covid-19 crisis.
Minutes later, on the Radio Monumental program “Matices”, Marín stated that Chaves did not have to have made such an announcement.
In the case of the Ministry of Communication, Agustín Castro, who is a journalist by profession and with a master’s degree in International Trade and Public Policy from George Mason University, in Washington, will assume the position.
The Ministry of Science and Technology will be assumed by the current Vice Minister Paola Vega, who is a doctor in microelectronics from the Hamburg University of Technology in Hamburg.
In the press release, President Alvarado said he has entrusted his new Minister of Finance with three priority objectives: The protection of those affected by the pandemic, the containment of public spending, and the stability of public finances.
(QCOSTARICA) The Minister of Health, Daniel Salas, on Thursday, confirmed 16 new cases of the coronavirus in Costa Rica, bringing the total of infections since the first on March 6, yo 1,000.
According to the numbers by the Ministry of Health, these are 470 women and 530 men, of which 817 are Costa Ricans and 183 foreigners.
A total of 646 have recovered. The country continues to register only 10 deaths, the last (2 on the same day) on May 15.
In hospital at this time there 12 patients with covid-19, of which 2 are in intensive care (ICU), with ages of 55 and 64 years.
This week, two bills were presented in the Legislative Assembly this week with the aim of modifying the 2021 Marchamo (vehicle circulation permit), the first project from liberationist Franggi Nicolás and the second from his bench partner David Gourzong.
PLN legislator Franggi Nicolás
Despite the fact that both proposals modify the same item of the Marchamo, the Vehicle Property Tax portion, they vary in scope.
Nicolás’ proposal proposes a 20% “discount” of the tax, for all vehicles. The Legislator affirms that “it would be a real and absolute ‘groseria’ (barbarity) to collect the Marchamo as it has always been done.”
The legislator said that if it is difficult to pay the Marchamo in a normal year, this year would be even harder for many families under the current conditions.
Gourzong, on the other hand, seeks a 25% decrease for the tax for those who demonstrate to the Ministry of Finance that they are unemployed or with a reduction in their working hours.
The reduction would also be for small businesses with a drop in business of at least 20%, as a consequence of the national emergency of COVID-19.
The Marchamo is made up of seven parts including compulsory insurance, the property tax is the largest amount, the tax based on the fiscal value of the vehicle.
The National Union of specialized and related drivers (SINACOESA) reported that many bus drivers are being abused by their employer companies. According to the general secretary, Francisco Campos, many companies apply contract suspensions without the endorsement of the Ministry of Labor.
Campos assured that the pandemic has been used as an excuse to infringe on drivers’ rights.
“There are countless companies that do not have the permit, and yet workers’ rights are violated. Others have the permit and (rights) also trampled, bearing the burden of the crisis on the drivers and abusing them,” Campos said
“It is total abuse. From three days before the law came into force, drivers had been sent home and now the suspension was extended for one more month, but without pay. The situation is so serious that a company has fired more than 20 drivers and none have wanted to pay them anything, claiming that the pandemic entitles them. That is an abuse by all accounts,” Campos added.
Drivers who keep working are also subject to violations, having had to extend their working days without receiving the corresponding remuneration, such as having to work 8 hours and paid only for 4, or working up to 12 hours a day, and paid for 8.
In addition, the Ministry of Labor has found violations such as having drivers put in 19-hour workdays, prohibited by legislation in the best of times.
A member of the cabin crew wearing a protective face mask places an item into the overhead baggage hold ahead of the flight on-board a passenger aircraft operated by Wizz Air Holdings Plc at Liszt Ferenc airport in Budapest, Hungary, on Monday, May 25, 2020. Wizz Air is plotting a major expansion at London Gatwick airport as rival carriers pull back, paving the way for the Hungarian low-cost carrier to emerge from the travel downturn with a bigger presence in the world’s busiest city for passenger traffic. Photographer: Akos Stiller/Bloomberg ORG XMIT: 775515974
(QCOSTRICA TRAVEL) Commercial flights to Costa Rica continue though the arrival of tourists is prohibited until June 15, and international flight arrivals are permitted only at the Juan Santamaria International (SJO) airport in San Jose.
Image for illustrative purposes
United Airlines is currently offering service between Houston, Texas (IAH) and Costa Rica on May 29 and June 1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 12, and 15.
The incoming flights are called “repatriation flights” for only Costa Ricans and residents (who did not leave the country after March 24) are permitted entry.
But don’t expect prices to be cheap. For example, the lowest price of a one-way ticket for the May 29 flight is US$747, a little cheaper on Monday, June 1, US$637.
The outgoing flight (open to anyone who can enter the U.S. and can afford it), leaving the San Jose airport at 12 noon, is US$ 1,213. Again, cheaper for the June 1 flight, US$1,018.
Passengers arriving in Costa Rica are issued a 14-day home isolation order and will be tested for the coronavirus.
Resuming commercial flights
The SJO Airport lists the following commercial flights to resume:
Air Canada in July to Toronto.
American Airlines on July 7 to Miami and Dallas.
British Airways on June 27 to London, England.
Condor on June 29.
Delta on June 19.
Edelweiss on June 23 to Zurich, Switzereland.
Latam on June 16 to Lima, Peru.
Southwest Airlines on August 30 to Fort Lauderdale and Houston.
Spirit on July 5 to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando.
The dates are tentative and subject to change.
At press time, the government of Carlos Alvarado has not indicated if the June 15 restrictions on tourist arrivals will be extended.
(TRAVEL PULSE) Just released, Longwoods International’s eleventh-wave ‘COVID-19 Travel Sentiment Study’ indicates that nearly half (48%t) of U.S. travelers are planning their first post-pandemic trip over the next six weeks in a lead-up to the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
During this time frame, Americans are most eager to take a road trip of fewer than 200 miles away from home to visit family and friends who have been off-limits for months amid community lockdowns, as selected by fifteen percent of travelers surveyed.
“Perhaps driven by the reopening happening in states and cities around the country, many Americans are planning to get back on the road in early summer,” said Amir Eylon, President and CEO of Longwoods International. “Encouragingly, we’re seeing a slow but steady decline in the impact of the pandemic on longer-term future travel plans.”
Although just over half (52%) of respondents did not plan to travel prior to the Fourth of July holiday. The percentage of travelers who reported that COVID-19 would greatly impact their travel decisions during the next six months continues to lessen, down from its apex of 67 percent in April 2020.
The portion of American travelers that reported having travel plans within the coming six-month period has remained fairly steady over the past weeks, now at 71%. Overall, the impact of the pandemic on future travel is currently reported to be at its lowest level since mid-March, when COVID-19 containment measures really began escalating in the U.S.
Supported by Miles Partnership, the survey fielded on May 20, 2020, is based upon a randomly-selected sample from a national consumer panel, consisting of 1,000 adults ages eighteen or over. Quotas for age, gender and region were used to match with Census targets and render the survey as representative of the U. S. population as a whole.
Due to the health emergency, the Ministry of Health of Panama decided to extend, for the second time and now for 15 days, the temporary suspension of construction activity, in the same terms expressed in Decree 506 of March 24.
In the first instance and as a result of the propagation of covid-19, it was reported that as of Wednesday, March 25 and for a period of 30 days, the suspension of the activities of the construction industry in the projects currently under development in the national territory was decreed in Panama.
When the first term was about to expire, health authorities decided that the suspension of the activities of the construction industry should be extended for a 30-day term.
The first extension was due to expire on May 25, however, the Ministry of Health issued Decree 637, which again postponed the resumption of construction. With this measure, the sector would resume operations on June 8.
The Ministry of Health will be in charge of authorizing, by means of a ministerial resolution, the reactivation of the operation, activity and mobilization of specific companies, which develop and provide services to some public institution, whose temporary suspension is due to executive decrees due to the National State of Emergency.
“you’ve fallen in love with Costa Rica…but there’s only one problem…actually, no… 100s of problems… what is the FIRST step?”
Actually you’ve already taken the first step… you have admitted that you don’t have all of the answers… and you would be shocked to know how many people try to do everything online, then hop on a plane and expect no surprises.
I know… because we did it almost 20 years ago.
And the problems are geometrically worse today because people posting on the internet will claim to have your answers…and… well, you know what happens next in 99% of the time.
The major difference between 20 or 30 years ago and today is that communication is instant and you can virtually be in someone’s living room or office with the click of a button.
But the biggest problem is that … just as in REAL LIFE … you don’t know who to believe or who to trust. And people operate on two different planes… i.e., Costa Rica and America
And because today Costa Rica is on everyone’s “bucket list” it is doubly important to ensure that you have a game plan if you intend to move to Costa Rica or to stay here even part-time.
This is not a perfect list… but it has been assembled by someone who has been in CR for almost two decades, has a daughter here with a law degree and two grandchildren… and of course, literally hundreds of acquaintances and people that are proven trustworthy AND competent… and that education was not cheap.
You all know the joke about how easy it is to make a million dollars in Costa Rica, right? … start with TWO. Yeah, too much truth in it too
No matter how much you study, how many books you read or how much time you spend on Facebook… you will NOT be prepared for Costa Rica. It is overwhelming. And if you really think that you are prepared… no matter how much you think you know… or how much of the language you can speak… be ready … because Costa Rica is unlike anything you have ever seen “back home.”
Do not expect it to be a replica of “back home” but in Spanish and maybe 25 years behind the times. It definitely isn’t.
The physical beauty of the country will absolutely stun you. Even if you think you are ready, you will be overwhelmed. Remember, Costa Rica is SMALL, about the size of W. Virginia… and it includes mountains, two oceans, rivers, lakes, volcanoes, jungle, rain forests, cities, small pueblos and villages so picturesque you will think you are in a National Geographic feature story… agricultural lands growing rice, fruits like banana and pineapple that seem to stretch without ending… and much more… and a huge part of it can be seen in ONE day’s drive… and every bend in the road is literally another Kodak minute. It is almost too much to take in. And remember… all of these are choices for you to stay, visit, or avoid… oh, and don’t forget the beaches… two oceans and they never seem to end.
When you are on vacation in Costa Rica much of the time you will get the impression that EVERYONE speaks English and much of the country is VERY similar to the U.S. or Canada. True… maybe 10% of the population speaks some English and many of the larger cities may “vaguely” remind you of “back home” but it really is not even close… Perhaps some of the newer office buildings will resemble those in Des Moines, IA but the more you explore the more you will see the huge architectural differences.
Is Costa Rica technologically advanced? Well, that depends upon your definition. If you turned back the clock for 50 years for much of the country, you would be accurate… but if you visited many of the international businesses which have moved to Costa Rica you would see very few differences. Keep in mind that it costs a great deal to have 4 or 5G internet or to have the latest technology for smaller Costa Rican businesses or even to upgrade much of the waste management systems. Costa Rica is smaller than most U.S. states and some larger cities. Most people completely forget that simple fact.
“I have heard that living in Costa Rica is expensive… can I afford it?” IT obviously depends upon your standard of living. Do you plan on building a home… buying property or renting? Do you want the same lifestyle as you have now? Define what you are looking for. Many things in Costa Rica are expensive and if you are looking to duplicate your lifestyle “back home” it may not be possible OR it may be easier than you think. Cars… 50% more expensive due to taxation and duties … food… if you buy in the market, substantially less… if you want to duplicate with specific brand names, more expensive If you are expecting second or third world pricing, forget it and start over. BUT the good news is that almost everyone that wants to live here CAN. It may require some sacrifice… for example, taking the bus instead of buying a car… or eating fruits and vegetables rather than specific junk food that many of us had become used to… ASK QUESTIONS. It is not difficult provided that you do not just depend upon your own assumptions to guide you… and then become disappointed.
Can I find a job in Costa Rica to support myself? Likely NO. It is technically against the law for an outsider or foreigner to accept a job that a Costa Rican can do. Exceptions are real estate, online work which is almost never-ending if you know where to look and have a skill in demand… Talk to other expats in many of the available forums to find out if there is a specific possibility for you. There was a North American in my town that I met when I first came to Costa Rica that had been a mechanic in the States… word circulated that he was at least as good as the locals and most of the time, better… so people started coming to him for diagnosis and eventually for fixing their cars. He didn’t make a fortune but he definitely supported himself. There are a lot of companies in Costa Rica that have no websites or that could use videos for marketing… team up with someone who speaks perfect English to get you in the door. And don’t let this one stop you. An awful lot of people make money online. Possibilities DO exist.
This is one you have heard before. And many people disregard it and ultimately pay the price. RENT before you buy land or build your own home. It is easy to fall in love with a specific area and take the next logical step to own your own home… but far too many people discover “warts” and problems before long. An example… at least half of people that buy and build close to the beach leave before five years has elapsed. Why? It is TOO hot and crime is more prevalent there… AC bills for ONE room only will run you $500 per month. Make certain that you LOVE it as much after six months of a year as you did on first sight.
Many of you are concerned about the medical services in Costa Rica. And yes, in many areas the service is substandard… but overall it is superb. Rhonda and I have had to avail ourselves of the medical care several times and have found it superior to what is in the States… and it is obviously far less cost. And prescription drugs? FAR less cost. We honestly would recommend the medical profession and public services over “back home.”
It is hard to imagine the diversity that exists in Costa Rica, both physical and otherwise. One of our favorite things is just taking “one day adventures” or drives to specific areas or town where we have never been before. And unlike “back home” there are almost endless “adventures” that we have taken over the years… and we are still definitely not done. It is mind-boggling… consider being able to see the ocean, mountains, thousands of acres of bananas and pineapples, lakes, rivers, rain forests, butterfly farms, jungle, the list goes on and on. There are wildlife tours in nearly every corner of the country, each featuring their own local wildlife. All in ONE DAY.
Always remember that natives of Costa Rica are different than anywhere else. Nationalities are always different and many times in ways unseen. This is not meant to be a negative … it simply means DO NOT make assumptions about Ticos or others just because of something you have read or something that you “think” might be true. Cultures are nearly always different from country to country. How you or I react to others is an individual thing. And please… this is NOT negative, it is simply meant to remind you that cultures and people from other places are different… and that is what makes it our adventure even more interesting.
I remember once a woman complained to Rhonda about the fact that there were spiders that were unlike anything she had back in Kansas… and she was petrified of them. This may seem laughable to most of you but please… know as much as you can about the flora and fauna from the area you will be living in… even temporarily. Spiders, scorpions, snakes, strange birds, even the four legged variety here are different… how many of you have ever seen an anteater close up?… or an ocelot?… or even an iguana? Get used to the differences… they are a big part of what Costa Rica is all about.
Learn some Spanish… even if it is only a little. You will be glad you did.
As a generalization, most “gringos” (North Americans) have more money than their counterparts in Costa Rica. And this brings up a topic here that incites anger, disbelief and even rage. So… here goes: Ticos, because they know ( or… believe ) that gringos have more money than they do… accept that gringos will not miss “just a little” if they don’t know that it has been “diverted.” A good example is restaurants… many will charge gringos more than Ticos and nearly all gringos never notice… thus proving the accepted theory about gringos have more money. Because gringos are “guests’ and visitors they obviously do not know accepted pricing. I see this as a simple cultural difference… not something worse. Always watch what you pay for anything as you can almost count on being “overcharged”… we looked at it as a “surcharge” for the privilege of living in CR. Just be careful. As a sidebar… this can add up to thousands of dollars when buying property. To prevent this from happening… ask me for a copy of “The Greater Fool Theory of Real Estate in Costa Rica”… no charge.
You may hear a lot about the condition of the roads in Costa Rica… IMO, the roads in Costa Rica are now better than what they are “back home”. They WERE horrible… really horrible… but no longer. You may need a 4×4 for some back roads so always ask before venturing onto roads where you have never driven.
There are a great many things that you will encounter that are definitely not the same and no one can predict what will upset you or make you totally uncomfortable. Most of the differences now make us smile… because many of the differences resemble “back home” but perhaps half a century ago: things like … gasoline is never self serve in Costa Rica… it is just as it was 40 -50 years ago in the States…I like that… OR… flat tires are almost always fixed on the spot at many service stations and cost is always less than $5.
Because most Costa Ricans have less money than their counterparts in the States… if you are shopping for more expensive furniture or appliances, you will not find pricing equivalent to “back home”… What you will find is Mexican and Chinese brands and many knockoffs… most are not as good as “back home”. If you have questions about a purchase ask other on FB or your potential new neighbors and see what they recommend.
If you have a limited budget and don’t mind being in a smaller town, there are literally hundreds of towns throughout the country and almost any of them will remind you of a Spanish “Leave it to Beaver” show. And the people are friendly… and nearly all will have bus service available to larger towns. This is a way to see the “real Costa Rica” but it is not for everyone.
I have mentioned this before but it is almost mind boggling how many different types of locations are available for consideration for your new residence. It is not only ocean but it could easily be mountain, small pueblo or villa, lake, volcano, wildlife areas ( most are further south like the Osa or others, Perez Zeledon is mountainous but almost “hippie lik” in atmosphere and is close to beach areas… and “less developed “… See as many as you can… After we purchased and built our homes I cannot tell you how many times we fell in love with another area and said that we wished we had built there…I even purchased land on an island because I fell in love with its location, geography AND history ( supposedly Spaniards had left treasure buried on the island.. and there are, as legend goes, even crocodiles guarding the gold )
There will always be “hot tips” and secrets that you will find. If you want to know the best ( and most honest ) place to get your car repaired… ask on FB or a forum OR your neighbor… get a referral first. Where can you find a repairman for your washing machine or dryer? Again… ask. It helps to have one or two people you can trust in the area where you are living. In fact, it is necessary… friends in CR should never be “optional”… you will find that many will want to be friends with you. The States or Canada still carries some status with Costa Ricans so don’t think that it is just your sterling personality that wins Ticos over. Especially when you don’t even know the language… except maybe for the word baño.
Enjoy the country… remember WHY you love the country. It is NOT all exaggeration and not all press releases. The phrase Pura Vida or “pure life” really does mean something to Costa Ricans. It is their country and in the time of stress and isolation because of a virus it is important to even pay attention to how Costa Rica responded to it vs. other countries. Their attitude and responses have gotten them huge recognition when nearly all other countries have “dropped the ball” in their responses.
Many of you will be upset with the amount of litter and garbage that exists in a country that promotes sustainability, conservation and energy renewal. It is a touchy subject and it is, IMO, a simple matter of money. The country is fiscally in poor shape and to consider items like electric trains and other large projects which spotlight its beliefs … makes it even more difficult to address litter in general. It is, for the most part, all about money… there is not enough of it to do everything including building dams and windmill farms to assist with power generation. Oftentimes, because Costa Rica is in the forefront of our thoughts it is easy to forget how truly small the country is. There ARE countries which are 10 to 100 times larger which do not have the impact or the positives that Costa Rica does. Baby steps here.
There are a tremendous amount of “things”… little things… that will likely upset you. But it is simply because they are different. We all know that Ticos have the patience of Job and if “standing in lines” was an Olympic event, they would win every time. Bad driving is another… get used to it. Corruption is another… it is more common if you are in the real estate business like I was and people were holding up permits to extort money ( no, not all the time ) it is most common when you happen to be speeding or at least are stopped by the transit police… most expats know that tickets and citations can be made to vanish with a subtle payment of perhaps $50. Is that corruption? Sure it is. Corruption goes on everywhere in the world and at the upper levels of the country it is usually left unsaid. It is common but do not let it spoil your overall perception of Pura vida. There is petty theft and there is crime, usually minor.
One of the most prevalent pet peeves that I have… as well as most expats… is the lenient stance on punishment and crime. If anyone is convicted of a minor crime, the punishment is usually negligible. However, it is when more serious crimes occur and a conviction and trial happen… that the outrage starts. Often even those convicted of murder are given a relatively small jail sentence… and the same for the more serious crimes. If the country really wishes to deter crime it must make the perpetrator truly punished. Please know that there will always be actions and “things” that you are uncomfortable with or just plain “do not like” about the people in Costa Rica or their customs or government. If you cannot handle them… well, there is the door.
But, for Rhonda and I… we cannot say enough good things about the years we have spent here… even in spite of the problems we have encountered on our journey.
We would not trade it for anything… and we are still on our ‘last great adventure.”
Taking up blogging in college is an engaging and profitable activity that can bring students as much entertainment as money to spend!
Blogging suits nearly every category of college kid: from those who swot their lectures and do their homework meticulously to those looking for online help from essay writer.
However, running a blog as a college student sometimes proves to be quite a challenge. For this reason, if you’re contemplating blogging, we have prepared a few useful tips you might consider for boosting your blogging career!
1. Set a Schedule
By developing a schedule of your blogging activity, you can organize it effectively. In the schedule, you should arrange your college and blogging assignments and distribute the time you will spend on them. This will largely help you optimize your time-spending and reasonably dedicate your efforts to both studying and blogging.
When creating a schedule, decide how much time you will spend on blogging and studying as well as when you will work on each of these activities. Arranging your work as both a blogger and student, you will be able to manage these two substantial spheres of your life more productively.
2. Choose the Niche
Running a blog that’s focused on one narrow subject and dedicated to several focal themes surrounding that subject will make it more successful and informative. Pick one of your favorite topics you’re knowledgeable in and start exploring it on your blog!
It’s also important to keep in mind that the subject should be trending as well. Being attracted to the topic and thus providing relevant information on it isn’t enough – for your blog to be liked, the topic needs to be popular among your readers. Hence, your niche has to both appeal to you and be trending with your target audience.
3. Stay Updated
To make your blog attractive to readers and suitable to the current environment, you need to connect your blog content to the relevant topics and news. For this reason, you have to keep up with the current trends and information that you might include in the articles on your blog.
Stay abreast of the latest news, facts, and updates, and center your content on what’s circulating in today’s world. By mirroring the trending topics in your blog articles, you will draw more readers to subscribe to your blog, and the odds are high that you will gain bigger recognition from your subscribers.
Modern web users are far more likely to be hooked by content that features the current topics rather than information that may be pretty valuable but is irrelevant to what’s currently popular.
4. Be Objective
Informative, compelling content should not include biased and subjective information. And if you want your blog to offer readers that special kind of content, you must exclude any touch of shallow, second-grade writing. Make sure to avoid presenting facts and news from your subjective point of view, as this devalues your blog and makes it look unprofessional.
Instead, try to adopt a totally opposite manner and principle of writing – communicate your message and ideas to readers in a fair-minded and impartial point of view. By providing information in your blog impartially, you are able to express your message more comprehensively and let the reader grasp the idea of an article more effectively.
In a Nutshell
For an enthusiastic college student, diving in a lively activity like blogging is a great opportunity to assert themselves and realize their potential outside the academic sector.
Blogging allows college kids to broaden the scope of their interests and skills by applying them in the digital dimension – the place that sets no limits for human creativity, open-mindedness, and intelligence.
And by following the recommendations we have included in this article, you will harness your blogging career with ease and eagerness!
(QCOSTARICA) Consumer perception has plummeted to its lowest level in almost two decades due to the crisis generated by the new coronavirus pandemic.
This is revealed by the most recent survey of the Consumer Confidence Index (Índice de Confianza del Consumidor – ICC), the results of which were disclosed Wednesday by the School of Statistics of the University of Costa Rica (UCR).
According to the study, the assessment of the country’s economic conditions fell, on a scale of one to 100, from 33 points last February, to 19.7 points now in May.
“We have never before come to such a bad perception in the current economic situation,” explained Johnny Madrigal, coordinator of the ICC survey.
The negative assessment also carried over to other variables in the survey such as the acquisition of durable goods.
In fact, the percentage of people who consider that these are bad times to buy a home rose from 64.3% three months ago to 76.2% today.
In addition, 88.4% considered that it was not the time to purchase a car either.
The researcher pointed out that when they asked about buying household items, such as household appliances, 82.9% consider that they are bad times, increased from 63.3% in February.
“When asked about the current economic situation, we have not had a pessimistic situation like the one we are experiencing today (…). We have 18 years of doing the survey every three months and it is the first time that we have had such bad figures in some areas,” said Madrigal.
In addition, 53% of the interviewees have a strong uncertainty about their employment situation in the next 12 months. 33% said they are very likely to lose their job, while 20% do not know if they will have a job.
The ICC is a quarterly survey that has been conducted since 2002 and measures consumer confidence. This indicator is made up of two sub-indicators that are the current situation of the economy and future economic expectations.
The general indicator for the month of May in 36.6 points, which is considered pessimistic. The survey was carried out between May 4 and 20, and has a 5% margin of error.
(QCOSTARICA) Nicaraguan truckers blocked border crossings with Costa Rica on Wednesday to demand that the Costa Rica government lift sanitary restrictions on cargo trucks, implemented to contain the spread of covid-19.
“We are going to definitively block traffic to pressure governments to resolve,” said the president of the Nicaraguan Transport Association (ATC), Marvin Altamirano.
“The measure to prevent the passage of Costa Rican buses and vehicles into Nicaragua began on Tuesday afternoon and will be extended until the restrictions on the passage of transport to Costa Rica are lifted,” Altamirano said.
Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega denounced last week that there are more than 1,000 Central American cargo trucks parked on the northern border due to “unilateral measures”Costa Rica established for entry after some 50 truck drivers tested positive for the coronavirus.
The Federation of Chambers and Associations of Exporters of Central America and the Caribbean (Fecaexca) pointed out that the restrictions on entry to carriers imposed by Costa Rica limit intraregional trade and cause millions of dollars of losses.
The Guatemalan Ministry of Economy, for its part, pressured Costa Rica on Wednesday to find “viable solutions” for “the good of the Central American integration process,” and avoid affecting the competitiveness in the region.
Costa Rica has proposed three possible solutions: truckers to drop their cargo at the border to be trucked by local drivers to their destination, drop or load cargo at customs warehouses and driven by local drivers destination and for drivers only in transit to move from border to border by caravan under police escort.
The measure was agreed to by Panama at the southern border, that allowed clearing the border blockade, but not by Nicaraguan authorities.
Nicaragua "is at the foot of the volcano" of what will be the impact of the pandemic.The NGO Observatorio Ciudadano reports 598 deaths from pneumonia and Covid-19 suspects and more than 2,000 cases until May 23
According to official figures, Nicaragua only has 35 dead with covid-19. But many question the numbers.
(QCOSTARICA) Health Minister Daniel Salas had a clear message at the press conference on Wednesday: the main risk for Costa Rica is the situation of the covid-19 in Nicaragua.
“Our main health risk at this time is the high level of virus circulation that exists in Nicaragua. That is the main risk that we have, we have to be very diligent,” he said.
Nicaragua “is at the foot of the volcano” of what will be the impact of the pandemic.The NGO Observatorio Ciudadano reports 598 deaths from pneumonia and Covid-19 suspects and more than 2,000 cases until May 23. According to official figures, Nicaragua only has 35 deaths due to covid-19. But many question the numbers. Photo La Prensa / for the Q
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) confirmed that community transmission of the disease is already occurring in the neighboring country and urged the government of Daniel Ortega to take the measures that were recommended.
“We have to take care of ourselves, we have to take care of all the activity and follow the protocols. It is true that this risk exists, we have been trying to deal with it in the most intense way, they have already seen the entire deployment and the entire health movement.
“Nicaragua has community transmission. We have not reached that status, we must continue to focus on our status (Costa Rica is in phase three, where there are clusters of identified and isolated cases).
“There is still an enormous responsibility in our population, each family, each person, each company and institution that we apply the protocols,” said the minister.
His message is particularly important because the curve of covid-19 infections in the country rose again with the report of 28 new cases over the previous, with which the total number reached 984, counted since March.
In the past week there 102 new cases were reported.
Minister Salas said that of these new patients, 18 were already in preventive isolation by health order.
“What we need to do so that there is no community transmission is physical and face-to-face distancing, manage our social bubbles, and not going out if you have symptoms, ”he said.
“The risk (Nicaragua), as I indicated, is the most important. I do not want it to be misinterpreted and to say that this is the risk that exists and that we can forget about all the measures, because there is still a risk of transmission not linked to Nicaragua.
“We cannot think that the risk within Costa Rica ceased to exist, let us remember that it is a highly transmissible virus and that if we break the protocols, we still have it here,” said the Health Minister.
At stake right now is the moving forward of the reopening plan. Phase one of the re-opening plan ends in a few days, and the government of Carlos Alvarado is currently evaluating to move forward to phase two as planned or requires a course change.
To the numbers
Of the 984 confirmed cases, 804 are Costa RIcas and 180 foreigners of which 461 are women and 523 men.
The number of hospitalized are 12, two of which are in ICU. A total of 639 have recovered and the total deaths remain at 10.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought some of the world’s wealthiest global cities to their knees. In the current epicenter, New York, roughly one-fifth of all residents are infected and more than 20,000 have died. London has reported more than 55,000 cases and 6,000 fatalities.
Yet the spread and impacts of the disease are an even greater threat to poorer cities and slums in developing countries.
Informal settlements like Orangi Town in Karachi, Payatas in Manila, Kibera in Nairobi, or Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro have witnessed a silent surge in infections. Without proper interventions, they could become urban morgues. Combined with heavy-handed lockdowns and rising food prices, steep rises in excess deaths and social unrest could follow.
Mega-slums are incubators of disease transmission. Although some cities in Latin America, Africa and South Asia have learned the lessons of past pandemics and have at least temporarily dodged the first wave of COVID-19, many others are exposed. The world’s poorest cities and their informal settlements aggregate risk factors that accelerate the spread of infection.
One such risk is extreme density. Informal settlements are typically 10 times denser than similarly located formal areas of a given city. The Dharavi slum in the center of Mumbai has more than 270,000 residents per square kilometer. This compares to around 43,000 people per square kilometer in Manila, the world’s densest city.
Even worse than density is severe overcrowding and uneven access to basic services. In many lower- and middle-income cities, the poor are crammed into substandard and poorly ventilated buildings, making disease easier to spread. Far too many lack access to clean water, basic sanitation and even regular electricity. They are often squeezed into packed buses to get to and from work. Insecure property rights ensure that the urban poor lack access to many basic public services or banking and credit facilities.
Because they have few savings, the world’s roughly 1 billion slum dwellers – both young and old – are forced to work to survive, despite the stay-at-home orders. Today, developing countries account for 70% of the planet’s population aged 60 or over. Many of them suffer from pre-existing health conditions including obesity, diabetes and hypertension as well as cholera, dengue, hepatitis, malaria, pneumonia, tuberculosis and HIV. Chronic health problems are aggravated by poor nutrition and constant exposure to pollution.
New hotspots
With Brazil en route to becoming the global epicenter of COVID-19, its favelas will suffer most. In Rio de Janeiro, where at least 1.6 million people live in around 1,000 informal settlements, over 70% of households have already experienced a decline in income since the outbreak. The city government is advising the population to stay at home and take health precautions, yet the poorest residents lack piped water with which to wash their hands. Hundreds of residents have tested positive, but the queue for ICU facilities is in the thousands. Deaths are rising, though these are still vastly under-reported.
The situation is equally complicated in Lagos, Africa’s largest city, which has just over 3,500 reported COVID-19 infections to-date. Roughly 60% of Lagotians are poor, many of them packed into the city’s 100 slums. Almost 70% of the city’s residents depend on informal jobs – as street vendors, waste recyclers and artisans, for example – with no safety nets. Local buses run well beyond capacity, cramming 80 into spaces reserved for less than 20.
A similar scenario is playing out in Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital, which has recorded more than 4,000 registered infections. There, at least 90% of the population relies on the informal economy. But Dhaka has less than 100 public ICU beds for a population of more than 8.5 million. Due to weak vital registration data, no one knows the real death toll of COVID-19.
Governments in some developing countries are responding to the spread of disease in slums as they often do – with top-down measures and a heavy fist. In city after city, lockdowns and curfews are imposed without regard to the impossibility of adhering to basic physical distancing. Where they are provided at all, food handouts are insufficient to meet local demand. In Kibera, the distribution of relief assistance has triggered riots and police violence.
Filling the vacuum
And in Rocinha, residents are fending for themselves. Informal settlements have essentially been abandoned by political elites, and local residents tend to rely on residential associations and self-help groups instead. Not surprisingly, cartels, gangs and mafia groups are stepping in to provide services and exploit the poor. Around the world, criminal groups that are already substituting for the state are further eroding the limited trust locals have in their public authorities.
Aggressively enforced quarantines are making a difficult situation much worse. This is because repressive containment could exacerbate social tensions, unleashing pent-up grievances and potentially violence. The suspicion with which locals view the political elite and public authorities helps explain the emergence of alternate systems of power and influence – including criminal groups. Managing these complexities is central to effective detection, treatment, isolation and, eventually, recovery from the disease.
Lockdowns are only feasible when they are tailored to local realities. The reason is obvious: informal workers simply cannot afford the luxury of staying at home or giving up work. Given the array of deprivations facing the 60% of the world’s labor force that works in the informal economy, the notion of “shelter-in-place” is preposterous.
National governments must prioritize the delivery of water, food and sanitation to vulnerable populations, and support solid waste collection. Relief efforts should involve cash transfers to the poorest households and city officials should impose moratoriums on evictions. An early priority for local governments should also be to bolster primary healthcare systems and to train and deploy community health workers as they have in cities throughout Sierra Leone, Uganda and Vietnam.
In order to limit future infectious disease outbreaks, regular immunizations are essential. These and primary health measures should be underpinned by a strong communications campaign involving trusted neighborhood leaders, community radio stations, targeted television spots, convincing phone messages and especially social media.
All of this requires working directly with local organizations and coalitions that can help scale these interventions where they are most needed. Groups like UN-Habitat and Slum Dwellers International are playing a key role in galvanizing grassroots networks around the world. Global pandemics require global responses, and international organizations, philanthropy, city networks, and private businesses must all do their part. Ultimately, control of this pandemic crisis and the next one depends on what happens in the world’s slums. Many of them are showing remarkable resilience, but too many are being neglected.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been traumatic in advanced cities with hundreds of thousands of lives lost. It is likely to be much worse in the mega-cities and slums of the developing world, many of which are forming the new frontline.
(QCOSTARICA) In a phrase, convalescent plasma therapy is about removing plasma from patients who have already recovered from SARS-CoV-2, the covid-19-transmitting coronavirus, and administering it to critically ill patients fighting the disease.
The therapy is an experimental treatment. It is not a new treatment, but it is not that common either, because it is not easy to achieve.
Dr. Mariángela Vargas Arroyo, who was recognized in 2016 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as one of the seven innovators under 35 in Central America. She is one of the specialists in the fractionation of blood plasma in Costa Rica. Photo: Courtesy UCR.
People who’ve recovered from COVID-19 have antibodies — proteins the body uses to fight off infections — to the disease in their blood. The blood from people who’ve recovered is called convalescent plasma. Plasma is the liquid portion of the blood.
Researchers hope that convalescent plasma can be given to people with severe COVID-19 to boost their ability to fight the virus. It also might help keep people who are moderately ill from becoming more ill and experiencing COVID-19 complications.
In Costa Rica, the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) is already implementing it.
Why?
La Nacion, in its explainer report, used the knowledge and help of Dr. Olga Arguedas, immunologist and director of the National Children’s Hospital.
What is plasma?
Plasma is the liquid part of blood. 55% of our blood is made up of plasma. Once removed, the plasma has a translucent yellowish color.
Blood contains cells such as red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, etc., and it also contains a liquid fraction: plasma.
The latter is basically made up of water, salt, and proteins that include immunoglobulins, which are liquid defenses (the predominant antibody in the blood).
Plasma also has clotting factors and it also has another very important protein called albumin. It is responsible for keeping fluids in place within the body without seeping into other tissues, and it also handles the transport of many medications.
In short, plasma is the liquid fraction of blood that is particular interest right now is to overcome covid-19, treating the sickest with its immunoglobulins, which are specific defenses against infectious agents to which a person has been exposed.
Image for illustrative purposes
Expected results:
The results are modest, says Arguedas, but there are patients that it has helped them. This procedure has been useful in Chile, the United Kingdom and Austria. Especially in serious patients.
“In this complex scenario for a life-threatening disease, without evidence-based treatment, plasma is one more alternative to consider,” explains Arguedas. “The most important effects have been seen in achieving improvement in pneumonia so severe that covid-19 produces. The critical patient is the patient for whom this therapy is best indicated. It is not in other patients because it is a delicate form of therapy, which requires very strict medical control, and for which there are also some undesirable effects.”
During the press conference on Monday, May 25, Dr. Román Macaya, President of the CCSS, confirmed that the convalescent plasma is being currently applied to a 37-year-old patient at the Specialized Covid-19 Patient Care Center (CEACO ).
According to Macaya, Costa Rica has collected 61 bags of convalescent plasma from 25 donors.
The fact that this plasma is not used in all active patients does not have as much to do with availability. Although there is little availability because in Costa Rica there are still not too few recovered patients, this treatment is not indicated in patients who are not in critical condition, emphasizes the immunologist Olga Arguedas.
“Because the risk-benefit balance in patients who are not in critical condition is not adequate,” she says.
In the United States, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) calls for recovered patients to donate their plasma for the same treatment. As of May 5, 2020, the NIH had the following to say about the results of the convalescent plasma application:
“Although the results are promising, convalescent plasma has not been shown to help every time in the treatment of covid-19. This procedure has been applied to a small number of people in preliminary studies, and some of them have been improved”.
How difficult is it to extract plasma and apply it to sick patients?
“Not all countries can give convalescent plasma therapy because this requires very sophisticated laboratory equipment, apheresis machines, a series of biosafety standards that must be met with convalescent plasma,” explains Dr. Arguedas.
Costa Rica has an advantage, the Clodomiro Picado Institute of the University of Costa Rica and working with the CCSS Blood Bank have managed to perform plasmapheresis to attend to the covid-19 emergency.
“It is a great achievement, and indeed it is one of the few countries that achieves this for this pandemic,” says pediatric infectologist María Luisa Ávila, and former Minister of Health of Costa Rica (2006 and 2011).
“However, it is a process that is known for a long time and has been used for other infectious diseases, but now with better technology. It is a clear example that Costa Rica has the capacity to do great things,” added Avila.
UCR Tropical Diseases Research Center (CIET) microbiologist, Eugenia Corrales-Aguilar, a doctor of Virology and university professor, says that when making any blood transfusion or, in this case, plasma, one must be very careful regarding the risk biological that implies.
“The product must be very well controlled. Because it could cause an infection in the person who will receive the blood product. You have to sift very well. You have to detect the genetic information of the liquid beforehand”.
According to Corrales-Aguilar, five factors mean that not all countries can apply convalescent plasma to covid-19 patients:
A very robust blood bank is required.
Very robust biological control is required.
Recovered patients who donate their plasma need to be patients with clean blood (not having any other transmissible microorganism).
You need to have an established capacity to measure the immune response to covid-19.
And you need to be highly prepared: “You can always cause an adverse reaction. People receiving these antibodies must be monitored to check that they are not having a reaction against that plasma. You have to have a very robust health system and ‘spark’ to measure those signs of whether the person is reacting badly, and try to manage it. The final objective is to try to collaborate with the improvement of the patient and not worsen his situation. This is what should be put on a scale, and many countries do not have the knowledge to do it,” Corrales-Aguilar.
