Thursday July 23rd Costa Rica registered 768 new confirmed cases of Covid-19, totaling 13,129 out of which 3,448 have already recovered, 81 people have died and currently, 290 people are hospitalized 43 of them in the intensive care unit.

Despite the situation, during the press conference held today, the government confirmed that the country will begin to gradually reopen air borders as of August 1st as planned and following strict sanitary measures.

Ground borders will remain closed until further notice.

Gustavo Segura, Minister of Tourism explained, “We are all learning to manage things under the existing pandemic situation, the measures announced today must be taken with a lot of responsibility by all sectors, tourist operators, airports, and the tourists themselves”.

As of August 1st, the country will gradually reopen borders for flights to and from the European Union, Canada, and UK, this translates to close to 5 flights a week.

Tourists that plan to visit Costa Rica during the upcoming week will have to follow all sanitary measures in place and comply with certain requirements, such as taking a Covid-19 test 48 hours prior to the flight, filling out a form with the information for epidemiologic control and acquiring travel insurance that covers expenses in the event of quarantine and medical expenses.

Beaches in counties under yellow alert will be allowed to open from 5:30 am through 2:30 p.m. as of August 1, social bubbles most be maintained at all times.

Open-air recreational and tourism activities will also be allowed as of August in counties under yellow alert.