US Embassy Costa Rica: "Costa Rica has now confirmed 314 cases of COVID-19 in the country. We urge all U.S. citizens who wish to depart Costa Rica to do so now. U.S. citizens who remain in Costa Rica should be prepared to remain in Costa Rica for an indefinite period. Delta Airlines is planning one flight per day until March 31, but then plans to suspend operations until May 2. The previously p...

The Social Security Service (C.C.S.S.) received a donation of protection equipment from the United States Embassy. Roman Macaya, executive director of the C.C.S.S. said the donated items will be used by the workers that are providing direct attention to the sanitary emergency caused by Covid-19. “We received disposable medical gowns and gloves for the protection of our workers who are in the...

The number of patients positive with coronavirus in Costa Rica went up to 295 on Saturday, March 28th, according to information provided by the Ministry of Health, 15 patients are hospitalized, 6 of them in intensive care. “With great pain and concern we have 15 people hospitalized, 6 of them in intensive care. This is not a game. The responsibility of the deaths that this emergency brings is a...

Where did the coronavirus come from? The origin of the virus which has caused the current global pandemic remains elusive. Bats are considered the most likely source of the virus, but some researchers believe it came from pangolins, small scaly anteaters. Both animals are illegally trafficked for food and non-traditional medicine in China and other Asian countries. These two animals are the only ...

The Costa Rican government announced this Friday a plan to offer a benefit of 200 thousand colones, approximately $347.00 USD, a month to families affected financially by the crisis caused by Covid-19, this includes people that have been laid off or have had their income reduced. Part of the funds will come from an extraordinary budget, reassigning funds, and by maintaining the fuel price in m...

This Friday March 27th the Ministry of Health reported 32 new cases of coronavirus in Costa Rica bringing the total number of cases to 263. The patients include 121 men, 142 women; 241 Costa Ricans and 20 foreigners. Nine people remain hospitalized and 5 of them with age between 36 and 66 years remain in intensive care A third patient has been discharged; seven more are still being tested th...

UPDATED 3/27/20 Source: US Embassy San Jose "Costa Rica has now announced 263 cases of COVID-19 in the country. As messaged previously, we urge all U.S. citizens who wish to depart Costa Rica to do so now. U.S. citizens who remain in Costa Rica should be prepared to remain in Costa Rica for an indefinite period. For the latest list on the very limited flights into/out of San Jose and Liberia...

The last update by the Ministry of Health in Costa Rica reported 231 positive cases of coronavirus as of this Thursday, March 26. 101 women, 130 men; 204 adults, 19 senior citizens and 8 minors; 18 foreigners and 209 Costa Rican citizens, these is the most recent information provided by health authorities who also confirmed there are cases in 43 counties. The Minister of Health, Daniel Sal...

As if novel coronavirus COVID-19 weren’t enough to worry about, the Organismo de Investigacion Judicial (OIJ) announced earlier this week that there has been a disturbing increase in child pornography cases in Costa Rica between 2014-2019, as reported by Interpol Crimes Against Children Taskforce. In 2015, 43 cases were investigated of child pornography, but that number has now risen to 137 cases....

The latest update given by the Ministry of Health in Costa Rica confirmed 201 patients tested positive with coronavirus. In total 1,684 people have tested negative. 117 of the patients are men and 84 are women; 183 are Costa Rican and 18 foreigners; 117 adults, 17 senior citizens and 7 minors. Currently the cases are in 39 counties, with Alajuela reporting the majority of cases, 36, while San J...

Floridian native Robert Allen Wright has spent the last twelve years living as a Costa Rican, after having stolen the identity of Costa Rican, Jose Humberto Howell Brokke. Wright (50 years old), managed to marry a naturalized Costa Rican named Gloria Patricia Hernandez Navaez, and they had one child together. Navaez is originally from Colombia. She and Wright were working together in their own rea...

177 people are infected with coronavirus in Costa Rica, the group includes 103 men and 74 women, 159 Costa Rican and 18 foreigners. The patients' age range goes from 2 to 87 years, but the majority are adults. Four patients remain in the intensive care unit. The Costa Rican government maintains the yellow alert and insists on maintaining all sanitary measures during the next few weeks until the...

By Laura Gutierrez of Immigration Help Costa Rica Since 2017, the quality of service from the DGME has steadily deteriorated. Ironically, with the Immigration front gates closed to the public last week until May 18th, things might improve. Up to the end of 2017, and sporadically to the middle of 2018, my submitted residency applications were getting approved in 5 to 8 months on average, depe...

Today, the Costa Rican government implemented several new sanitary measures to try and control the spread of Covid-19 in the country, one of those measures has caused alarm among the foreigners that live in the country and have a legal migratory status. The measure basically states that: As of tomorrow, March 24th all foreigners who have legal residency in the country or regular status and who ...

The Costa Rican Ministry of Health confirmed that the total cases of Covid-19 in the country is up to 158 which includes 141 Costa Ricans and 17 foreigners, 68 women and 90 men. The government also announced new sanitary measures that aim to battle the spread of the virus, these include: Complete closure of all beaches Mandatory closure of all churches and places of religious gatherings In a...

Video Credit and thanks to Adam Baker and Namu Travel Group. ***Repost from the President of Costa Rica*** We all know that small businesses, restaurants, workers in the service industry, etc. have been affected economically by covid-19. The entire travel industry; airlines, hotels, tour companies, travel agencies, entire countries, and everyone in between were immediately impacted by cov...

AERIS Holdings, administrator of the Juan Santamaria International Airport in Costa Rica, informed of how Covid-19 affects the air operations and provides the following information for passengers: AEROMEXICO: operations suspended from March 19 through April 12. AIR CANADA: last flight will be April 3 after this its operations will be suspended until new notice. AIR FRANCE: will operate normal...

Costa Rica registeredo nly 4 new cases of Covid-19, putting the total confirmed cases at 117 patients. In total 1,190 cases have been discarded. Six patients remain hospitalized and two more were discharged. “This does not mean that we have won the battle, or that nothing more will happen in this country, this is a worldwide phenomenon, there are world powers like Italy, Spain, United States an...

Today Costa Rica has 113 confirmed cases of coronavirus COVID-19, ranging in age from 2-87 years old. 46 are women, 67 are men, 104 are Costa Rican, and 7 are foreigners. Two men have died. 951 people have been dismissed as not having the virus. Costa Rica has been under a National Emergency since Monday, March 16th. How do you know if you have the deadly virus? According to the Mayo Clinic ...

The total number of patients infected with coronavirus in Costa Rica went from 89 yesterday to 113. The first two patients that were diagnosed have recovered in full. So far two senior citizens have died, and two patients remain in intensive care. The new number includes 46 women, 67 men, 104 Costa Rican and 7 foreigners. Nine of the cases correspond to senior citizens. 1,046 cases have ...

In the first debate Costa Rican deputies approved the bill presented by the Ministry of Work that will allow employers whose businesses are suffering a substantial reduction of their income to bring down their employees’ workdays by as much as 50%. This is a temporary measure in response to the state of emergency declared by the Costa Rican Government due to the crisis caused by Covid-19. Th...

The Ministry of Health in Costa Rica confirmed this Thursday, March 19, the second death of a patient infected with the Covid-19 Coronavirus. Coincidentally the deceased is another male also 87-years of age, same as the first victim. In addition to being a senior citizen this man had previous vascular problems. Two other people have tested positive for the virus bringing the number of people...

The effects of the coronavirus on the economy of the country and worldwide are inevitable and began several days back, in Costa Rica, it is obviously the tourism sector the most affected, with borders closed as of today and for almost one month in the best case scenario the economic landscape is certainly not looking good for the hundreds of thousands of people that depend on this industry and for...

Location: Costa Rica Event: Update on COVID 19 Situation in Costa Rica The Costa Rican Ministry of Health confirmed 87 cases of COVID-19 in Costa Rica. The government of Costa Rica has implemented enhanced screening and quarantine measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Travelers should be prepared for travel restrictions to be put into effect with little or no advance notice. U.S. cit...

The updated numbers of patients affected by coronavirus in Costa Rica comes up to 87, 18 new cases in the last 24 hours according to official information provided during press conference today by the Ministry of Health. One of the new cases is a person from the province of Limon, which means the virus has reached 6 out of the 7 provinces of Costa Rica, the province of Puntarenas is the only on...

The Ministry of Health has confirmed to The Star the first death of a coronavirus patient in Costa Rica. An 87 year old man who remained in the intensive care unit of the Alajuela hospital. The President of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado, commented on social media “At 4:15 pm Costa Rica registered it’s first death as a result of Covid-19, a senior citizen. We solidarice with his family. Let’s react,...

The total number of patients affected by Covid-19 in Costa Rica went from 50 to 69 in the last 24 hours, the age range of the patients goes from 8 to 87 years of age and includes 30 women, 39 men, 63 are Costa Rican and 6 foreigners. A total of 855 cases have been discarded. The Minister of Health, Daniel Salas, insisted in the importance of taking matters seriously, “We have to be seriou...

Based on the global crisis and what other world leaders are doing for their countries the short answer is NOT ENOUGH! President Carlos Alvarado informed of the directive to banks to readjust credits to help companies and the productive sector face the crisis, this will include: bringing down the credit interest rates according to the conditions of each client, extend the term of the credits, ex...

Costa Rica, like the rest of the world, is in a full-blown war against the coronavirus COVID-19. Officials are making every effort possible to prevent this deadly virus from entering the country, and from spreading within its borders. There have been 50 confirmed cases of infection in Costa Rica. The virus first arrived via two American tourists who visited asymptomatic in early March. They quickl...

The total number of patients that tested positive for Covid-19 is now at 50, confirmed the Ministry of Health this Tuesday, March 17, 2020. 40 of the cases are adults, 6 senior citizens and 4 minors. Four people remain in intensive care. Out of the seven provinces only Limon and Puntarenas have no reported cases. In total 720 people have tested negative. The Government declared  a stat...

The Government of Costa Rica declared State of Emergency this Monday, March 16 due to coronavirus, the document was signed by the President, Carlos Alvarado, the Minister of Health Daniel Salas, and the interim Minister of Presidency Silvia Lara. As part of the measures of the emergency state the Government announced that all public and private schools must remain closed from March 17th through...

Minister of Health Daniel Salas, confirmed during a press conference Sunday, March 15, that the cases of coronavirus in the country have gone up to 35 cases. The Minister showed visibly upset because the Government has been insisting non-stop on taking precautionary measures and asked for the help of all the population to take on preventive isolation and necessary measures, it also asked that b...

Costa Rican Government Proposes Measures to Protect Workers and Companies From Financial Effects of Covid-19 The Government of Costa Rica has presented different measures to protect workers and companies of the financial effects that coronavirus (Covid-19) brings along. An extension of three months in the payment of the value added tax, income tax of companies, and customs taxes, a significa...

Banana Republic chose Costa Rica to open its first store in Central America. The same was inaugurated last Friday in Avenida Escazú right across from GAP store, both brands are operated by AR Holdings. This is the first of two stores that AR Holding is planning to open in Costa Rica, the company invested close to $500,000 USD. “We are very excited to open our first store in Costa Rica and of...

So far in Costa Rica we have had 35 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and we were the first Central American country to report the coronavirus, brought in by an American tourist couple. We have had no deaths so far (unlike Panama), but are ramping up for a possible tsunami of COVID-19 cases in the coming weeks. Does Canada have a coronavirus vaccine being developed today? Worldwide, COVID-19 has sic...

The Ministry of Health of Costa Rica confirmed the number of patients infected with coronavirus is 26, so far it has discarded 289 patients. The government also announced its decision to close 317 public schools as a preventive measure for at least 14 days starting this Monday, March 16. The 26 patients involve 14 females and 12 males, 23 Costa Rican's and 3 foreigners, positive cases are regis...

As of 6PM Thursday, March 12th, there were 23 confirmed cases of coronavirus COVID-19 in Costa Rica up from 22 on Wednesday the 11th. Authorities assured that they were prepared for a surge in that number, as has happened in other countries, Italy being a comparable small country with a well-developed medical system. Doctors, nurses and hospitals were standing by. Then the World Health Organizatio...

The number of people infected with Covid-19 went from 13 on Tuesday to 22 this Wednesday, confirmed the Ministry of Health during a press conference. The patients range from 10 to 73 years of age and include 14 women (one of them pregnant) and 8 men, 19 Costa Rican and 3 foreigners. “The Covid-19 is a pandemic and it is highly probable that it becomes a seasonal virus as it occurred with AH1N1....

Official sources confirm a total of 13 patients that are currently infected with coronavirus in Costa Rica, however, the list of suspicious cases continues to grow, currently with 179 people under observation and testing. The Ministry of Health confirmed they are investigating 175 people that had direct contact with a 54 year-old man that is positive for Covid-19 and was working at the Alajuela...

Costa Rica has confirmed nine cases of Coronavirus (Covid-19) and this Monday the Ministry of Health in coordination with the National Emergency Commission (CNE) informed that as of Tuesday, March 10, all massive events and activities, both free and paid, are canceled; also, the President gave orders for public institution employees to work from home when possible. The objective is to mitigate the...