Published Monday, June 1, 2020 

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Today begins the third phase of reopening commercial activities. Businesses must continue with the sanitary measures ordered by the government for the gradual reactivation of the economy to attend to the crisis caused by covid-19. This phase is scheduled to end on June 19,  the government reported on Sunday.

The new regulations allow shops, businesses, hotels, cabins for rent, or establishments for accommodation and companies to return to their daily operations from Monday to Sunday without restrictions. As long as they guarantee that only 50% of the maximum capacity of people will be allowed inside the establishment.

In the case of restaurants, cafeterias, food courts, gyms and swimming schools, they will be able to continue their operations on weekends. Likewise, complying with the restriction of serving only 50% capacity.

In the case of events, they can operate exclusively for activities of a maximum of 30 people, including the organizers, guests and personnel required for the activity. In this case, they must comply with the measures of separation of seats of a minimum 1.8 meters, respecting the social bubbles and with lists of attendees with ID number and contact information.

Museums and art academies that do not carry out contact activities between people may operate from Monday to Friday from 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. They also must maintain a maximum of 50% of capacity inside the facilities.

Special tourism transport is enabled with restrictions and special measures established by the Public Transport Council.

Public institutions will continue to work with the basic operating plan of teleworking measures. The implementation of cumulative hours is authorized, which is equivalent to working 10 hours a day, four days a week, with the possibility of choosing Monday or Friday as a day off.

Despite the loosening of most restrictions, the ban on driving will remain unchanged.

During the weekday from 5:00 a.m. at 10:00 p.m., the strict vehicle regulations will remain in place. The driving ban is implemented to different license plates depending on the day of the week.

• On Mondays, there are no cars permitted with plates ending in 1 and 2.

• On Tuesdays, cars with plates ending in 3 and 4 cannot circulate.

• On Wednesdays, plates ending in 5 and 6 must stay off the streets.

• On Thursdays, vehicles with plates ending in 7 and 8 cannot be active on the streets. 

• On Fridays, no plates ending in 9 and 0 can be on the road.

During the weekday, the night ban on driving is from 10:00 p.m. at 5:00 a.m.

On weekends, from Saturday to Sunday, the ban on driving applies from 5:00 am to 7:00 pm, as follows:

• On Saturdays, vehicles whose plates end in 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 cannot circulate.

• On Sundays, vehicles whose plates end in 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 cannot circulate.

On weekends, the ban on driving is maintained at night for all vehicles throughout the country, from 7:00 pm to 5:00 a.m.

The government expects to develop the fourth phase from July 12 to August 2. This will allow:

• Capacity expansion to 100 people in places of religious worship, as long as they are respecting the minimum distance of 1.8 meters between each person.

• Reopening of the school year for schools, colleges, academies and universities, among others. However, the opening of each institution will be done progressively according to the conditions of each place. Also, classes should be continued at a distance, when either a teacher, student or employee expresses some type of health problem. In this case, the opening of each institution must be coordinated with the Ministry of Education.

• The entry of vacationers to the beaches during the weekdays.

Total restriction remains in regards to entering public parks, mass gatherings and public shows, bars, discos, casinos and gambling activities, the National Theater and the Melico Salazar Theater, community fairs, as well as amusement parks or similar common places of gathering.

Any company that does not comply with the aforementioned rules will have their operation permit suspended for one month, said the government. If the company breaks rules more than once, the operations permits will be suspended indefinitely.

For more information on how to apply the rules for each company, or a specific business, the ministry can be reached by calling (506) 2223-0333.

The border closure will continue until June 30.

Since May 19, authorities of the General Directorate of Migration announced that their facilities will continue closed to the public until July 17, further extending foreigner permits. Border closures extended until June 30 due to the covid-19 national emergency.

The institution informed that the Migration facility closure extension is due to one official who was infected when he was in contact with foreigners apprehended at the Professional Migration Police facilities in Heredia Province. Authorities report that 27 foreigners infected with the covid-19 are held there.

Specialists from the Ministry of Health are already giving medical attention and applying the diagnostic tests for covid-19 to the employees who were in contact with the infected patient, the Directorate reported.

According to the institution, more than 80% of the employees are teleworking from home, minimizing the number of officials working in the Directorate facilities.

Because of the building closure, the Directorate has confirmed that the period of legal permanence authorized for foreign people in the migratory category of Tourism who entered the country on or after December 17, 2019, is automatically extended until August 18, 2020.

The validity of the legal permanence ID, also known as DIMEX, is automatically extended until September 30, 2020, for foreigners authorized to remain in the country under the migratory category of Permanent Residence.

The DIMEX for foreigners authorized to remain in the country under the migratory categories of Temporary Residence and Special Categories also automatically extends to September 30, 2020.

But, the DIMEX ID for foreign persons authorized to stay in the country under the migratory category of Non-Resident Stay Subcategory was automatically extended until August 18, 2020.

Requests for legal permanence in the country will be open after July 18.

Requests for documents or certificates of immigration status must be made by email certificacionstatus@migracion.go.cr.

Residence renovations, which are Social Security requirements must be requested by email  ccss@migracion.go.cr.

DIMEX requests or renewals are currently made at Banco de Costa Rica and Correos de Costa Rica.

Renewal of temporary residence by a relationship with a Costa Rican partner must be processed at either Banco de Costa Rica or Correos de Costa Rica.

Inquiries about the delivery of DIMEX residences should be made by email, dimex@migracion.go.cr.

Residents and tourists can make their inquiries by calling the Directorate line 1311 or (506) 2299-8100.

Government will continue to monitor the evolution of covid-19 in the country during these stages for further development and authorization to reopen other types of businesses.


Regarding the development of covid-19 in the country, the health ministry reported on Sunday 377 active cases. Active patients are those who currently have the virus.

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

• Of the 1,056 infected since the first case was detected in March, 669 coronavirus patients have fully recovered. That is equal to 63% of total recovered patients.

• The ages of those affected range from three months to 87-years-old, with an average age of 37. On May 28, authorities reported a 3-month-old baby tested positive for covid-19. A 6-month-old baby was infected with the virus on May 14.

• 16 patients are being treated in public hospitals, where 12 are in recovery rooms and 4 have been reported in an Intensive Care Unit, ICU, with delicate health conditions. Most of the infected patients are quarantined in their homes.

• 209 foreigners infected, of these 27 entered the country unauthorized and are jailed in the facilities of the Professional Migration Police in Heredia Province.

• 46 foreigners working as truck drivers transporting merchandise were denied border entry because they tested positive for covid-19.

• 18,198 people have been ruled out.

• 26,622 medical covid-19 tests have been made.

• 10 deaths have been reported from patients infected with covid-19 since March.

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 Sunday night, the pandemic has killed 372,099 patients worldwide according to recent statistics reported by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.


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