Saturday August 22nd Costa Rica entered the reopening phase even though over the the past couple of days it has registered the highest number of new daily confirmed Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.

On Friday the country registered 1,059 new cases while Saturday the Ministry of Health confirmed 950 new patients. Since the pandemic reached the country back in March, Costa Rica has accumulated 33,084 positive patients, out of which 10,372 have already recovered.

There has been 348 deaths and 386 remain hospitalized, 131 of them in the intensive care unit.

As the government announced since the beginning of the month, all countries in orange alert will enter the reopening phase from August 22 through August 30, this means that commerce can resume “normal” operations following, of course, sanitary measures as established by the Ministry of Health.

The only commercial activities that CANNOT resume operations include massive events and all activities or events that include high concentration of public; all sites of public gathering such as conference centers, children playgrounds, amusement parks, bars, casinos, dance clubs, among others.

Driving restrictions will continue in areas under both Orange and Yellow alerts; driving is permitted from 5 am to 9 pm on weekdays and 5 am to 7 pm on weekends with daily vehicle restrictions based on license plate number.

The Costa Rica Directorate of Migration announced that Permanent/Temporary Residents of Costa Rica may enter the country via air regardless of where they are coming from but must present the following documentation: 1) Passport, 2) Valid DIMEX, 3) evidence Caja payments are up to date for each person, and 4) a completed Health Pass (Pase de Salud).

Costa Rican Permanent/Temporary Residents and Costa Rican citizens must complete a 14-day quarantine. However, the quarantine is waived if 1) travelers are arriving from one of a list of authorized countries (the United States is not currently on this list of authorized departure points), 2) have proof of stay for the past 14 days in that country, and 3) carry a negative COVID-19 test (PCR-RT) taken no more than 48 hours before their flight to Costa Rica. For a summary of entry requirements for permanent and temporary residents, please visit this link.

Tourists who entered the country after December 17, 2019, have been granted an extension of stay until November 18, 2020. The grace period for drivers who are in the country as tourists has also been extended until November 18, 2020.