Municipality of Limón opts to close beaches due to coronavirus spread

The Municipality of Limón will close its beaches for one month in response to a sharp increase in coronavirus cases, it announced Wednesday.

“Beaches closed in the Central Canton of Limón,” the Municipality announced via social media. “The closure will be for a month, until we see a decrease in the increase of cases.”

Health Ministry data indicate the central canton of Limón has 397 known active coronavirus cases as of Tuesday and has three total COVID-19-related deaths. The cases represent a 285% increase over two weeks ago, according to the Health Ministry.

Social media posts from the past weekend showed large crowds in the port city of Limón.

“This type of irrational behavior cannot be allowed in the midst of a pandemic,” mayor Néstor Mattis Williams shared on social media.

The Costa Rican central government permits all beaches to remain open daily from 5 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. However, municipal governments can choose to shut down local beaches, as some began doing in March.

This news impacts only the central canton of Limón, and not popular beaches elsewhere in the province, such as Puerto Viejo and Cahuita.

The Caribbean coast of Costa Rica is particularly popular in September and October, since the weather is typically sunnier than on the Pacific coast.