Authorities close 9 agricultural companies due to covid-19

Published Thursday, June 18, 2020

Authorities close 9 agricultural
companies due to covid-19

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

In the first two days of patrolling and surveillance in the agricultural companies located in the northern border zone of the country with Nicaragua, 9 companies were closed for non-compliance with sanitary measures and detected cases of people infected with covid-19 among the workers, announced the Ministry of Security on Wednesday.

According to the report by the patrols, 49 companies were inspected, mainly packers of agricultural products, of which 13 received sanitary orders to initiate cleaning processes and compliance with hygiene guidelines.

Eight companies were closed for 30 days for not having operating health permits, which are legal permits for doing business.

One more company was closed when it was detected that 21 employees were infected with covid-19.

Another 13 businesses in the area were ordered to make sanitary corrections within five days.

According to Michael Soto, security minister, 1,967 people were interviewed, of which 1,405 were Costa Ricans and 466 were foreigners.

In the case of foreigners, 20 people entered the country unauthorized, so they were sent to the Immigration and Immigration police.

Officials from the Ministry of Labor opened 7 reports against companies, who do not comply with labor rights such as payment of the minimum wage, vacations, Christmas bonus, social security or occupational risk policy.

"We will remain in the area in constant monitoring in conjunction with other institutions that work for the strict control that the sanitary measures issued by the health authorities are fully complied with," said Soto. "We call on the owners of farms and agricultural companies to respect the law, otherwise we will take the corresponding actions.”

The patrols in the area are organized from the new operations post in Las Tablillas District in Alajuela Province,opened this week.

Officials from the Ministry of Health, Agriculture, the National Emergency Commission, the Ministry of Public Security, the Directorate of Migration and Aliens, among others, work in the patrol operation along the border with Nicaragua.

The increase in police presence responds to the Orange Alert issued by the National Emergency Commission, increasing restrictions in some of the districts in that area of the country.

With this new alert, the Cantons and Districts with restrictions on commercial activities and ban on driving are: Paquera, Guatuso, Guácimo, La Cruz, Los Chiles, Pococí, Río Cuarto, La Fortuna, Venice, Aguas Zarcas, Cutris, Pital, Pocosol, Plains of Gaspar, Curuña, Pacuarito, Reventazón, Upala and Peñas Blancas.

In these regions, the ban on driving applies every day, Monday to Sunday, from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. of the next day, explained Alexander Solís, president of the Commission.

Businesses, in general, will be able to attend to the public every day, from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. The commerce restriction schedule does not apply in supermarkets, pharmacies, or so-called Pulperías, small grocery stores and health services related to business.

Restrictions also apply to river accessibility, from Monday to Sunday, from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. of the next day. This law applies to the rivers of Medio Queso, Frío, Tortuguero, Colorado, Sarapiquí and San Carlos.

According to the ministry, the patrol areas are from the San Carlos River, the natural border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, across the communities of Palo Seco, Cureña and Cureñita, until reaching the mountainous area of Sarapiquí Canton.

The creation of a command post or police operations center in the northern region of the country intended to handle police operations due to the increase of covid-19 in the area.

According to the Health Ministry, as of Wednesday afternoon, there was an increase of 75 new cases of patients infected with covid-19, bringing the total to 960 active cases.

Authorities provided the following statistics of the evolution of the virus in the country:

• The ages of those infected range from a three-month-old baby to a 92-year-old.

• 899 coronavirus patients have fully recovered.

• 22 patients are being treated in public hospitals, where 19 are in recovery rooms and 3 have been reported in an Intensive Care Unit, ICU, with delicate health conditions. Most of the infected patients are quarantined in their homes.

• 486 foreigners infected. That is equal to 50% of active patients.

• 23,290 people have been ruled out.

• 33,282 medical covid-19 tests have been made.

• 12 deaths have been reported from patients infected with covid-19 since March, three women and nine men.

The updated number of total patients in each district can be reached at the National Distance Education University on its Covid-19 Map.

As of Thursday night, the pandemic has killed 452,036 patients worldwide, according to recent statistics reported by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

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