This Wednesday Aug 26th Costa Rica registered 1,002 new cases of Covid-19 for a total of 36,307 positive cases out of which 13,317 have already recovered; 400 people remain hospitalized 143 in the intensive care unit.

With these numbers, the government announced the sanitary measures that will apply as of September.

From Monday, August 31 and through September 8 the country will be in a transition phase, which only affects counties under orange alert; during this phase, some commercial businesses that give attention to the public will have to close again, however, the majority of the commercial activities will be allowed to operate as long as they attend the current sanitary measures, this includes: supermarkets, hardware stores, express services, car repair shops, restaurants, stores, beauty parlors, and esthetic centers (by appointment only), among others. Individual sports are allowed without the presence of public, training in contact sports for athletes in female and male national teams (individual training or no contact training only), and any other professional sports practice can take place behind closed doors without the attendance of public. Beaches will continue to open from Monday through Sunday from 5:30 a.m. to 14:30 p.m. (For a full list on the commercial establishments allowed or not allowed to operate go to presidencia.go.cr/alertas/)

From September 9 and through September 30 the country will undergo a “controlled reopening” phase this means that all commercial establishments that provide attention to public (with some exceptions) can open during weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and weekends from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., all commercial establishments must operate to a maximum 50% capacity and attend all sanitary measures.

Exceptions for the reopening phase include: bars, casinos, dance clubs, events of public gathering, among others. Movie theaters, churches, theaters, and others can operate with restrictions.

When it comes to vehicular transit restrictions as of August 31st and through all the month of September the restriction will apply for the entire country from Monday through Friday from 5 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and weekends from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. maintaining the current restrictions based on the last digit of the car plate. In other words, each plate number can transit 5 out of the 7 days of the week:

Monday: Cars with plate number ending on 1 & 2 (are restricted)
Tuesday: Cars with plate number ending on 3 & 4 (are restricted)
Wednesday: Cars with plate number ending on 5 & 6 (are restricted)
Thursday: Cars with plate number ending on 7 & 8 (are restricted)
Friday: Cars with plate number ending on 9 & 0 (are restricted)
Weekends: plates ending on an even number (0,2,4,6,8) are restricted on Saturday while cars with plates ending on odd numbers (1,3,5,7,9) are restricted for transit on Sunday.