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 state of emergency yesterday, as part of the measures, the Ministry of Environment along with the National System of Areas of Conservation announced their decision to close all National Parks as of Monday, March 23rd and through April 13th ; however, starting tomorrow, March 18th and through Sunday the Parks will limit the number of visitors to 50% of their monthly average.

Other measures include the suspension of the cruise ship season into Limon. In total 14 cruise ships that were scheduled to arrive in the upcoming weeks will not be able to make their stop in the country.

As it was informed yesterday, as of midnight tonight the international airports will only allow Costa Rican citizens and legal residents to enter the country.

Alvaro Vargas, General Director of Civil Aviation explained that passengers in transit will be able to continue to their journey to their final destinations, as long as the airlines guarantee they have their connection flight, passengers will remain in an isolated area.

Police authorities are working to assure that bars, dance clubs and casinos remain closed and Migratory Police with the assistance of other police bodies is reinforcing security at the northern border to prevent access of foreigners from Nicaragua.

Nationals or legal residents that enter the country must attend mandatory isolation for 14 days.

Supermarkets are also taking measures to limit the access to one person per family and also limit the number of certain items that each buyer can purchase.