Published Tuesday, April 21, 2020 

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

As of Monday, 1,415 Costa Ricans repatriated to the country, announced the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Two returned infected with covid-19 at the time of entry into the country.

According to Daniel Salas, Health Minister, two passengers who arrived on a flight from the United States on Friday tested positive with covid-19.

"They were all approached immediately, a report was made on the record of the places where they were, was made physical examinations, but 20 of them had to undergo a medical test and two were given positive for coronavirus," Salas said.

All passengers received a mandatory health order that requires them to be quarantined in isolation at their homes for 14 days, the ministry said.

The Ticos arrived at the Juan Santamaría International Airport in Alajuela Province on Friday from a United Airlines flight that departed the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas, reported the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The group of 112 passengers were stranded in the U.S. due to the suspension of flights between the two countries since March 31, as a result of the global pandemic of covid-19.

The Costa Ricans came from the following states: Texas, Louisiana, Colorado, Arizona, New Hampshire, Illinois, New York, New Jersey and Missouri, as well as the countries of Korea and Japan, said the ministry.

"The Costa Rican government thanked the government of the U.S. for its generous assistance so that the return of this group of Costa Ricans and their families could take place," said the ministry in its statement.

According to the ministry, another emergency flights with returning Costa Ricans came on Monday via an Air Century flight that departed Las Americas Intercontinental Airport in Santo Domingo. This was a group of 12 Costa Ricans who were in the Dominican Republic.

Also yesterday, another United Airlines flight arrived from Houston with a group of 94 Costa Ricans.

Emergency return flights for Costa Ricans were available as soon as last week.

Last week on April 14, an Air France flight arrived from the Charles de Gaulle Airport in France, with a group of 43 Costa Ricans who were spread around Europe in the following countries: United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain.


The Costa Rican repatriates return to a country with six reported deaths from patients infected with covid-19, according to an announcement by the Health Ministry on Monday.

According to a brief summary, a 54-year-old Costa Rican man from Alajuela Province was diagnosed with the coronavirus on March 6. That same day he was admitted into intensive care at Hospital México in San José Province. The man had pre-existing conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, smoking, among others which made him more vulnerable to covid-19.

He was one of the first patient confirmed with the virus. Officials identified him as a doctor at the hospital where he was being treated for a lung infection and diabetes. 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 authorities confirmed his infection with coronavirus covid-19.

He was identified as a superspreader of the covid-19. A superspreader is an individual who is more likely to infect others, compared to a typical infected person. According to the authorities, he was linked to 81 people infected with covid-19.

On April 19, a 69-year-old Costa Rican who was diagnosed with the coronavirus on March 25 died. He was admitted into intensive care at the San Juan de Dios Hospital in San José on March 28. He had high blood pressure which increased his risk factor for covid-19 coronavirus, the ministry said.

On April 15, an 84-year-old Costa Rican man who had tested positive for covid-19 on April 1 was reported dead. He was admitted into intensive care at the same hospital, San Juan de Dios, on April 5. The patient suffered from high blood pressure. His pre-existing condition plus his age played major risk factors for contracting covid-19, said the ministry.

On April 8, the death of a 45-year-old Costa Rican was reported. He entered the country from the U.S. in March, where it is presumed he was infected. He was hospitalized for 10 days in the intensive care of the same hospital, San Juan de Dios.

The first two patients died in March. They were hospitalized in intensive care at San Rafael Hospital in Alajuela Province, both 87-years-old.

On Monday, the ministry reported 662 patients infected with the covid-19 in the country. Authorities provided the following statistics:

- The patients' ages range from 1 to 87 with an average age of 37. Of those, 32 are children under the age of 13, 598 are between 18 and 70 years old, and 32 are elder patients over the age of 70.

- 13 are being treated in public hospitals, where 8 of them have been reported in intensive care with delicate health conditions.

- Of those infected, 317 are women (48%) and 345 are men (52%).

- 56 foreigners infected.

- 124 coronavirus patients have fully recovered.

- 7,236 people have been ruled out since the virus was first reported in the country in March.

The UNED University provides a daily updated number of patients infected in each district throughout the country at its Covid-19 Map.

As of Monday night, 2,472,259 people have been confirmed infected worldwide. The pandemic has killed 169,986 patients and 645,738 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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