Authorities confirmed 2 cases of coronavirus COVID-19 in bus drivers. Although there is not much detail about the drivers, it is known that they employed by a bus company in Guadalupe.
The Ministry of Health asked drivers not to attend work if they present symptoms such as a sore throat, fever, difficulty breathing, loss of smell, among others.
Manuel Vega Villalobos, executive director of the Public Transport Council (CTP) expressed his concern about the case of the two bus drivers, reiterates the call made weeks ago for users and concessionaires of public transport to abide by the sanitary measures established to prevent the spread of COVID-19, even insisting on using masks.
“We know that in public transport there is a greater exposure of this disease, so the measures must be increased even more, we must be extremely hygienic and despite the fact that the passenger capacity on buses cannot be decreased, we call for users use the masks as a preventive measure, as long as they are handled correctly,” Vega said.
For the executive director of the CTP, wearing a mask on the bus or taxi will be a preventive way that together with social distancing, constant washing of hands and avoiding contact with the face, nose, eyes and mouth will be more effective.
The number of confirmed cases of covid-19 in Costa Rica reached 773 this Friday, 63 days after the detection of the first patient as a result of the new coronavirus. It is eight more cases than Thursday.
As of this Friday, the percentage of recoveries reached 60% (461 people) and active cases dropped to 312.
Hospitalization is also kept to a minimum. Of the 312 active cases, only 21 (6%) are hospitalized, of which 6 are in Intensive Care, the rest at home.
According to the epidemiological report of the Minister of Health, Daniel Salas, those affected over this time have been more men (409) than women (364).
There are 41 minors and 732 adults(39 seniors).
Among the 773 cases throughout these two months, 95 are foreigners.
Truckers from Nicaragua and Panama
The minister reported that among the new cases of contagion of covid-19 are two truckers that entered from Nicaragua through the Tablillas border post, in Los Chiles, Alajuela.
The two men remain isolated and Health confirmed “all the contacts they had in Costa Rica are located.”
The two cases came out of 230 tests that were carried out on truckers on Thursday.
On Wednesday, another trucker was detected that entered from Panama through the border post of Sixaola.
Health Minister Daniel Salas announced that as of this Friday, truckers who want to enter Costa Rica will be tested for the virus, which will mean waiting 24 to 48 hours at the borders while the result is ready.
The Immigration Police will be in charge of monitoring that there are no crowds while the truckers wait for the test result. Every day, more than 1,000 trucks pass through the Peñas Blancas border alone.
Migrant transfers
Salas also issued a warning regarding migrant transfers, saying that owners of businesses who allow transfers of migrants in their vehicles, for any reason, will see their businesses shut down.
This week, a group of migrants were found riding in a truck belonging to a local farm operator. At first it was believed the migrants had just arrived from Nicaragua, but using illegal migrant labor in the northern zone is nothing new.
“We have invested a lot to have the figures we have at the moment (relatively few positive cases of the virus) and we are all going to be vigilant of the transfer of migrants. Any businessman who favors this activity will be closed. In the inspections to be carried out, if this type of transfer is found, the activity is completely closed,” Salas said.
Border Restrictions
On Thursday, Security Minister, Micheal Soto, announced that the border restrictions will continue until June 15. This applies to all borders – land, sea and air.
Tourists will continue to be prohibited entrance to the country, only Costa Ricans and residents may enter, and be subject to a 14-day mandatory quarantine.
Residents who left the country after March 23 will are prohibited from re-entering during the national emergency. And residents found entering the country illegally will lose their immigration status.
In Panama, 1,000 extra-continental migrants are stranded seeking to travel overland to the United States. On Thursday, Security Minister Michael Soto was clear that they will not allow the 1,000 extra-continental migrants on the Panama side of the border.
Measures to reactive the economy
The Health Minister pointed out that department stores have their operating permit revoked this Saturday (May 9) and Sunday (May 10) and security will monitoring compliance.
“On Monday we will announce the measures that are going to be lifted for the following weeks,” he said.
From a Facebook post by Britt Nelson: Day 53. Let’s just cut to the chase. Jaco’s City Park is closed to innocent dog walkers. Parents with children are forbidden in the playground. Around town, several restaurant/bars are open Monday through Friday with restrictions, but must close Saturday and Sunday.
I call BS. Church services are still cancelled. More BS. Our beloved Pacific Ocean beach front is still closed to surfers, no morning walks holding hands with your lover as the surf licks your toes, no heading to the beach at the end of day for a spectacular sunset. I call BS.
After two months of monitoring all the virus stats there still are only 6 dead, mostly elderly folks from the Central Valley. There are a few scattered virus cases here and there around the canton Garabito, but not enough to close the town into chaos. There never was! I call BS!
Costa Rica did what it did to be safe, well … the time has come to let Jaco Beach cut lose and allow the healing to begin. Enough is enough. There’s a lot of hurtin’ going on.
However, opening Costa Rica to incoming airline flights from around the world is a whole other ball game with many variables and this threat needs to be taken seriously. Incoming flights have been delayed until at least June 15.
But locally, the time has come for Jaco to yell from the rooftops “We Are Open for Business.” Rollback all the restrictions to pre-virus days.
You want to stay home, wearing your mask being afraid of others, fine – that’s your freedom to do so. But for the rest of us let’s pick up the pieces and walk into the future best we can as soon as we can. Rebuilding won’t be easy, but what’s the alternative?
Help your neighbor, wash your hands, and remember our God loves us all.
Playas del Coco, in Guanacaste, resurrected humanity’s oldest method of payment: barter. The residents of that community opted to reduce the use of money and take advantage of their abilities to cope with the pandemic caused by the covid-19.
The idea comes from Marie DeFlandre, a French woman who has lived in Playas del Coco for two years. She worked in a hotel and, like several of her relatives, she was left without a job due to the closure of these places and shops linked to the tourist sector on the coast, according to La Voz de Guanacaste.
Passengers wear protective face masks as a precaution against the spread of the new Coronavirus, COVID-19, at Jorge Chavez International Airport, in Lima, on March 6, 2020. - Peruvian Government confirmed its first case of Coronavirus. President Martin Vizcarra reported that it is a 25-year-old male patient, who arrived from a trip to Spain, France and the Czech Republic. (Photo by Luka GONZALES / AFP) (Photo by LUKA GONZALES/AFP via Getty Images)
The use of masks is one of the most controversial topics in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. You may be asking yourself if you have to wear a mask or why other countries are using them more than Costa Rica.
Currently, the Ministry of Health (Minsa) does not recommend the massive use of masks, meaning that they do not ask people to wear them, even if they do not have symptoms of the virus, reports The Voice of Guanacaste.
When you do officially move to Costa Rica you are in for some surprises. Many of the people that were interviewed were surprised at how many locals speak English, as well as the abounding beauty.
Others were shocked that some ex-pats work hard to re-create what they were trying to escape from. Others were pleasantly surprised to find the same brands of clothing, food, vehicles etc.
There is a diverse landscape with varied ecosystems in Costa Rica. Costa Rica is more than just beaches, and most of Costa Rica is in the mountains. It was surprising to others that there weren’t as many bugs, and snakes are rare to be seen.
We asked residents with ranging backgrounds What things surprised them after relocation to Costa Rica. We hope their answers will help better prepare you for a move to Costa Rica.
My wife and I have spent a total over 15 years in Costa Rica and… while we initially moved here to “retire”… we definitely have not had a typical “retirement”.
While we have not exactly been absorbed in a typical Tico community we have interacted with literally thousands of Costa Ricans throughout the country and can categorically say that the differences between “gringos” ( North Americans ) and Costa Ricans are a LOT greater than most people think.
Most gringos read about… and see the “pura vida” side of the people and the country and believe that that is all there is. And that is the primary reason that most visitors and expats are attracted to the country.
Biodiversity, the wildlife… the plants, flowers… the ability to see two oceans, volcanoes, rivers, banana plantations, agricultural lands, larger cities, lakes, mountains, jungles, cloud forests, … all within a day’s drive… is one of the main attractions of the country. It definitely was for us.
The people?
Most do not see the differences and assume that we are all alike.
Having had a daughter that married two Ticos ( no , not at the same time…) and being grandparents to two Costa Rican grandsons… I can state categorically that the cultural differences are huge.
The pandemic and quarantine that affects us all is a perfect example.
The statistics of the infected, tested and the deaths in Costa Rica vs. everywhere else on the planet are a prime example. They are head and shoulders above almost any other country in the world.
I look at a lot of property throughout the country and do a lot of driving and meet people on almost a daily basis. And yes, I am careful to keep social distancing in mind but this is about what I see…
Most rural areas are aware and are careful, but they feel that they are safe because of the lack of visitors “from outside”. And even the Guacaste area which is the primary area visited by vacationers has zero deaths at this point and very few infected.
BUT… the differences?
Expats and gringos from the outside scream and are violent about any restrictions to curb their desired “freedoms”. Quarantines are seen ( by many ) as an infringement upon freedom of choice… even though the U.S. is a nation of laws. And they see lockdowns and closure of business as a direct slap against freedom… even though it is for the public’s protection. Not much different than the outcry against and changes to the freedom to bear arms… or any infringement of it.
50 years ago my sister marched against the Vietnam War. My father vehemently disagreed with her… He refused to pay her college tuition. But then 20 years later, he admitted he was wrong.
Back to Costa Rica.
Costa Rica is unique. It is similar to where the U.S. was many years ago even though the rest of the world is now different.
Costa Ricans love their country… they love the concept of “pura vida” and everything it stands for. And for the most part they obey their laws without question.
The quarantine… most obey… except those in the rural areas… they are aware but belief that they are safe.
In the larger cities, the new quarantine restrictions, for the most part… are obeyed… schools are closed and children seldom play together any longer and stay home. Businesses are ( or were ) closed and almost everyone obeyed without question.
But the differences too… are that Ticos have a different view of the world than we do. And they truly believe that everything will return to normal very quickly… despite the fact that Costa Rica is heavily affected by what happens to the U.S. and its implementation of quarantine restrictions and lockdowns. Unemployment in the U.S. is the worst since the great Depression and no one knows or can predict what kind of future we will have… except that it will be different than “pre-pandemic.”
Will it all start having a major effect on Costa Rica?
Sadly, I do not see how it cannot as our countries are inextricably tied together. And… even though the concept of “pura vida” is Costa Rica… will it really continue?
I believe yes.
Because eventually, things will return to some degree of normalcy… and in the meantime many of us continue to search for what many in Costa Rica already have… and what the country is.
Is it really as good as many of us believe?
For many of us… even those who are skeptical… it is.
It is our escape.
It is not perfect… but it is better than the anger, the dissension and the lack of trust that exists “back home” for many of us.
It is not perfect…
But for many of us… Costa Rica really is an alternative and is better than almost anywhere else.
Minister of Health Daniel Salas updated the coronavirus situation in Costa Rica
(Rico’s Digest) Costa Rica’s Health Minister, Daniel Salas, prescribed a good dose of “ubicatex” to the President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, without even mentioning his name, with a free lesson on epidemiology.
Minister Salas, who is a medical doctor with a Master’s in Public Health with an emphasis in Management and a Professional Master’s in Epidemiology with an emphasis in Epidemiology applied to Health Systems, on Wednesday, schooled the Salvadoran president after Bukele on Tuesday, on his nation’s live television and followed on Twitter, why Costa Rica had few confirmed cases of covid-19.
Salas, with great restraint of leadership, explained to Juan (the people of Costa Rica), so that Pedro (Bukele) could understand what the country (Costa Rica) did to flatten the coronavirus curve.
“To date, 14,448 samples have been processed, we also want to refer to what are the strategies followed in this country, to detect cases and possible circulation, not only of the coronavirus but of others such as influenza or rhinovirus, which they do not stop circulating throughout the year.
“We want to present to the population how we have been monitoring the situation by COVID-19, what strategies have been incorporated and everything that has led us to the results that we have had in Costa Rica,” explained Dr. Salas.
Bukele, is a layman, businessman and politician did not study medicine, is not a doctor, less an expert in Epidemiology or health management, said that Costa Rica has few cases because they are not testing enough, “giving people the perception of flattening the curve, diminishing the number of reported infections.”
The former president of the Legislative Assembly, Carlos Benavides, (2019-2020), took to Twitter to set Bukele straight, “Costa Rica also gives the perception of having more than 70 years of not having an army, of investing in health and education, of having exemplary social security and of working every day to avoid authoritarianism and protect our democratic system.”
Benavides, who is no doctor, but a lawyer, businessman and politician, did not speak of medical terms, but of Costa Rica political achievements.
However, Dr. Maria Luis Avila, who is a medical doctor, a pediatric infectious disease specialist and who was Minister of Health from 2006-2011, let Bukele have it with a direct hit, saying “the classic example of an ignorant – with all due respect Mr president – talking about what he doesn’t know.”
“I think that this is a strategy by the President (Bukele) to divert attention from the problems his country is suffering after being accused of human rights violations with the subject of persons deprived of liberty.
“Possibly he has had several criticisms in this regard and we must also see how the situation of the coronavirus is in El Salvador, there is a lot of migration from his country to another side looking for better horizons … I think we fell, and I include myself, in his strategy of generating controversy with the tweet they shared,” said María Luisa.
“Populists usually use this type of strategy to divert attention from what is happening in their own country”, added the good doctor.
Also responding on social networks was the popular former minister of Education (2006-2014) and a very influential political voice in the country, Leonardo Garnier.
“Contrary to what some seem to think, the fight against COVID-19 is not a competition between countries, it is not about ‘winning the other.’ On the contrary, either we all win or we all lose. The best thing that can happen to us is that the neighbors also give this fight successfully,” Garnier posted.
Doctor Cool. For his part, Don Daniel, remained calm, producing some very nice slides, with drawings and everything, so that no one had trouble understanding issues such as ‘centinela’ surveillance program (surveillance at points considered high risk), the number of tests carried out, and the control of imported cases.
On the Government’s side, the only one who directly referred to the issue was Foreign Minister Rodolfo Solano, who said on Noticias Columbia that he had already sent for the Costa Rican ambassador to El Salvador, Ana Patricia Pineda Salinas, because he is very concerned about the unsubstantiated statements given by Bukele.
The criticism of Bukele also came from within his borders, from that of Rafael Cerna, editor of the Salvadoran newspaper, Más, who said he does not know why the president of his nation had such a reaction, chalking it up to a slip in the heat of live television.
“I do not know what the President (of El Salvador) relied on to assert that Costa Rica gives the false impression of having controlled COVID-19 to some extent, but, as far as I understand, from what I have seen and read, it was a slip or misinterpretation in the heat of live television and radio. And the reactions of Costa Rican officials and former officials reinforce what I think,” said Rafael Cerna, editor-in-chief of the Salvadoran newspaper Más.
What is your opinion? Is Costa Rica fudging the numbers to look good or for a more nefarious reason? Do you believe Dr. Salas in his daily report on the numbers?
The electric train project, costing US$1.55 billion dollars, was proposed by the Carlos Alvarado administration (2018-2022)
(QCOSTARICA) The government on Monday (May 4) presented to the Legislative Assembly the draft law of the loan contract with the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), which will be used for the construction of the Passenger Electric Train of the Great Metropolitan Area.
Costa Rica President Carlos Alvarado, in his annual message to the Legislative Assembly, noted that it will be the largest concession work that the country will have and “will transform our nation in mobility, health and competitiveness. This and the other infrastructure works will be essential and irreplaceable for the recovery and employment that our country needs.”
The loan contract with CABEI is for up to US$550 million, with a 25-year term, no commitment fee and a 5-year grace period to finance the state contribution to the project, which will have a counterpart of US$1 billion in foreign investment as it is a concession project.
The project for the construction, equipment, start-up, operation and maintenance of the Electric Passenger Train will generate around 2,670 jobs (1,200 in the construction phase and 1,470 in the operational phase) and will benefit different sectors through productive linkages and indirect job generation.
The Electric Train is proposed as the core of the transport system, as well as a fiscally responsible public investment project. In addition, it will enable an intermodal public transport system, so that people will be able to use the train and connect to the bus service.
“This is a very important project for the country because it will be a trigger in the modernization of our public transport. It will allow us to generate more demand, as well as a quality service to users. We will get people back on public transport, not only on the train, but also on the buses, on taxis, through an intermodal system,” said the Minister of Public Works and Transport, Rodolfo Méndez.
For her part, the First Lady Claudia Dobles, the promoter of the Electric Train, explained that this project will be carried out through the Public-Private Partnership scheme in the form of a concession.
“Through a concession, it will allow the country to make the economy more dynamic, be more competitive, have a better transportation infrastructure and zero emissions and quality system, as well as generate more jobs,” said Dobles.
For the Minister of Planning and Economic Policy and coordinator of the Economic Team, Pilar Garrido, “this initiative that was born to transform public transport into a modern, safe, sustainable and reliable, is one of the greatest alternatives to boost the national economy and support many families with the generation of quality employment, both in professional and non-professional labor.
About the Electric Train
The Electric Train will benefit over 1,350,000 inhabitants of the Greater Metropolitan Area, connecting four the most populated provinces – San Jose, Alajuela, Heredia and Cartago – and 15 cantons.
But it will also have a reactivating effect in the other regions of the country, such as the Pacific and the Atlantic, according to the government’s proposal.
It consists of providing a modern and comfortable electric train to the users of public transport, on the current right of way of INCOFER. The Electric Train will improve mobility conditions between the different points, in a safe, ecologically responsible, fast and efficient way, favoring the reduction in people’s travel times and collaborating with road decongestion.
The current diesel train
The electric train will have 46 stations along 84 km, from Paraíso de Cartago to Coyol de Alajuela, on five lines: one connecting Paraíso de Cartago with the station to Atlántico (San Jose);one that connects the station to the Atlántico with Alajuela;one that connects the Atlántico with Ciruelas and another that makes the same journey in the opposite direction;and finally one that connects Ciruelas with El Coyol de Alajuela.
At least 10 of the stations will be intermodal stations, where passengers can transfer between other means of transport, such as buses, taxis, non-motorized mobility means and the Electric Train. These stations, in addition to promoting intermodal travel, will generate economic activation points along their route.
The Electric Train service would run at 18 hours a day, 7 days a week, with frequencies of 5 minutes in rush hour for weekdays.
The first phase of the electric rain system would open in 2025.
(QCOSTARICA) Costa Rica businessmen propose that given the economic crisis and the new normality that the country will face, the government should promote key strategies such as the sale of state assets, the transformation of public employment and the elimination of privileges in terms of pensions and salaries.
The Union of Chambers and Associations of the Private Business Sector (UCCAEP) presented to President Carlos Alvarado a document called “Pandemic Shock and Economic and Social Policies to Mitigate its Effects“, which seeks to provide a way out of the health and economic crisis resulting from the outbreak of covid-19.
The policies suggested by the UCCAEP include: support for individuals, companies and employment, macroeconomics, foreign trade and investment, exit strategies from social distancing, containment and reactivation in the short term, improvement of productivity and new bases for growth in the medium and long term.
For the trade union in macroeconomic matters it is “… fundamental to control the size of the fiscal deficit. For this purpose, initiatives that promote structural changes in the state, the sale of public assets, changes in public employment, removal of unjustified exemptions, elimination of privileges in pensions and salaries are welcome.”
Regarding strategies to maintain employment levels, employers consider that it is “… important to design incentives for companies to maintain or increase employment. They recognize the importance of measures to make labor markets more flexible and to reduce working hours during the crisis.”
For UCCAEP, the Financial System and the Development Banking System play a fundamental role during the crisis and the recovery stage. Efforts must be made to channel adequate liquidity and resources to the productive sectors that most require it. The authorities of the financial sector should seek, by managing the risk levels and sustainability of the intermediaries, an agile access to financing at the lowest possible cost.
The confirmed cases with covid-19 in Costa Rica in the last two months reached 765 this Thursday, May 7. This is an increase of four cases compared to Wednesday.
Of that number, 407 (53%) are men and 358 women (47%). The number of foreigners is 92, according to the report of the Minister of Health, Daniel Salas.
The positive cases are already reported 64 of the 82 cantons of the country. The latest to make the list is Talamanca, in Limón, with one positive in Sixaola, the border district with Panama.
Health Minister Daniel Salas confirmed they are following up on all the contacts in the last 14 days.
The minister also noted that of 230 tests carried out on cross border transport carriers (Panama and Nicaragua), only one was confirmed with covid-19. “He has already been identified, we have him in isolation and we are tracking contacts and identifying cases and issuing health orders,” he said.
Every time a case reaches a canton, more may be reported, Salas said. However, Talamanca has an advantage: it is a canton with low population density.
As of this Thursday, 19 patients with covid-19 are hospitalized: six of them in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with an age range of 53 to 75.
Border restrictions extended
Security Minister Micheal Soto announced that the border restrictions – land, sea and air – will continue until June 17, 2020.
During the restriction period, only Costa Ricans and residents (who have not left the country on March 24 and after) will be allowed entry. All foreigners non-residents and tourists are prohibited entry. See the full details here.
In addition, Soto said all foreigner transport carriers, as a requirement of entry, must undergo mandatory covid-19 testing.
Drugs to fight the virus
Minister Salas confirmed Thursday that, in the case of Costa Rica, hydroxychloroquine, a drug used for decades to treat malaria, is being prescribed to patients and that Chinese scientists also administered it to patients in that country. As in the Asian country, here it has given good results, especially to counteract the advance of the virus in those affected.
In the United States, the FDA endorsed using remdisivir.
In this sense, the Institute of Pharmaceutical Research of the University of Costa Rica offered to create a treatment based on remdesivir. Salas said he is open to use it.
“We are fully available to have more appropriate treatments based on scientific evidence to address patients with covid-19 when all safety requirements are met.”
He clarified that the Pharmaceutical Research Institute does not currently have the drugstore registry, which would be the one that accredits it to import the supplies to produce the medicine, and it does not have the operating health permit to produce intravenous drugs.
Costa Rica has extended the border restrictions to Monday, June 15, the Minister of Security, Michael Soto, announced Thursday.
That means the prohibition of entry of foreigners, ie tourists to the country remains.
Costa Ricans may still enter the country, as well as residents who left prior to March 24, and will be subject to a 14-day mandatory quarantine.
Residents who left Costa Rica on March 24 or later may not re-enter until further notice. A resident caught entering the country illegally will have their residency status revoked.
Costa Ricans, residents, and tourists in the country are allowed to leave.
This is the second extension since the national emergency declaration on March 16. Initially, the measure was implemented until April 12, then it was extended until April 30 and was never lifted.
Officially, this Thursday it was extended until June 15. On that day, the country would complete 60 days of border restrictions.
The restriction applies to all ports of entry: land, air or sea.
United Airlines this week resumed commercial flights on a very limited basis, with a direct flight between San Jose and Houston; incoming only Costa Ricans and residents, outgoing no restrictions to leave the country.
As a measure to stop the coronavirus pandemic, the Honduran government extended the curfew that has been in force since mid-March, until May 17.
Honduras reports (as of Thursday, May 7) 1,461 confirmed cases of the covid-19 infected and 99 deaths.
In a statement released on the national radio and television network, the Security Secretariat indicated that the measure is in compliance with the “plan to reduce the spread of covid-19 through mandatory social distancing.”
The official provision also restricts the movement of people to one digit so that they can make purchases in supermarkets, pharmacies, hardware stores, gas stations and procedures in banks and cooperatives.
Starting on Monday, only people whose identity card or passport number ends in 1 will be allowed to go to the authorized establishments, and so on until Friday, when those who end in 5 will be able to do so. only authorized personnel.
People with documents whose digit ends in 6, 7, 8, 9 and 0, can only leave from May 11 to 15.
Until last Friday the authorization allowed the exit to people with two digits, 1 and 2 on Monday, until 9 and 0 on Friday.
Pregnant women, people with disabilities and the elderly, will have priority in supermarkets and pharmacies, from 7:00 am to 9:00 am, while banks will be able to go from 9:00 am to 10:00 am.
All authorized establishments must comply with biosafety controls, while customers must, obligatorily, wear a mask, gel, keep a distance of one and a half meters in the lines, and allow temperature control.
The new provision does not apply to municipalities in the department of Cortés, the one that registers the most cases of coronavirus; nor El Progreso (Yoro) and Las Vegas (Santa Bárbara), in the north and west of the country, where prevention measures are stricter.
Heavy transport, the agri-food sector and health personnel transit in a normal way, with the safe-conducts granted by the Exceptions Committee.
The Covid-19 Pandemic has once again highlighted the inequalities that are experienced in the world, inequalities caused by historical cultural factors derived from colonization, inequalities that have historically kept Indigenous Peoples at a disadvantage, the peoples that It has historical problems of health, poverty and marginalization, manifested in various ways, to this, now is added the threat of COVID-19, which affects several communities in the region.
So there is an urgent need for joint actions between governments, international cooperation, Indigenous Peoples and the general population to prevent their physical and cultural disappearance.
In Latin America, the indigenous population exceeds 45 million people, just under 10% of the total population of the region. Many communities are “highly fragile”, as they are in danger of “physical or cultural disappearance”.
It is estimated that some 462 towns currently have less than 3,000 inhabitants and around 200 of them are in voluntary isolation, all in extremely difficult situations.
According to the UN Expert Mechanism, “The spread of COVID-19 has exacerbated and will continue to exacerbate an already critical situation for many Indigenous Peoples: a situation where inequalities and discrimination already abound. Increasing recessions nationwide and the real possibility of a global depression will further aggravate the situation, causing fear that many indigenous people will die, not only from the virus itself, but also from conflict and violence linked to the scarcity of resources, and in particular of drinking water and food ”.
It is noteworthy that COVID-19 aggravates the situation faced by indigenous peoples, who present high percentages of poverty, maternal and child mortality, anemia, malnutrition, infectious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis or dengue.
To this, unlimited access to health services, lack of access to adequate water and hygiene facilities, in addition to facing frequent obstacles to put their traditional medicine into practice and the state’s indifference in meeting the demands of Indigenous Peoples.
In this context, with the aim of saving lives and protecting Indigenous Peoples, the Fund for the Development of Indigenous Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean (FILAC) together with the Abya Yala Indigenous Forum (FIAY) and indigenous organizations of the region, among other actions, created the Regional Indigenous Platform in front of COVID-19 “For Life and Peoples”.
Through this Platform, the aim is to promote the exchange of information, analysis and operational coordination to generate and enhance capacities, as well as dialogue with governments and international organizations, to promote adequate responses and actions to contain and mitigate the problems caused by the COVID -19 pandemic in the indigenous peoples of the continent.
As part of the work of this Platform, the First Report “Indigenous Peoples against COVID-19” was presented, which offers relevant data on the pandemic, among which it is noteworthy that in the Amazon, according to a report by the Coordinator of the Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA), 679 cases with 40 deceased persons have been confirmed in the area, distributed in the nine countries of the basin (Brazil, EP Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Guyana, French Guyana and Suriname).
Similarly, in Argentina, a community of the Pom people, Province of Santa Fe, is affected by a person infected; in Brazil, according to the Special Secretary for Indigenous Health (SESAI), as of April 28 there were 3 affected communities, 92 confirmed cases of contaminated people, 54 with clinical cure and 4 people who died from the virus. Indigenous organizations maintain that, as of April 29, the number of deceased indigenous people is 15 and the total number of infected persons is 97.
In Colombia, the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) has organized a registration system that allows for updated data. There are reports of 4 affected indigenous communities, 8 infected indigenous people (3 Pastos, 2 Yukpa, 1 Zenú, 1 Yanacona, 1 Zenú Bogotá), 52 under observation, and 4 cases of recovered indigenous people. The first case of a deceased indigenous person belonging to the Yanakuna people has been confirmed. According to ONIC records, there are almost 250,000 indigenous families at risk.
In the case of Chile, the Mapuche community Carilafquen, Pitrufquen affected, with a woman who died on April 6; in Mexico, according to the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples INPI, as of April 27, in the regions covered by the institution, there are 110 positive cases of speaking indigenous languages, with 26 people deceased; In Panama, on April 23, indigenous organizations reported 57 cases in the Guna Yala regions, 2 of them with deaths of the infected person.
In the case of Peru, as of April 18, 2 affected communities were known, with 3 indigenous people confirmed with the virus in Shipibo-Conibo in Ucayali and in a Quechua community in Pastaza. In the triple border with Brazil and Colombia (Ticunas and Yaguas communities) 17 cases were confirmed, but it has not been reported if they are indigenous people.
Likewise, the report discloses the actions that governments are developing to prevent the expansion of this new disease, protect the population and reduces the probability of a massive contagion, is the case of the government of Costa Rica, which has adopted technical guidelines for the prevention of COVID-19 in indigenous territories.
It also reflects the actions of Indigenous Peoples, who have responded creatively and committedly to the reality they face, with a clear awareness of the urgency and seriousness of the situation and have carried out different actions to confront COVID-19.
Likewise, it makes a series of recommendations to governments and to all the entities that in one way or another play a relevant role in the fight against COVID-19; Among some of them: protect vulnerable populations and meet the specific needs of each indigenous community; develop within the National Health Information Systems mechanisms that disaggregate and systematize the information identifying indigenous people affected by CODIV-19; promote and facilitate the exchange of good practices between indigenous peoples, communities and organizations in the region.
(QCOSTARICA) Uber said Wednesday it will lay off 14% of its 26,900 employees to its customer support and recruiting teams. The announcement was made in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Uber has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Uber’s as global gross bookings are down 80%, according to a report from The Information last month.
The Uber Center of Excellence in Costa Rica is staffed by more than 50% women, and more than 50% of the leadership positions are also held by women.
The layoff, in real numbers, affects some 3,700 employees across the globe, including Costa Rica.
In the announcement, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said he will forgo his base salary (US$1 million dollars in 2019) for the rest of the year and hinted in a memo to employees Wednesday that more cost cuts are on the way.
In Costa Rica, Uber opened the Uber Center of Excellence for Latin America with 800 direct jobs (more than 50% are occupied by women), within the framework of an investment of more than US$30 million in the last four years.
The Costa Rica operation, serving 170 cities in 15 Latin American countries, is dedicated to safeguarding the safety of the people transported and their belongings during the trips requested through the Uber and Uber Eats platforms.
According to an open letter to Costa Rica in January, Uber said it had 971,000 users and had 28,000 collaborating partners (drivers) in the country, “facilitating the mobility not only of Costa Ricans, but also of tourists visiting Costa Rica from more than 77 countries in the world.”
Uber Costa Rica has declined to confirm how many workers will be laid off in the country.
The company said in a statement: “With fewer people taking trips, the unfortunate reality is that there is not enough work for many of our employees who support front-line customers. Since we don’t know how long a recovery will take, we are taking steps to align our costs with the current size of the business. This was a difficult decision, but it is the right one to help protect the company’s health in the long term and ensure that we emerge stronger from this crisis”.
On April 16, Business Wire reported that Uber Technologies, Inc. will hold its quarterly conference call to discuss its financial results for the first quarter of 2020 on Thursday, May 7, 2020, at 1:30 pm Pacific Time (2:30 pm Costa Rica time).
In the memo Khosrowshahi sent to employees, he said: “I wanted to let you know that we just announced the elimination of around 3,700 roles in CommOps and Recruiting, and the closure of 40% of our Greenlight locations (…) Given this news, and since we have Q1′20 earnings tomorrow, I thought it would be good to get everyone together again on Friday for a Global All Hands, where we can walk through our financial results and today’s changes, and can continue to answer your questions as openly as possible. Keep an eye out for an invite soon.”
Given that much of the world is currently under some form of lockdown due to the new coronavirus pandemic, the company announced that it anticipates an accounting deterioration in some of its minority capital investments.
(QCOSTARICA) Marriages between people of the same sex can become legal in Costa Rica starting on May 26, when the Civil Registry will begin to process the registration of these unions.
Luis Guillermo Chinchilla, senior civil officer of the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE), to which the Civil Registry is attached, assured that the necessary changes have been made.
“The Civil Registry has made significant efforts in adjusting all the computer systems in civil registry matters, with the purpose of managing these registrations in a timely and expeditious manner, always within the framework of suitable and effective registry security as usual by our institution,” said Chinchilla.
This entity is the one that records and makes official vital and civil status acts such as births, deaths, marriages, and divorces.
Two decisions are what will make it possible for homosexual couples to marry in Costa Rica.
The first is the opinion of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), released in January 2018, which ordered the State of Costa Rica to recognize the rights of the sexually diverse population.
Costa Rica’s Civil Registry will begin registering marriages between same-sex couples on May 26, 2020
“The State must recognize and guarantee all the rights that derive from a family bond between persons of the same sex in accordance with the provisions of Articles 11.2 and 17.1 of the American Convention on Human Rights and in the terms established in paragraphs 200 at 218,” said the international tribunal based in San Jose, Costa Rica.
However, to comply with the IACHR decision, a ruling from Costa Rica’s Constitutional Court was required. The court resolved on August 8, 2018, against subsection 6 of article 14 of the Family Code, which, expressly, prohibits same-sex marriage.
In its resolution, the Court granted the Legislative Assembly 18 months, running from November 26, 2018, to legislate same-sex marriage in Costa Rica; failing it would automatically permit same-sex marriages.
Legalizing gay marriage was a major campaign promise by President Carlos Alvarado Quesada, who took office in May 2018.
“I have coordinated with Imprenta Nacional (national printer) the resolution on equal marriage of the Constitutional Court that will be published in the Judicial Bulletin No. 219 of Monday, November 26 of this year. It is only a matter of time before full equality of rights becomes a reality,” President Carlos Alvarado announced at the time in a Tweet.
This May 26, precisely, the deadline will expire without Congress having made any legal modification, which will automatically enable the registration of same-sex marriages.
On Tuesday, May 5, according to data from the Civil Registry, there were 54 registration requests pending, that is, same-sex marriages made by notaries, but which have not yet been able to be registered.
“As in any marriage registration process, said analysis involves a study regarding its compliance with current regulations, related to freedom of state and legal impediments that spouses may have. Once this stage has been completed, the corresponding registration will be carried out, a fact that can take between 10 and 15 business days,” Chinchilla explained.
The particular circumstances of the covid-19 pandemic facing the country will not represent any delay so that the pending actions can be carried out, confirmed the official.
“The sanitary restrictions that the TSE has adopted in response to the guidelines that the Ministry of Health has issued on this matter, will have the same effect on the presentation of these marriages for their registration as on the registration of any other marriage and that it has to do with the regulated access controls to our facilities to avoid crowds ”, he specified.
Notaries who have carried out marriages between people of the same sex without the ban having yet been lifted, could be exposed to an investigation by the Notary Court. Civil Registry data indicates that as of this Wednesday, 15 names of notaries who had made these unions have been sent to the National Directorate of Notaries (DNN).
The number of notaries does not coincide with the number of marriages pending registration because some professionals made took part in multiple marriages.
Three months after that marriage between women, the notary managed to register it in the Civil Registry due to an error, since one of the contracting parties appeared in the public record to be male.
Following, a series of processes were initiated to annul the registration of the marriage, and sanction those involved.
The criminal case against the notary did not prosper after the opinion of the Inter-American Court and the decision of Sala IV (Constitutional Court) that allowed gay marriages were issued.
(QCOSTARICA) “No new taxes will be announced on Friday,” said the Minister of the Presidency (Chief of Staff), Marcelo Prieto, who has ruled out, for now, adding new taxes to revive the economy.
President Carlo Alavardo’s Chief of Staff (Ministro de la Presidencia), Marcelo Prieto
“I can assure you that there is no announcement of new taxes on Friday and that the presentation that the Planning Minister, Pilar Garrido, will show a focus on the reactivation of the economy as soon as we manage to get out of the crisis of the covid-19 ”, Prieto declared to Noticias Monumental.
However, in an interview with La Nación, published on Tuesday, President Carlos Alvarado stated that the coronavirus crisis will force to raise “temporary surcharges.”
“(The situation) pushes us to take temporary measures. That is to say, some temporary surcharges will have to be proposed, distributing the burdens in society, among those who can do it ”.
Prieto was also emphatic: “the bill to temporarily tax a percentage of salaries greater than ¢1 million, is not being discussed as a priority at this time,” in order to allocate the proceeds to aid subsidies for the victims.
The minister assures that the announcement made by President Carlos Alvarado, that he will donate 10% of his salary to the victims, is a “symbolic gesture”, but it is not related to the possibility that the government will send the bill to the Legislature.
The government is expected on Friday, May 8, to announce measures, among them a stimulus package, for the next step in the process of living with the covid-19, with focus on reviving the economy.
(QCOSTARICA) The National Emergency Commission (CNE) and the Municipality of San José aim to house 250 homeless people living in the streets of San Jose to hostels in the face of the health emergency that the country is experiencing due to COVID-19.
According to the Public Procurement System (Sicop) the contract period is for one month with the possibility of extending for 2 more months.
The indigent would be admitted to the shelters starting on May 15 and one of the conditions for them to be there is that they cannot leave in order to prevent from being infected with COVID-19.
According to the CNE tender poster, people living in the street are extremely vulnerable to infections.
“People with chronic lung disease or moderate asthma, severe heart disease, diabetes, liver disease, chronic kidney disease on dialysis treatment, people with HIV, among others,” are targeted for the temporary housing program says the CNE document.
The Municipality of San José, with the help of “Chepe de baña” will provide the accommodation in municipal properties in Hatillo and Paso Colon for about 205 people; another 45 will be sheltered, fed and clothed by a private company under contract.
The report on Wednesday on the coronavirus in Costa Rica, the Minister of Health said there were 6 new cases, bringing the total infected int he country to 761.
Of the total, 356 are women and 405 are men; by nationality, 670 are Costa Ricans and 91 foreigners.
As of Wednesday, 428 people had fully recovered; 18 remained in hospital, of which 5 are in intensive care; the number of deceased remains at 6.
Although Health Minister Daniel Salas did not refer specifically to comments made by El Salvador President Nayib Bukele on testing in the country, the minister explained the evolution of the COVID-19 diagnostic process in Costa Rica.
According to the Minister, the detection chain is now more sensitive, and even so, few cases are detected.
Using simple words, Salas said during the press conference: “in the beginning, we were fishing for cases with a smaller net, now we have a larger net”.
So far, authorized laboratories in Costa Rica have carried out a total of 14,448 tests on 10,173 people.
Was the curve flattened?
“The positivity index that we have in the country, that is to say, the percentage of positive people for every hundred tests that we do, is around 6%, as well as the basic reproductive number, which refers to the number of people that infect each positive, is 1.15. All these data allow us to have a fair reflection of our reality,” said Minister Salas.
Costa Rica’s goal has been to not achieve expanded transmission. It has not confirmed Salas.
In 2019, with a generation of foreign exchange of US$4 billion dollars in 2019, representing 7% to that year's Gross Domestic Product
(QCOSTARICA) Reducing the cost of tourist services and alleviating the burden on companies in that sector through a greater tax exemption is not among the points on the road map that the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT) – Tourist Board – presented to rescue the tourism industry after guidelines are relaxed to prevent further outbreaks of COVID-19.
In 2019, tourism generated more than US$4 billion in income, representing 7% to that year’s Gross Domestic Product
In the plan presented by the Minister of Tourism, María Amalia Revelo, to the country, last Tuesday, the tax issue is absent, one of the most relevant due to the weight it has on the final cost for consumers.
There are also no other recommendations that experts have made during the development of the pandemic, such as that the banks be more flexible in the repayment of the som US$700 million in loans for the tourism sector, or that the Banco Central de Costa Rica (BCCR) – Central Bank – devalue the colon with respect to the dollar, so that the prices of the services consumed by tourists in the country will drop.
The absence of these decisions in the roadmap contrasts with the ICT’s proposal to focus the revival of the tourism sector by promoting tourism by nationals.
The ICT mentioned that it intends to reduce prices for the consumer with “strategic alliances” with cooperatives, solidarity associations and with the financial sector that would ease the burden on indebted Costa Rican families, many of whom have been victims of the wave of unemployment caused by the impact of the coronavirus on the economy.
In a press release announcing the rescue plan, the tourism Minister explained the use of “raffles and prizes to reduce costs” for tourists,
The ICT strategy has eight priority axes:
The attraction of airlines.
Marketing and promotion locally, internationally, and in specific niches such as meetings.
The tourist product.
Industry companies.
Training and employment.
Foreign and national investment.
The development of the Gulf of Papagayo Tourist Pole.
Cruise ship attraction.
Until now, the Government’s actions related to alleviating the tax burden for tourism companies are limited to the moratorium during May, June, and July in the payment of taxes such as 5% for the sale of each air ticket for international travel, 5% on tickets whose destination is Costa Rica and the $15 for the entry of tourists by air.
Pending task
President Carlos Alvarado and his economic teams is expected on Friday, May 9, to present a plan to revive the economy after the SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic.
Until now it is a mystery whether the tourism sector, one of the most dynamic in the Costa Rican economy – with a generation of foreign exchange of US$4 billion dollars in 2019, representing 7% to that year’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 211,000 direct jobs, and thousands more indirectly.
Even so, the Minister of Finance told the media that he would not agree to an extension of the Value Added Tax (VAR) for the tourism sector, as proposed by PLN legislator, Roberto Thompson, in a bill that he presented to the legislature last April.
Thompson’s intentions are for Parliament to approve a modification to the transitory article of the
Pending task
President Carlos Alvarado said on May 4 that this week his economic team will present a plan to revive the economy after the SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic.
Until now it is a mystery whether the tourism sector, one of the most dynamic in the Costa Rican economy – with a generation of foreign exchange of $ 4,000 million in 2019, a contribution of 7% to that year’s gross domestic product and the generation of 211,000 direct jobs — will be included among those actions to be announced.
Even so, the Minister of Finance anticipated in the media that he would not agree to extend for one more year the exemption from the value added tax (VAT) for the tourism sector, as proposed by the liberationist deputy, Roberto Thompson, in a bill that he presented to the legislature last April.
Thompson’s intentions are for Parliament to approve a modification to the transitory article of the Public Finance Strengthening Law that establishes that the tourist services provided by those companies registered with the ICT will be exempt from VAT during the first year that the regulations are in force, which ends in July of this year. The legislator proposes to exempt these services from the VAT for one more year.
Thompson’s proposal adds that in the third year, the tourism sector would pay a 4% VAT, 8% in the fourth and start paying the full 13% in the fifth year.
“(Tourism) is, without a doubt, the sector hardest hit by this crisis and requires, for the recovery process, better conditions to offer, precisely, attractiveness, first, to internal visitation and, later, in a second stage, to external visitation,” said Thompson.
Estimates by Consejeros Econónicos y Financieros S.A. (Cefsa) indicate that the country will stop will lose between up to US$2.5 billion dollars this year due to the brakes applied to all tourist activities since March. The firm’s projection is that the fall in tourism this year will be 48%.
Last year, according to official figures, 3 million tourists entered Costa Rica. The ICT estimates that it will take at least 18 to 24 months to recover to that level of visitation to the country.
In this difficult context and due to the importance of tourism for the country’s economy, Legislator Thompson believes that it is more urgent for companies in the tourism sector to have more flexible tax treatment.
“It seems contradictory that, on the one hand, the Government announces a plan to reactivate tourism, but that it does not give concrete signs of what the sector needs to be able to advance along these lines. And, one of the signs is to extend for a further year, at least, the application of VAT, which would allow us to tackle this new difficult period in much better conditions,” said the legislator.
(QCOSTARICA) Although due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the country is under vehicle restrictions, social distancing, and stay at home measures, murderers circumvented all the controls in the last 2 weeks resulting in a total of 32 homicides.
This according to the statistics of the Oeganismo de Investigacion Judicial (OIJ) that indicate an average of 2 murders per day between April 20 and May 6, 2020.
On April 20, the homicide figure was 159, while as of May 6, the number of murders reached 191 cases.
These include cases ranging from a femicide in the Southern Zone, a couple who appeared burned in Atenas, and two men executed in front of a boy who was the son of one of the victims in Matina.
It should be noted that the figure may include death that had not been determined as homicides but are under investigation, for the time being, as such.
Taking stock of the behavior of homicides in the first 4 months of 2020, the director of the OIJ, Walter Espinoza, acknowledged that a striking increase had been reported.
Why? As said before, as of April 20 this year, there were 159 homicides, while at the same date in 2019 the figure was 167; 8 fewer.
And although the figure for this year to May 6 is only 4 cases more than on the same date in 2019, OIJ authorities expected a drop this year over last due because of sanitary measures adopted to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
The police chief was surprised, because in theory, given the social distancing and the high police presence in the streets, there are a high number of cases that cause concern.
“There is an increase despite the emergency decree, we expected a drop given that the bars and clubs are closed, and less contact, yet there is a striking increase. We are going to analyze this.
“The level of violence in the country is important, it is striking … It reflects that more preventive work must be done, more firearms must be removed …”, Espinoza said.
The beaches in our country are still closed. At least until May 15, when the current measures expire. On May 11, the government has said it will analyze the next step in the re-opening process. Will the beaches be on the list of permitted activities?
Without saying much, either way, the Minister of Health, Daniel Salas, however, did confirm that the proposal by a group of legislators is under consideration.
The proposal is re-open the beaches between 5 am and 8 am, so that beach area locals can partake in outdoor physical activity and “safeguard” their mental health.
But the Minister may, depending on social behavior, with the relaxation of other measures, allow a very controlled reopening of the beaches and other commercial activities moving forward past May 15.
“We have been analyzing all the possible scenarios to give the authorizations to the different places or sectors that have been with decreased activity or have been completely closed. Let us remember that here it is not just about enabling beaches, but to see how we can go about enabling different activities and places, but always keeping the curve (contagions),” said Salas.
He reiterated that social behavior is the key to returning to the new normal and that there is no doubt that reduced hours are the first option. “That is the dynamic to follow, doing it gradually, a little bit at a time and at reduced hours (…) What we do not want is for a bunch of friends and families to go; and as we say popularly, make the “hoard the beaches,” said Salas.
In the case of the fishermen, they can continue working, however, they have seen their income drop due to the fact that coastal restaurants remain closed and they are also unable to sell their products to the fishing cooperatives.
Salas did not rule out that they can announce new measures of this type in the coming days; even, that would fit with revival plans for local tourism.
For weeks, there has been a strong police presence on the streets of the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, the stay at home and social distancing, homicides have actually increased compared to last year.
OIJ crime scene
According to the director of the Organism of Judicial Investigation (OIJ), Wálter Espinoza, from January 1, 2020, to May 6, there have been 191 homicides, while in the same period in 2019, there were 187.
Of these 191 homicides, 167 of the victimes were men and 20 women.
The reasons? According to the OIJ:
Settling of scores: 99
Commission for another crime: 16
Domestic violence: 12
Repel criminal activity: 8
Sicario (contract killing): 2
Not determined: 16
The OIJ chief stated that:
136 homicides were committed with a firearm, 26 with a bladed weapon (arma blanca in Spanish), and in 29 other weapons were used.
There were 8 double homicides, 3 triples, and one homicide case with 5 victims.
5 people died as collateral victims, that is, they were innocent, being at the wrong place and the wrong time, they were not the target. The cases occurred in Limón (2), Batán, Coronado and Cartago.
8 people were found murdered who were tied up and 4 burned.
The homicide solves rate is 70% and is around 6 months, according to OIJ data.
The behavior in the provinces, according to OIJ, has also been interesting and variable. So far, the province of San José has 53 homicides, while the year before the same period it had 70.
Limón follows with 50 homicides, Puntarenas 30, Alajuela 31, Guanacaste 13, Heredia 8 and Cartago 6, which also had a significant reduction.
For Espinoza, it is striking that the numbers increased despite the restrictions, the increased police presence and social distancing (little contact with people on the streets).
What does this mean?
“That means that our society is violent, that our society has troubled circumstances, that there is a very high availability of firearms and that the concern that exists regarding this issue must be maintained,” said Wálter Espinoza.
On the other hand, authorities assure that the number of robberies and thefts did drop, but not necessarily because they are not happening.
Espinoza pointed out that this is attributed to the fact that many people do not report the crimes.
“Yes, it is possible that they have been less because of the small number of people on the street and people staying in (at home), but also because people do not want to leave their homes to report for fear of catching the disease,” said Espinoza.
Authorities hope that, after the pandemic, there will be an increase in reports of these crimes.
The work of Costa Rica’s police forces at the northern border is not just about keeping foreigners out and detaining those that make it into the country through the blind spots. on
Tuesday, members of the Fuerza Publica (National Police), with the support of the soccer clubs, Club Sport Cartaginés and Deportivo Saprissa, made the dream of two Nicaraguan children a reality in times of COVID-19.
The police officers met Jerónimo and Gonzalo, two Nicaraguan brothers aged 11 and 9, who live less than 100 meters from Costa Rican territory and who play with their Costa Rican friends anywhere, because they do not know what a border is, united in friendship through soccer
That was how officers from the Fuerza Publica and the National Police Academy, who are stationed to patrol the northern border cordon, specifically in Las Delicias de Upala, met Jerónimo and Gonzalo.
Every time they passed the border, they both came out to greet them. The officers gave them candies one day, cookies, and juices another, and from their conversations they knew that Jerónimo is fond of Cartaginés and Gonzalo is fond of Saprissa.
Seeing this passion made the officers send their story to Club Sport Cartaginés and Deportivo Saprissa, who did not hesitate to make the children’s dream come true.
Both clubs sent them a complete uniform and groceries for their family since they live with their parents and two more brothers.
“It fills us with great joy and satisfaction to be able, with these small gestures, to collaborate in that integral development and to be motivating for a child from a community that is in a vulnerable situation and knowing that the institution transcends borders,” commented Fanny Villalobos, executive director of the Saprissa Foundation.
For his part, Jason Solano, Head of Press for Club Sport Cartaginés mentioned that “we are going to be supporting this family, the entire Club Sport Cartaginés comes together to support this boy who inflates our chest by bringing feeling for the team. We send him a hug and we hope to return to the field to give this boy joy.”
The officers also, from their own pocket, bought groceries, cleaning supplies, pizza, soft drinks, and a soccer ball to share with them, and thus, with all the health measures, they enjoyed the time and observed the joy of fulfilling their dream.
The motto of being a single force is lived by each of the members of the Ministry of Public Security, but also many people and companies who do their part, as it happened on this occasion with both soccer clubs, transcending borders to make Jerónimo and Gonzalo’s dream come true.
Images from Ministerio de Seguridad Publica Twitter page.
Police patrols in Los Chiles, intercepted a group of 69 Nicaraguans illegally in Costa Rica. The incident occurred Wednesday morning in the La Trocha sector, near the border with Nicaragua.
The foreigners traveled together, crowded in a truck used to transport livestock, making its way from Nicaragua, their country of origin.
As confirmed by the director of the Fuerza Publica (National Police) Daniel Calderón, the license plate of the truck belongs to a fruit packing company in Costa Rica.
The Ministry of Security reports they have perceived an increase in the arrival of foreigners through blind spots on the northern border since the closure of official posts was implemented as a result of the COVID-19 emergency.
Currently, foreigners and residents (who lest the country after March 23) are prohibited from entering Costa Rica.
Authorities are investigating how the 14 foreigners being held at the Immigration Holding Center in Heredia became infected with COVID-19.
The 22 officers who take care of the compound were tested by COVID-19 and they tested negative, as did 13 other foreigners who are being detained in the same place.
Last Sunday it was announced that two of these foreigners were infected with the coronavirus, however, on Tuesday it was announced that 12 more were also positive.
Raquel Vargas, director of Immigration, released more details this Wednesday afternoon and assures that these people were already there before the Ministry of Health began the restriction measures for foreigners, so they are now investigating how they could then be infected.
The 22 officers who take care of the compound were tested by COVID-19 and they tested negative, as did 13 other foreigners who being detained in the same holding center.
Following the outbreak, the building was totally isolated by the authorities and with strict surveillance and hygiene protocols. Detainees testing positive have been separated from those who tested negative.
Some staff has remained onsite, while the rest under a quarantine order at home.
The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, took advantage on his country’s national network Tuesday night to say that Costa Rica “gives the impression of having flattened the curve, but all they are doing is that the number of daily tests has decreased ”, referring to the praise Costa Rica was given in the international media the last few days.
Bukele was his country’s national network to communicate a series of enw measures that will be applied as of midnight on Thursday, May 7, related to the attention of the pandemic in El Salvador.
The Salvadoran president posted quotes from his speech on his Twitter account and in one of them, he mentioned that “We do not want to make the same mistake as Costa Rica and other countries. Costa Rica gives the perception of having flattened the curve, but they have only lowered the number of daily tests having the ability to do more.”
However, Bukele did not present any data or source to support his claims.
(In the video above, Bukele at minute 23 refers to Costa Rica)
Immediately the social network lit up with comments to Bukele’s unfounded arguments, in fact, his last name became a trend on Twitter.
Adjectives like ignorant, charlatan or clown were some of the most used words to respond to Bukele.
Among those who responded and put the President of El Salvador in his place are former Health Minister María Luis Ávila and former President of the Legislative Assembly, Carlos Ricardo Benavides (who ended his one year term on Friday, May 1).
“Costa Rica also gives the perception of having more than 70 years of not having an army, of investing in health and education, of having exemplary social security and of working every day to avoid authoritarianism and protect our democratic system”, wrote Benavides.
Costa Rica también “da la percepción” de tener más de 70 años de no tener ejército, de invertir en salud y educación, de tener una seguridad social ejemplar y de trabajar todos los días para evitar el autoritarismo y proteger nuestro sistema democrático.
— Carlos Ricardo Benavides (@CRBenavidesJ) May 6, 2020
The Minister of Health, Daniel Salas, reported that 12 of the new cases were confined to an outbreak at the Central Regional Apprehension Center (CARC) – the immigration holding center – in Heredia, when two detainees were confirmed on Saturday and infected 12 others by Monday.
Health Minister Daniel Salas, at the daily press conference, reported more than half of the cases as recovered and that only 17 patients are hospitalized, 5 of whom are in intensive care. The number of deaths remains at 6.
Currently, El Salvador reports as of this morning, Wednesday, 633 confirmed cases, 14 deaths (eight more than Costa Rica), and 87 patients hospitalized for covid-19 infections, 17 of whom are serious or critical.
Bukele told his people Tuesday night that he will step up authorities’ work to identify the virus. “Starting Thursday, if you break home quarantine, you will be examined by a doctor and if that doctor verifies that you have been exposed to the virus, you will be transferred to a quarantine center,” Bukele told his nation.
El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele during the live address to the nation Tuesday night
Falsehoods
Bukele lied when he stated that Costa Rica made a “political decision” to reduce the number of tests carried out and that this explains the decrease in the curve of cases. The current guidelines of Costa Rica were issued by merely technical authorities on the matter and the country has one of the broadest definitions of a suspected case in the region, which allows testing of COVID-19 to people with symptoms that in other latitudes do not would be tested.
Today, for example, any person with acute respiratory infection (fever and at least one sign or symptom of respiratory disease such as cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, nasal congestion) and who meets at least one of the following criteria:
Not have another etiology that fully explains the clinical presentation of the event.
A history of travel outside the country in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms
History of having started the clinical picture already described in the 14 days after having been in close contact: With someone with a history of travel outside the country in the last 14 days of that contact; With someone who has been direct contact (in the possible quarantine period of the latter) of a confirmed case
A person older than 15 years with severe acute respiratory infection (SARI). In the case of those under 15 years of age, it will be SARI without another etiology that fully explains the clinical presentation.
A person with anosmia (loss of sense of smell) or recent dysgeusia (change in perception of taste), with no other etiology to explain the clinical presentation.
Patients with an acute respiratory disease of any degree of severity, who within 14 days prior to the onset of the disease had close physical contact with a confirmed, probable, or suspected case of COVID-19.
Even with this broad definition of a suspected case, the country’s success in containing contagions (so far) translates into a gradual reduction in the number of suspected cases, and therefore, of the tests that are carried out per day.
Costa Rica had the ability to identify the epidemiological link in more than 90% of confirmed cases, which limits the danger of sustained community transmission of the virus in the country, breaking transmission chains.
Instead, the government of El Salvador (which was one of the last to recognize that it had a presence of COVID-19 in the country) had to choose to carry out ‘massive tests’ and the mandatory confinement of its population, recognizing that they are in a stage of “maximum community contagion”.
Costa Rica, on the other hand, uses the aggressive testing technique as was the case of the Carlos María Ulloa Nursing Home and more recently the CARC.
This type of testing consists of the fact that at the time of identifying a confirmed case in a high-risk population (such as seniors, prisoners and now returnees), tests are performed on all or almost all of the people in that group.
The statistics of the application of COVID-19 tests in Costa Rica do not show that the more tests, the more infected people appear. For example, on March 26, 677 people were tested, of which only 30 tested positive (4.43%). On April 8, 2020, 502 people were tested and only 19 tested positive (3.73%) and more recently, on May 4, 106 people were tested and only 3 tested positive (2.83%).
The application of massive tests in countries like Costa Rica where there is no community transmission of the virus would constitute the waste of an instrument whose international demand is extremely high at the moment.
The World Health Organization (WHO) itself points out that the ‘massive’ tests (also not understood as testing the entire population) should be applied in countries where there is community transmission, that is, a large number of cases where epidemiological links cannot be identified, since the strategy to have Controlled the pandemic is testing, tracking, treating and isolating.
Costa Rica, in addition, activated vigilancia centinela (sentinel surveillance) with which all medical centers identified as such are obliged to send a minimum of tests per week to Inciensa (national laboratory for the coronavirus) to be analyzed for COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses so that authorities have an overview of which respiratory viruses are circulating in the country and see if there is undetected transmission of the new coronavirus.
To date, the results of the tests applied by this type of testing have been negative, ruling out community transmission.
There are also notable differences between the virus case fatality rate between Costa Rica (six deaths; 0.86%) and El Salvador (14 deaths; 2.68%, three times more than our country).
Mortality rate in Latin America. Source John Hopkins University
In addition, Costa Rica managed to decentralize the conduct of the COVID-19 tests by sending diagnostic teams to rural areas, which reduces the time it takes to obtain a result and thus allows authorities to expedite their contact search work and breakdown of transmission chains.
In El Salvador, by contrast, there are documented cases where several people have waited almost a month for their results.
In summary, the notable differences in the situation between the two countries make comparing testing approaches impossible, or at least technically incorrect, since on the one hand there is a country whose ruler acknowledges being in the stage of “maximum community contagion”, while the other managed to carry out sufficient epidemiological traces to break the transmission chains and prevent the virus from continuing to spread.
At the time of this post, neither Casa Presidencial (Government House) or the Costa Rican Ministry of Health have commented on Bukele’s statements.
U.S. migration authorities resumed May 4 Guatemalan nationals’ deportation, amidst pandemic. Extradition restarts after 2 weeks cease when 40 deportees tested COVID positive.
U.S. functionaries also reviewed Guatemalan health procedures in airports and other facilities for receiving migrant groups. Guatemala’s Foreign Affairs Ministry indicated that next week it is expected to receive three flights with about 75 people each. Before returning flights cease, the passenger number was over 100. More flights are scheduled.
Guatemalan authorities agreed on the relocation of migrants under the basis of testing them before departures in U.S. territory. Most deportees proceeded from the most affected U.S. states, like California and Texas. Both states registered 54,937 and 32,332 COVID positive cases respectively.
In April, the Donald Trump administration instructed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) personnel to evaluate Guatemalan migrants testing for the virus. This measure increased after the Guatemalan government demanded safe migration process.
According to U.S. news media, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had been conducting basic health screenings on the deportees but was not regularly testing them for the coronavirus.
As Guatemalan officials stated the nationals deported from the U.S. account for more than 15% of all infections in the Center American country. On Monday, 76 Guatemalans were repatriated upon arrival after a flight from Houston and immediately underwent medical examinations.
According to local media, the government has taken measures to contain the possible importation of positive cases since the virus outbreak. Among the preventive actions is screening at airports upon arrival of flights. However, these are still not safe for an asymptomatic case.
So far, Guatemala registered 730 positive cases, 19 deaths, and 79 recoveries.
(Reuters) Alis Nicolette Rodriguez is bracing him(her)self, nervously looking over their shopping list and preparing in case someone tries to bar their way at the grocery store. It has happened before.
To keep crowds thin during the coronavirus quarantine, Colombian capital Bogota – like some other places in Latin America – has specified that men and women must go out on separate days. That has turned a routine food shopping trip into an outing fraught with tension for social work student Rodriguez, who is transgender and non-binary.
In Bogota, women can only go out on days with even-numbered dates and men on odd, while transgender people are allowed to choose.
However, rights group Red Comunitaria Trans said it had received 18 discrimination complaints since the measure began. One of those complaints was from a transgender woman in southern Bogota stabbed by a man who said she was out on the wrong day, a case also reported in local media. The woman is recovering from her injuries.
“The last time I went out things happened that were really tense,” said Rodriguez, 20, who uses neutral pronouns and began hormone treatments four months ago. “My features are still very masculine so people still say ‘I see the body of a man’ and they deny who you are.”
Rodriguez said the previous Sunday an employee stopped them at a grocery entrance and a police officer asked to see their identification, although the mayor’s office has told police not demand ID to prove gender during the quarantine.
A spokeswoman for Bogota’s government department for women confirmed the police do not have the right to question anyone’s gender identity.
In response to questions about the accusations of discrimination, Bogota’s Metropolitan Police sent Reuters a publicity video of officers and members of the transgender community speaking to store employees, explaining that transgender people can choose their shopping day.
Rodriguez was eventually allowed into the store, but at the check-out one cashier asked another why “this man” had been able to shop, they said. Being non-binary complicates the choice about which day to go out, said Rodriguez, who has chosen the women’s days.
“If you don’t go out with make-up on, with a skirt… If you don’t comply with those stereotypes and gender roles then you can’t identify yourself or be in a public space,” said Rodriguez, who was wearing pink eye shadow and a sparkly silver jacket.
Juli Salamanca, communications director for Red Comunitaria Trans, said the coronavirus pandemic had left transgender people particularly exposed.
“They’re trying to protect themselves from the violence of the police, the violence of the supermarkets, the violence of society in general,” Salamanca told Reuters, referring to the physical and emotional toll of discrimination and prejudice.
She said some transgender people may be afraid to report discrimination because of previous police abuse.
Colombia’s second-largest city, Medellin, has restricted outings based on ID numbers rather than gender, a valid alternative to enforce social distancing, Salamanca said.
Colombia is not the only Latin American country where restrictions have stoked fear among transgender people.
The Panamanian Association of Trans People has received more than 40 discrimination complaints since restrictions began in April, director Venus Tejada said, including problems getting into supermarkets or buying medicine.
Transgender people who are immunocompromised are particularly worried, according to Tejada, and some with HIV fear additional discrimination because of their illness.
“If they need anything we’ve advised them to ask a neighbor or someone else to get it,” Tejada said.
In Peru, the government canceled restrictions based on gender after just over a week, as retailers struggled to control crowds on women’s days and LGBT groups complained of discrimination.
Back in Bogota, Rodriguez is piling a shopping cart with items. They avert their eyes when two police officers walk into the store.
The officers escort out an older man who is violating the rules and then stare briefly at Rodriguez before leaving.
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro lost his head on Tuesday morning and told reporters to shut up after they asked him about his interference in the Federal Police, of which he was accused by Sergio Moro, his former Justice Minister and political ally.
As the far-right politician left the government headquarters in Brasilia, he protested to journalists for being part of a “rogue and lying press.”
Previously, Moro accused Bolsonaro of influencing the Federal Police politically by appointing its new director, Rolando De Souza, who replaces Carlos Henrique Oliveira.
According to local outlets, the change in the police leadership would be related to an attempt to obstruct an investigation supervised by the Supreme Court after the complaint made by the former Justice Minister.
When journalists asked Bolsonaro about this issue, the former captain reacted violently by ordering them to close their mouths on at least three occasions.
“It is roguery. Shut up, ask nothing… scoundrel, liar. You, from the media, be ashamed… You just post rogueries,” Bolsonaro shouted.
His request was supported by his followers, who also verbally assaulted journalists. These attacks, however, are not unpublished.
On Sunday two photographers were beaten while covering a rally in which Bolsonaro asked his followers to support him to close the Supreme Court and Parliament, an action that would be equivalent to the establishment of a dictatorship in Brazil.
The “Bolsonaristas” also demanded that the health measures to restrict the movement of people, which were adopted by governors and mayors, be eliminated although Brazil registers over 7,300 deaths and 108,620 infected COVID-19.
The attacks and insults against the press were then condemned even by the Defense Ministry, which stated that “all attacks on press professionals are unacceptable”.
Besides ordering an investigation on Sunday’s attack, the Attorney General’s Office is currently carrying out investigations that could compel Bolsonaro to answer for various crimes, one of which is obstruction of justice
More and more tests for the novel coronavirus are coming onto the market. By the end of April, there were already more than 150 different products worldwide. These can essentially be divided into two main groups: tests that prove that someone is carrying the coronavirus in them and can therefore potentially infect others, and serological tests that prove that someone has been infected in the past.
Detection of acute infection
To check whether someone is currently infected and can also infect others, a test based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method is usually used. Alternatively, there are also so-called isothermal DNA amplification tests, which, however, work very similarly to PCR tests.
In both cases, saliva is extracted from the patient’s throat using a cotton swab. Sputum from the deeper lung is also suitable for detection. Afterward, a certain part of the genetic material — for example, a gene — is multiplied from the sample in numerous steps, and, finally, a biochemical method called agarose gel electrophoresis is used to determine whether the expected viral genetic material was contained in the sample.
Usually the samples are taken from the throat or from the nose
If the genetic material is found, the patient is considered infectious. If the genetic material is not found, however, this does not necessarily mean that the test person is not infected after all: It could still be that the viruses were not in the sample but are present elsewhere in the body.
This may also explain why in individual cases, COVID-19 patients who were considered cured turned out positive in PCR tests later on. Probably in these cases the viruses were present all the time but were not found in the test before the patients were declared to have recovered.
In a podcast with the German public broadcaster NDR, the infectious disease specialist Christian Drosten from Berlin’s Charite Hospital compared this with an attempt to catch a goldfish in a tank with a hand net. If you pull the net out of the water and there is no fish in it, it does not mean that there are no fish in the tank.
Evidence of infection in the past
Serological tests, also called enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), detect antibodies that the immune system has mustered against the virus in the blood of the test persons. This means that the body has already shown an immune response to infection with a particular virus. For ELISAs, a person must give a small blood sample that is then tested in the laboratory.
Manufacturers now also offer rapid tests based on this principle, but these must still be performed by a practicing physician. All that is needed is for a few drops of blood — much as with a diabetes test — to be put into into a test cassette and for a buffer solution to be added.
If SARS-CoV-2 specific lgM and lgG immunoglobulins are present in the blood, the sample changes color. A positive result can mean that the test person has undergone a coronavirus infection and now has a certain immunity to it. But this is not necessarily the case. Almost all antibody tests “react crosswise,” as Drosten emphasized in his podcast.
Some manufacturers claim that this is not the case with their products. However, it is conceivable that someone who has tested positive might have had a different coronavirus infection — a cold, for example — and not an infection with SARS-CoV-2.
A positive antibody test can mean the test person has had a coronavirus infection — but not necessarily
When is a test useful and for whom?
PCR tests are important for finding out whether patients and their contacts are currently infectious and what form of quarantine they have to go into: Is it enough to impose a two-week stay-at-home order on a contact person, during which time he or she may still meet with members of the household, or does the person really have to be completely isolated?
ELISA tests are an important tool for epidemiologists to estimate how many people have gone through an infection undetected and whether a certain level of herd immunity might eventually be achieved. This can help politicians to decide whether to relax restrictions.
The test can also help to check the immunity of people who were definitely infected with COVID-19 or those who have received one of the newly developed vaccinations.
Various German university hospitals have started broad studies in which they use ELISA tests to check randomly selected participants for a possible undetected infection — partly to find out more about the behavior of the virus.
Test strategies in different countries
Countries around the world are taking very different approaches to coronavirus testing during the current pandemic. There are many reasons for this. Differences in the performance of health care systems, availability of tests and different laboratory capacities have played as great a role as the question of how seriously the threat was taken from the outset.
South Korea’s drive-in coronavirus test also quickly became popular worldwide
For example, South Korea, which had learned from the experience of the SARS epidemic of 2002, was one of the countries that systematically tested large numbers of people at a very early stage, even those who had no symptoms and at a time when the number of cases was still comparatively low.
In terms of the total population, Germany is also one of the countries that test a great deal. But it tests mainly people who have had proven contact with infected persons and show symptoms. Other countries, such as the USA, are currently massively expanding their testing capacities, but the pandemic has also progressed more rapidly there and the case numbers are very high. This is in contrast to countries in Africa, where testing is almost non-existent.
Luz Ania Carrillo Vargas, 83 and her mother, doña Licitania Vargas Arce, 103, were among the elderly to get a visit at their home from an official of the Ciudad Quesada health area, to vaccinate them against the seasonal flu.
Doña Licitania Vargas Arce, 103, sat very still while the flu vaccine was applied. She was visited this Tuesday, May 5, in her own home, by personnel from the Ciudad Quesada Health Area. Photo courtesy CCSS
Sitting in an armchair in her house, doña Licitania sat calmly and with patience endured the brief prick of the needle.
Both women are now protected against the influenza virus, under the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) annual national vaccination campaign against influenza throughout the country, that began on Monday and will continue for the next two months, ending on July 3.
Usually, the program is spread over a few weeks, but due to the coronavirus measures, the program is extended to ensure no one misses out.
Doña Licitania and her daughter are an example of the CCSS protecting the vulnerable in this pandemic, included in the special home vaccination program implemented by the health area of that northern town.
“The fact that they identified us as people at risk, we cannot go to the vaccination center,” said Luz Ania. “I feel great satisfaction for the Costa Rican health system because since I can remember all the needs of the population have been met,” added the woman.
The home vaccination program benefits seniors and other high-risk people who live far from the Ebaís (local clinic) or who, due to some condition, cannot travel to the vaccination center.
The CCSS acquired a total of 1.3 million doses for this year.
Thais Ching, director of the Ciudad Quesada health area, explained that the home vaccination program seeks to maintain social distancing in patients with special conditions.
“We have identified very high-risk patients, bedridden people, and seniors, such as this 103-year-old mother and her 83-year-old daughter, to vaccinate them at home.
“We keep all the measures established by the authorities of the Ministry of Health and the CCSS and a small team of health professionals make the scheduled visits,” Ching explained.
Leandra Abarca Gómez, from the CCSS Epidemiological Surveillance subarea, said that this vaccination cycle represents a challenge for both the institution and the population.
She noted that, on this occasion, the process requires a greater organization to apply the vaccine to the specific population without increasing their risk of covid-19 infection.
“Strategic guidelines were established to regulate the flow of people in the establishments and a schedule for the application of the vaccine was established in order of last names.
“In addition, some health areas develop methodologies that complement the flow by last name and make it easier for people at risk to get closer get the vaccine,” said Abarca.
All the information on the vaccination program can be found here (in Spanish)
All children between three years old and less than seven years old.
All people from 7 to 58 years old part of the risk groups, that is, people with diabetes, heart disease, respiratory diseases such as asthma, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), and people with cancer. It also includes people with HIV, with morbid obesity, pregnant women, and people with Down syndrome.
All adults over 59 years of age.
The vaccine is free of charge to this segment of the population.
However, if you are not part of the population that will receive the vaccines at the CCSS, take into account that they are already available at private hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies.
The average cost of the vaccine in private centers is ¢10,000 colones.
At least 10 of the stations will be intermodal stations, where passengers can transfer between other means of transport, such as buses, taxis, non-motorized mobility means and the Electric Train. 
The positive cases are already reported 64 of the 82 cantons of the country. The latest to make the list is Talamanca, in Limón, with one positive in Sixaola, the border district with Panama.
“The fact that they identified us as people at risk, we cannot go to the vaccination center,” said Luz Ania. “I feel great satisfaction for the Costa Rican health system because since I can remember all the needs of the population have been met,” added the woman.