Darn! We were doing a pretty good job here in Costa Rica, in terms of the collective effort towards taming the COVID-19 bug…
and then June happened!
Costa Rica now has one of the highest reproduction numbers (R0) in Latin American at 1.97. Our daily case numbers are skyrocketing, with one day this past week setting a record 649 new cases.
Hospitalizations are also on the rise, as one might expect with an exponential increase in confirmed cases. And that’s what is most worrisome, since Costa Rica’s health care system could quickly reach capacity if this trend continues.
Deaths have been on the rise as well. But with a confirmed case fatality rate of .39%, and only 5 deaths per million of population, Costa Rica is still doing quite well compared to many nations in the statistic that counts the most.
The majority of the cases are still in the GAM, or gran area metropolitana. For that reason this area, as well as others, predominantly in the northern part of the country, have been put on orange alert and essentially locked down. At the moment residents of those areas cannot drive at all, except on certain days (depending on tag number) and then only for food and emergencies. All non-essential commercial business in those orange alert areas must remain closed under July 19.
Here in Perez Zeledon we have not seen a real increase in numbers, yet. Therefore, we remain at yellow alert status and essentially open for business. I have noticed, however, that almost everyone in the streets these days is donning a mask and you are generally required to wear one to enter any commercial establishment.
One thing Costa Rica has shown itself capable of, as opposed to the U.S., is the ability to muster a coordinated national response to this crisis in a definitive manner that informs its citizens how serious all this really is.
Nevertheless, many frequent commenters in various expat Facebook groups that I peruse continue spouting nonsensical conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 “hoax”…
Generally those who spout such nonsense do so either in furtherance of some political ideology, generally far-right and pro-Trump, or because they feel that all this government interference in their economic pursuits, in the name of collective health, is, well, just downright un-American…
But refusing to sacrifice for the less fortunate and more vulnerable is also un-American!
Granted, this is a tough situation, especially for business owners and their employees. Here in Costa Rica, the tourism industry has been decimated by the fact that Costa Rica’s borders have been closed to tourists since mid-March. We are supposed to open borders on August 1, but with the recent surge in cases, who knows if that will happen and to what extent?
This pain is real. Lives are being disrupted and if this continues much longer (and by all appearances, it probably will), maybe even permanently damaged.
Even so, the ticos, by and large, seem to be taking it in stride, while the gringos in their midst tend to be the ones complaining the loudest.
As I’ve stated before, the culture here is far less materialistic than in the U.S. It’s no surprise that ticos would take their health more seriously than their pocketbooks. And I certainly haven’t seen any ticos throwing temper tantrums about the requirement to wear a damn mask!
OK, enough of all that already…let me get to the point of the post…
What do I mean when I speak of the Costa Rica COVID-19 cleansing?
I listened recently to an interview with the legendary primatologist, Jane Goodall. Her words were very inspirational, especially for these trying times. The overall message was that everyday you live you impact the planet, so why not try to make your impacts positive.
While it’s a stretch to try to blame the COVID-19 crisis on climate change and the man-made reasons that phenomenon is occurring to the detriment of people and planet, the truth is that increasing human encroachment into the natural world can result in problems, like the passing of a novel virus from a bat to a human, as well as a warming planet.
During normal times, Costa Rica welcomes over 3 million tourists annually. Of course, this year that number will be quite a bit lower.
And even though the business of tourism is being negatively impacted by those lower numbers, the underlying reason people come here to begin with is actually undergoing some improvement.
Take away Costa Rica’s natural beauty and acclaimed biodiversity and you lose its primary appeal. Costa Rica has understood that for the most part. For that reason, Costa Rica has long been considered a world model for sustainable tourism.
Nevertheless, 3 million tourists traipsing through its verdant jungle-laden beaches, pristine mountains and national parks does tend to take its toll.
I have seen various reports about how animals are making their return to Costa Rica’s national parks and wildlife refuges. Human traffic in those areas, which has grown dramatically since Costa Rica first burst onto the scene as a highly sought after tourism destination, had begun to motivate a mass critter exodus to deeper and less accessible regions.
I don’t have any hard date to demonstrate that Costa Rica’s air quality is improving, its watercourses becoming less contaminated, and its greenery even more green, but I think it less than a wild guess that all of that is indeed occurring during this period of suppressed human activity.
And of course Costa Rica’s many delightful boutique hotels have had time and space to do some serious “spring” cleaning!
The entire world, Costa Rica certainly included, is learning the hard way that we really are all in this boat together. False ideologies that fictitiously separate are being exposed for what they are…dangerous lies, or half-truths…that are economically rationalized as “good,” but do not serve the best interest of people and planet.
Maybe the Costa Rica COVID-19 cleansing will prove in the end to have been worth it…
Perhaps that goes for the rest of the world as well…
I guess that only time will tell.
The Definitive Guide to Costa Rica Expat Living – 2nd Edition is now available on Amazon!
I hope you thoroughly enjoy this new edition. It is structured much like its predecessor, but I’ve gone through each chapter and changed what needed to be changed and added what I felt should be added. I also added a new whole section on Costa Rica’s southern zone…
