COVID-19 pandemic in Costa Rica

[5] On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.

[10][8] The government has declared a color coded alert system for the control and containment of the pandemic, as follows:[11] The epidemiological variables are: More specific details, formulas or algorithms for the alert color designation of the cantons or districts have been kept secret and has not been released as of July 2020, which has been contested by local government of the cantons, commerce associations, journalists and open data activists.

It was a 52-year-old Costa Rican woman from the canton of Pococí, who visited Italy and Tunisia and returned to the country on 29 February without symptoms.

[17] The pertinent tests were carried out on the woman and they were sent to the Costa Rican Institute of Research and Teaching in Nutrition and Health (Inciensa) to either rule out or confirm the case.

[24] Health authorities also confirmed cases in the cantons of Santa Ana, Grecia, Nicoya, La Unión, Poás, Pérez Zeledón, San Pablo and Barva.

[31] On 20 March, the Ministry reported the recovery of the first two patients with the virus, who were the two American tourists who were isolated in a hotel in San José.

[55] On 8 March, the Costa Rican Ministry of Health and the National Emergency Committee (CNE) raised the sanitary alert level to yellow.

[19] On 11 March, the University of Costa Rica ordered its teachers to suspend all face-to-face classes and implement a virtual teaching modality.

[22] Leaders of Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and the Dominican Republic signed an agreement for dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

[62] Moreover, an executive agreement between the President of the Republic, Carlos Alvarado Quesada, and the Minister of Health, Daniel Salas, granted health authority to the members of the Costa Rican Public Force (the police enforcement agency) for the surveillance and control of the virus, both to verify the closure of bars, clubs and casinos, as well as to ensure 50% of visiting capacity for the other meeting centers.

[63] On 16 March, the government also decreed a state of national emergency, due to the threat of the virus after being present in the country for only 10 days.

Access to the country was also reduced to only Costa Ricans and permanent residents, a measure that will start a minute after midnight on 18 March and last until 12 April.

[66] On 24 March, the government announced they will temporarily reduce their in person workforce by 80% and also void the salary raise approved last January for all public servants except for the police force.

Hours later president Carlos Alvarado published that he would not support that bill and stated that "Plan Proteger" consisted of protecting the unemployed and workers already impacted by salary reductions.

It reinforced the services provided by the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) in Costa Rica by treating up to 88 COVID-19 patients in intermediate or continuing care units.

[72] On 1 April, with Holy Week and Easter approaching, the government announced new measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 during this time when people are used to going out and vacationing.

[73] In addition, the Legislative Assembly approved two bills to increase the fines for noncompliance with sanitary orders and vehicle restriction.

Fines ranging from ₡450,000 (US$780) to ₡2.2 million (US$3,800) would be applied if a person having risk factors and being a suspected or confirmed case of the disease fails to comply with the isolation order.

[citation needed] The second investigation would be to use the blood of a recovered person, but also to purify the antibodies produced, isolate those and apply to a patient.

[citation needed] On 21 April, the Ministry of Public Education announced the cancellation of the application of the FARO national standardized tests, which would begin to be applied this year to eleventh-year students of academic schools, in the face of the coronavirus crisis.

[79] On 1 May, the Ministry of Health announced the reopening of cinemas, theaters, gyms, bicycle rentals and swimming schools, but with measures to prevent the virus, such as the opening of these only between 5 am and 7 pm and with a reduced capacity of people.

[80] On 11 May, the Ministry of Public Education announced that regular attendance lessons would return after the summer holidays, scheduled between 29 June and 10 July, as long as the situation of the pandemic allows it.

[81] The Ministry of Environment and Energy, announced a plan to reopen twelve National Parks in the country, with health measures to prevent the spread of the virus, such as the limited entry of people.

Lastly, the Costa Rican Tourism Institute announced the reopening of hotels, but only with 50% of its total capacity and with a maximum of 20 rooms reserved at the same time.

On 14 May, 52 deputies of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica signed a letter addressed to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), requesting "urgent and forceful" actions in the face of the COVID-19 situation in Nicaragua, since, according to the legislators, "the Nicaraguan government has recklessly handled the health crisis due to COVID-19", for which they denounce that it could have negative effects in neighboring countries, including Costa Rica.

And in cantons that were in orange zone would have different vehicular restriction On 17 July the Garabito local government announced they would not follow the central government orders on shops and commercial closures for an Orange Alert area due to the data showing that the canton was in good conditions for commercial operations as in a Yellow Alert area.

[87] On 26 March, the Chamber of Restaurants and Bars of Costa Rica (CACORE) reported 109,000 laid off workers, and 42% (7,980) of the affiliated businesses were closed.

[94] As of December 8, 2022, mandatory Covid-19 vaccination for children under the age of 12 has been suspended by an Administrative Court which ordered the suspension of executive decree No.

Furthermore, the plaintiff submitted that studies to demonstrate the possible adverse effects of inoculation in a population as vulnerable as children are currently pending, thus suggesting the need for the interim suspension of the measures.

Based on the above, the Court concluded that, given the legal interest protected, since the possibility of serious effects on children's health has not been scientifically ruled out yet, it is appropriate to suspend the measure imposing mandatory vaccination on children.https://www.covid19litigation.org/news/2022/12/costa-rica-administrative-court-san-jose-provisionally-suspends-application-measures