Restrictions increased due to covid-19


Booking.com	Published Monday, March 16, 2020 Restrictions increased due to covid-19 By the A.M. Costa Rica staff All public places that allow crowds, must allow only 50% of customer capacity, due to new restrictions imposed on Sunday by the Ministry of Health. The new measures of precaution come before an increase in cases of people infected with the coronavirus covid-19. Public places such as restaurants, bars, casinos, hotels, malls, diversion parks, among others, that do not comply with this measure are exposed to a closure for a month, said the ministry in its statement. More than 320 schools will be closed this week, due to the cuts on drinking water services, said the Ministry of Education Sunday. For further information which schools to be closed visit the ministry’s website. Schools not on the list will remain open this week. However, at any time there could be an order from the ministry to temporarily close schools for a short period, due to a possible cut in the water service or the risk of covid-19 infection, said Guiselle Cruz, minister of Public Education. The Ministry of Health confirmed 35 cases is the number of persons infected with the coronavirus covid-19 in the country Sunday. Four of the infected patients are still hospitalized. Three of those four are in delicate health in intensive care. The name of the hospital where these patients are being treated was not provided by authorities. According to the statistics provided by authorities, of the 35 patients, 19 are women (54%) and 16 are men (46%). Concerning nationality, 30 are Costa Rican and five are foreigners. Authorities did not provide further information on the condition of the patients. In the case of foreigners, the country of origin was also not reported or the dates or what further information about flights the people used to arrive in the country. However, last week, three U.S. citizens were confirmed as infected patients. The ages of patients infected with covid-19 range from as young as 10 to as old as 87. Among these are a 10-year-old girl, a 13-year-old boy, and two more children under the age of 13. There’s also a U.S. woman, 73, and a Costa Rican woman, 70, as well as an 87-year-old patient. The rest of the 28 infected are adults. Local patients are from San José, Alajuela, Heredia, Guanacaste and Cartago. Authorities decided not to publish the city where each patient is in quarantine or the information about how the patients were infected. Authorities decided not to publish a summary of the new cases. "After the 20 people confirmed with coronavirus are surpassed, the instruction of the Surveillance Department is to provide only the information in ranges," said the ministry's press department. Even though the ministry decided not to publish the total number of suspects, authorities confirmed that the 450 people classified as suspects were ruled out. Specialists are in the process of confirming or ruling out more coronavirus suspected cases using lab tests. It is expected that updated information about new cases will be provided today. Last week, the ministry reported that 17 patients were allegedly infected by one person, a so-called superspreader. A superspreader is an individual who is more likely to infect others, compared to a typical infected person. The so-called superspreader is a Costa Rican man, 54, who lives in Alajuela Province. He remains in delicate condition in the hospital due to his additional health issues with a lung infection and diabetes. Officials identified him as a doctor of Hospital San Rafael in Alajuela Province. According to the authorities, the man arrived from Panamá on Feb. 22 without symptoms at Juan Santamaría International Airport. Days later he went to a hospital where he was listed as a suspected case. Authorities later confirmed his infection with coronavirus covid-19. Summaries were provided by authorities of the first eight of 17 people allegedly infected by the superspreader.: - A Costa Rican woman, 73. She is the aunt of the superspreader. She arrived with him from Panamá in on Feb. 22. Health workers presumed that he infected her. She is quarantined in a public hospital in San José. - A Costa Rican woman, 54. She was the caregiver for the 73-year-old woman. It is presumed that the man also infected her. She also remains in quarantine at her home. - A Costa Rican woman, 41. She is a relative of the man. It is presumed that he also infected this woman. She is also in quarantine at her home. - A Costa Rican woman, 39. Her age was erroneously reported by the ministry as 56 years-old. The woman is 17-weeks pregnant. She was also in contact with the man. Hospital staffers presume the man also infected her. She too remains in quarantine at her home. - A Costa Rican man, 34, also a relative of the man. It is presumed that the superspreader also infected this person. He too remains in quarantine in his home. - A Costa Rican girl, 11, who was in contact with the man. It is presumed that he also infected this child. She remains in quarantine in her home. - A Costa Rican boy, 13, who was also in contact with the man. It is also presumed that the man infected this boy. He remains in quarantine in his home. - A Costa Rican man, 52. He was also in contact with the man and presumed to be infected by this person. He remains in quarantine in his home. The ministry confirmed last week 164 suspected cases are employees of San Rafael Hospital in Alajuela, where the so-called superspreader also worked. Last week, authorities provided information of four infected patients with coronavirus not linked with the so-called superspreader. The summaries provided by the ministry were in these cases: - A U.S. citizen woman, 49, whose condition was first reported Friday, March 6, is being classified as suffering from an imported virus. She entered the country on March 1 from New York at Juan Santamaría International Airport. She had no symptoms when she entered the country. After several days in Costa Rica that changed. She informed authorities that in New York she had contact with a patient who had coronavirus. Lab tests confirmed that she was the first case of coronavirus in Costa Rica. She is receiving medical treatment in quarantine at her hotel in the San José Province. - A U.S. citizen man, 49, husband of the latter case mentioned. He traveled with his wife and did not show any symptoms when entering the country. He also reported having had contact with a coronavirus patient in New York before traveling to Costa Rica. A lab test confirmed he was infected with the virus. However, Sunday authorities said that he doesn’t yet have the symptoms of the disease. He too is in quarantine in a hotel with his wife. Authorities didn’t provide information about which hotel they were quarantined, nor information about their flight. - A U.S. citizen, 70, resident in Costa Rica. She recently returned from the U.S. She is in quarantine in an unnamed public hospital. - A Costa Rican man, 54. In this case, authorities continue to investigate the origin of the infection. He remains in quarantine in his home. Last week, covid-19 was classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization, WHO. “This is not just a public health crisis, it is a crisis that will touch every sector, so every sector and every individual must be involved in the fight,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO. As of Sunday, there were 142,896 reported coronavirus covid-19 cases globally, where 5,374 patients died. And 70,920 patients in total recovery, according to the most current information from WHO. In China, where the virus was first detected, 3,199 patients died. The top 10 countries with deaths of coronavirus covid-19 reported outside of China are in Italy with 1,809, Iran with 724, Spain with 292, S.Korea with 75, France with 91, U.S. with 63, Japan with 24, Netherlands with 20, and the U.K. with 35. ------------------------------- Have you heard about provisions for schools in your community? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com