Costa Rica allows reopening process for public parks and recreational facilities

Costa Rica will allow for the gradual reopening of public parks and certain recreational facilities, the Health Ministry and National Emergency Commission announced Tuesday.

Under guidelines published Tuesday, municipal governments will be permitted to re-open some public spaces that had previously remained off-limits during the coronavirus pandemic. The new protocols are not obligatory, nor are they immediate; municipalities will decide which facilities to enable and when.

The Health Ministry allows municipalities to begin a reopening process for the following public spaces: Recreational parks, urban parks and calisthenics parks. Playgrounds and dog parks remain closed, and no contact sports are permitted.

Municipalities must implement cleaning and disinfection protocols and install signage encouraging distancing, hand-washing and mask-wearing. Administrators should monitor public spaces to ensure health guidelines are followed.

The public should avoid agglomerations and practice physical distancing of at least 1.8 meters from people who are not in their social bubble.

These protocols do not impact Costa Rica’s national parks, which were closed in late March and April due to the coronavirus but reopened starting in May.