Stricter sailing and beach bans while the third covid-19 patient dies was confirmed

Published Thursday, April 9, 2020

Stricter sailing and beach bans while the third covid-19 patient dies was confirmed

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The Ministry of Security increased the presence of police officers in tourist hotspots during this time as authorities confirmed on Wednesday afternoon the third death of a patient infected with covid-19.

According to Martin Arias, general director of the National Coast Guard Service, there are still people who insist on disrespecting the quarantine and prohibition of beach entry and sailing.

Following the strict security measures ordered by the government lasting until May 1, it is prohibited to sail on ships or boats. The government also ordered closing beach access to everyone in the country.

These prohibitions are intended to prevent crowds in public places during Easter and Holy Week, said authorities.

According to the ministry, breaking the ban is punishable by a $790 fine for first-time offenders.

People who have been evicted and re-enter a beach or continue sailing will be arrested and charged for the crime of disobeying authority, which can be punished with a sentence of up to three years in prison.

So far police reports reveal that they had to eject 127 tourists who were within the beach area or who were about to enter.

According to the police, most of the tourists were on beaches in the Provinces of Guanacaste and Limón. Among these beaches were the popular Santa Cruz, Matapalo, Matapalito, Ocotal, Potrero and El Coco.

Also, coastguards of the Siquirres Canton had to dismantle tourist camps that were located near the Pacuare and Parismina Rivers, in the area of the Caribbean Coast.

The government has ordered a country-wide shelter-in-place quarantine as an immediate response to an increase in cases of patients infected with the coronavirus throughout Costa Rica. The authorities call on people to respect the order not to enter the beaches and to stay home.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Ministry of Health confirmed the third death of an infected patient. He was a 45-year-old Costa Rican man who was hospitalized for 10 days in the intensive care unit of the San Juan de Dios Hospital in San José.

According to the summary provided by authorities, the patient entered the country from the U.S. in March, where it is presumed that he was infected.

As was previously reported in March, two patients hospitalized in intensive care at San Rafael Hospital in Alajuela Province, both 87-year-old seniors died due to the coronavirus covid-19.

On Wednesday afternoon the ministry reported an increase of 19 new patients infected with the coronavirus covid-19, rising to a total of 502 cases in the country.

Of these 23 are being treated in public hospitals, where 15 of them have been reported in intensive care with delicate health conditions.

The patients' ages range from 1 to 87 with an average age of 38. Of those, 18 are children under the age of 13, 455 are between 18 and 70 years old, and 29 are elder patients over the age of 70.

Of those infected, 243 are women (48%) and 259 are men (52%). It was reported 34 foreigners are infected.

It is reported that 29 coronavirus patients have fully recovered. Since the virus was detected in the country in March, 5,533 people have been ruled out.

For a daily updated number of patients infected throughout the country, visit the Covid-19 map of the UNED University.

As of today 1,513, 358 people have been confirmed infected worldwide. The pandemic has killed 88,415 patients, and more than 300,00 patients made a full recovery, according to recent statistics reported by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

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