Costa Rica is keeping eye on the development of COVID-19 and, in particular, of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 during the end-of-year and beginning-of-year holiday break.
The National Commission for Risk Prevention and Emergency Attention (CNE), the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS), the Costa Rican Institute for Research and Education in Nutrition and Health (INCIENSA) and the Ministry of Health are also working together during the Christmas holidays to identify new cases and monitor the growth of the pandemic.
The joint work is carried out with the participation of the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce, among other institutions involved.
INCIENSA, for example, reported today the identification of three new cases of the Ómicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 in Costa Rica, with a total of four cases nationwide.
Omicron has so far been identified as the most contagious variant. The rapid spread of this variant in the world has forced countries such as Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, among others, to take strong restriction and confinement measures. In the United States of America, today hundreds of flights from different countries were cancelled due to the shortage of workers caused by Omicron.
Costa Rican governmental and sanitary authorities confirmed that the new findings do not imply immediate changes in the current restriction measures; however, the permanence of the current measures or the change to others is subject to the development and infection rate of the virus on the population.
Given the announcement of the identification of the variant in the country, it is of vital importance to maintain sanitary measures to avoid outbreaks such as those currently occurring in different parts of the world.
The authorities called on the population to follow self-care protocols, in particular, the correct use of masks, hand washing and social distancing (in case of family gatherings in ventilated spaces and with precautions). They also reiterated the importance of completing the vaccination schedules against COVID-19, including taking advantage of the third doses available for those over 65 years of age.
