Happy Tuesday from The Tico Times! We hope you’re having a great morning. Here’s the news you should know as a new day starts in Costa Rica.
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Costa Rica will lose access to a $250 million IDB loan if the funding is not approved by the Legislative Assembly by January 6. Deputies go on vacation from December 18 until January 11. The loan is intended to help Costa Rica “finance its efforts to contain the COVID-19 sanitary crisis and mitigate its impacts on the economy,” per the IDB. More via La Nación.
Two people died and at least 27 people have tested positive as part of a coronavirus outbreak at nursing home in San José. Authorities hope to conduct 300 tests today in order to better isolate the outbreak. More via Teletica.
As of Monday afternoon, there are 608 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Costa Rica, the highest figure since September. Costa Rica has registered 1,825 COVID-19-related deaths. We’ll have updates from the Tuesday press conference this afternoon.
Citing disagreements with how the Costa Rican Presidency has handled the multi-sectorial dialogue meant to address the country’s economic crisis, Women’s Minister Patricia Mora announced her resignation on Monday. Read more here.
President Carlos Alvarado says 50% of Costa Rica’s new fiscal proposals, which the country will use to negotiate financing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), will be based on a reduction in public spending. More via La Nación.
Want the latest video game console? A PlayStation 5 costs between 735,000 and 899,000 colones in Costa Rica ($1,200 to $1,500). In the United States, the sought-after console starts at $399. The high cost in Costa Rica is due to the high taxes and import costs. More via La Republica.
Tuesday weather forecast, per the National Meteorological Institute: Costa Rica “will begin to perceive the effects of the cold push # 5, as the intensity of the wind increases over Costa Rica; With this, there will be a greater contribution of humidity from the Caribbean Sea to the regions of the North Zone and the Caribbean, and therefore, greater cloudiness in these places. Occasional gusts of wind are expected in both the North Pacific and the Central Valley; While, in the Central Pacific and the South Pacific, partially cloudy skies will predominate with possible rains in the south of the country.”
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We’ll have more news throughout the day, so keep checking The Tico Times home page for more.
