Costa Rica

Costa Rica remains in Phase 3 of contagion by coronavirus, for this reason the country is preparing a treatment from the blood of people recovered from this disease. The initiative is in the hands of the Clodomiro Picado Institute at the University of Costa Rica. According to this center, the treatment is pioneering in Latin America and could reach the first patients in the middle of the year.[3]

The health minister, Daniel Salas, indicated that the guidelines for the surveillance of the disease are constantly updated, as knowledge of the disease progresses and once evaluated, the specialist work on that line. Therefore, health authorities display a new discovery, they claimed the loss of smell belongs to the coronavirus symptoms, therefore, now every checking point for the disease must include as candidates to the test to any person who has it, this new measure was released on April 21^st. Thus, people who present loss of smell will undergo to the same procedure as those who present respiratory symptoms[4]

The Costa Rican Ministry of Labor, issued official information on labor regulations that have to be applied in circumstances such as this health emergency, which is why all companies must comply with the provisions contained in Article 6 of the Authorization Law for the Reduction of Work Days established in the framework of the Declaration of National Emergency. This article also points out that telework is the most adequate organization modality for the labor provision, therefore it should continue to be privileged, both in the private sector and in public administration.[5]

[3] Djenane Villanueva, CNN. 2020. Costa Rica sería pionera en tratamiento contra covid-19 a partir del plasma de recuperados de coronavirus. 28 de April. Último acceso: 04 de May de 2020. https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/video/pionero-coronavirus-tratamiento-covid-19-recuperados-sangre-clodomiro-picado-pkg-djenane-villanueva.

[4] Gobierno de Costa Rica. 2020. Generalidades del COVID-19 en Costa Rica. April 29. Accessed May 04, 2020. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/8c28b77e290b4961a8637dc0992c8535 .

[5] Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguridad Social de Costa Rica. 2020. Documentos de interés en materia laboral en la circunstancia especial por el nuevo coronavirus COVID-19. May 1st. Accessed May 04, 2020. http://www.mtss.go.cr/elministerio/despacho/covid-19-mtss/COVID19-MTSS.html.