Twenty French tourists traveling to Costa Rica have tested positive for Covid-19 and six of them had to be hospitalized, the Ministry of Health of this small Central American country announced on Tuesday, February 9.
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The tourists tested positive a week after arriving in Costa Rica on Jan. 16, the ministry added in a statement.
It was not specified whether they were infected in the country or if any of them were already carrying the virus.
The six most affected tourists are hospitalized in San José, the capital.
Foreign visitors began to return gradually from August to Costa Rica, when the country reopened its borders, which it had closed last March.
In order to promote the tourism sector, Costa Rica fully opened its borders on November 1 after removing the previous month the requirement of a negative PCR test for foreign visitors, who must however present an insurance contract covering the accommodation and medical expenses in the event of illness.
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After registering just over 1,000 daily cases of Covid-19 in early January, Costa Rica has recorded between 400 and 500 since the second week of February.
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