The government has announced that the operating permit for establishments with a public health permit will be from 5:00 a.m. to 09:00 p.m., according to their category (see the list of exceptions below) and the canton alert.

Beaches will remain open from 7 days a week from 5:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

The rules for the different establishments depend on the cantonal alerts, established by the National Commission for Risk Prevention and Emergency Attention (CNE), and the implementation, by the municipalities, of the Cantonal Prevention Plan for COVID-19.

Cantons with a yellow or orange alert that have a Cantonal Prevention Plan, will be able to open parks and businesses under some restrictions whereas the cantons in orange that do not have the plan won’t have the opening advantages enabled.

Cantons with controlled reopening plan (Cantons under Yellow and Orange Alerts that have Cantonal Prevention Plan)

A. Businesses that may operate from Monday to Sunday without time restrictions:

1. Delivery services.

2. Vehicle rental “rent a car”.

3. Bicycle rental.

4. Fuel supply.

5. Community garbage collection services.

6. Public and private health establishments (clinics, pharmacies, hospitals, laboratories, doctors’ offices, radiodiagnosis services, emergency services, optical, macrobiotics, among others), veterinary clinics and drugstores.

7. Health services in mobile units complying with the provisions of Executive Decree No. 41045-S.

8. Public, private or mixed daycares supervised by the CAI.

9. Care centers for people in vulnerable and dependent conditions.

10. Public and private parking lots.

11. Courier and parcel delivery branches.

12. Short say motels.

13. Hotels, cabins or accommodation establishments.

14. The sale of lotteries and gambling products duly authorized by the Social Protection Board (JPS).

15. Public institutions and municipalities.

16. All other establishments with a health permit to operate that do not provide attention to the public in person. 

17. National Parks according to the list published by MINAE.

 

B. Businesses that  may operate from Monday to Sunday without time restrictions, without public and behind closed doors, with the minimum required personnel:

1. Activities behind closed doors of theaters (including the National Theater and the Melico Salazar Popular Theater), churches, municipalities with their municipal council sessions, district councils, committee meetings and other municipal meetings, as well as any other closed space for the development of virtual broadcasts, with strict compliance with the preventive protocols and guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health, and with the minimum required personnel.

 

C. Businesses that may operate from Monday to Sunday without time restrictions with an occupancy capacity of fifty percent (50%):

2. Farmer’s markets.

3. Markets, supermarkets, convenience stores, grocery stores, bakeries, butchers, greengrocers.

4. Sale of agricultural products, livestock, aquaculture, fisheries and florists.

5. Sale of agricultural, veterinary and animal feed supplies.

6. Sale of hygiene supplies.

7. Laundries.

8. Sale of spare parts, pieces, and accessories for: vehicles, engines in general, bicycles, agricultural equipment, machinery and heavy and industrial equipment.

9. Hardware stores and sale of construction materials.

10. Locksmiths.

11. Glass shops.

12. Repair of vehicles, engines in general, motorcycles, tires, cycles and bicycle workshops, agricultural equipment, machinery and heavy and industrial equipment.

13. Vehicle oil change service (Lubricentros).

14. Car wash services (Lavacar).

15. Vehicle Technical Review (RTV).

16. Beauty salons, barber shops and beauty shops.

17. Beauty salons for pets (Grooming).

18. Customer service platforms of public and municipal institutions.

19. Public or private banking and financial services, in financial or non-financial entities.

20. Activities of centers that attend customer calls using human operators such as: “call center”.

21. Funeral homes and / or chapels of vigil.

22. Animal theme parks, botanical parks or marine parks that do not involve access to beaches or spas.

23. Swimming pools, restaurants, hotel gyms, cabins or accommodation establishments.

24. Centers with thermal water pools.

25. Shops within the national and international terminals of the Juan Santamaría and Daniel Oduber International Airport.

 

D. Businesses that  may operate from Monday to Sunday from 5:00 a.m. to 09:00 p.m., with modified capacity:

1. Drive-through services.

2. Take-out food services.

3. Cinemas and theaters with mandatory use of a mask, with seating separation measures of at least 1.8 meters, respecting social bubbles, and with a ticket office or electronic reservation. 

4. Drive-in events, or events you can attend in your vehicle.

5. Activities, organizations or congregations in places of worship, with the mandatory use of a mask, with a maximum occupancy capacity of up to 300 people in places that their physical space allows, with distance measures of 1.8 meters respecting social bubbles.

6. Event rooms for business or academic activities with a maximum of 300 people (with seating separation measures of at least 1.8 meters, respecting social bubbles and with lists of attendees with identification number and contact number). The 300 people do not include the logistics staff of the event. 

7. Event rooms for activities of maximum 75 people (with seating separation measures of at least 1.8 meters, respecting social bubbles and with lists of attendees with identification number and contact number). The 75 people do not include the logistics staff of the event.

8. Adventure tourism, with mandatory use of a mask while putting on and taking off the safety equipment to carry out the activity, and respecting social bubbles.

9. Individual sports, outdoors or indoors, without the public, according to the list authorized by the Ministry of Sports.

10. Contact sports for training of the highly competitive Men’s and Women’s National Teams; and competitions in the high-performance or professional category, behind closed doors and without the public, according to the list authorized by the Ministry of Sports.

11. Contact Sports for individual training without contact or physical approach, according to the list authorized by the Ministry of Sports.

12. Bars and Casinos, with seating separation measures of at least 1.8 meters, respecting social bubbles and with a 50% occupancy capacity.

13. Public parks (urban park and recreational park).

 

E. Businesses that  may operate from Monday to Sunday from 5:00 a.m. to 09:00 p.m., with an occupancy capacity of fifty percent (50%):

1. Retail sale of new and used motor vehicles.

2. Gyms with appointment scheduling and modified hours for people with risk factors.

3. Driving schools. 

4. Restaurants.

5. Sodas and Cafeterias.

6. Food courts (food trucks, food courts).

7. General stores.

8. Department stores.

9. Shopping centers.

10. Museums (with ticket office or electronic reservation).

11. Non-physical contact art and dance academies.

12. Shooting ranges.

13. Activities of agents dedicated to the sale of live animals (livestock auctions).

14. Casinos.

15. Bars.

16. Games for children (“plays”), skate parks, jumping parks, inflatables and the like.

17. Baths.

 

Cantons with only essential activities (Cantons under Orange Alerts that DO NOT have Municipal Prevention Plan)

A. Businesses that may operate from Monday to Sunday without time restrictions:

1. Delivery services.

2. Public institutions and municipalities.

3. Customer service platforms of public and municipal institutions, with an occupancy capacity of fifty percent (50%).

4. Branches of Correos de Costa Rica for the reception and delivery of parcels, with an occupancy capacity of fifty percent (50%).

5. Courier and parcel delivery branches, with an occupancy capacity of fifty percent (50%).

6. Public and private health establishments (clinics, pharmacies, hospitals, laboratories, doctors’ offices, radiodiagnostic services, medical services for emergencies, optical, macrobiotics, among others), veterinary clinics and drugstores.

7. Health services in mobile units complying with the provisions of Executive Decree No. 41045-S.

8. Community garbage collection services.

9. Supermarkets, suppliers, grocery stores and convenience stores, with an occupancy capacity of fifty percent (50%).

10. Bakeries, butchers and greengrocers, with an occupancy capacity of fifty percent (50%).

11. Farmer’s markets, with an occupancy capacity of fifty percent (50%), with strict protocols and a modified time slot for older adults from 5:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.

12. Establishments for the sale of agricultural, veterinary and animal food supplies, with an occupancy capacity of fifty percent (50%).

13. Establishments where there is commercialization of agricultural, livestock, fishing and aquaculture products, florists, markets, with an occupation capacity of fifty percent (50%).

14. Hardware stores and sale of construction materials, with an occupancy capacity of fifty percent (50%).

15. Locksmiths, with an occupancy capacity of fifty percent (50%).

16. Glass shops, with an occupancy capacity of fifty percent (50%).

17. Vehicle rental “rent a car”.

18. Bicycle rental.

19. Vehicle Technical Review (RTV), with an occupancy capacity of fifty percent (50%).

20. Repair of vehicles, engines in general, motorcycles, tires, cycles and bicycle workshops, agricultural equipment, machinery and heavy and industrial equipment, with an occupation capacity of fifty percent (50%).

21. Vehicle oil change service (Lubricentros), with a fifty percent (50%) occupancy capacity.

22. Sale of spare parts, parts, pieces and accessories for vehicles, engines in general, bicycles, agricultural equipment, machinery and heavy and industrial equipment, with an occupation capacity of fifty percent (50%).

23. Car wash services (Lavacar), with an occupancy capacity of fifty percent (50%).

24. Supply of fuels.

25. Hygiene supply establishments, with an occupancy capacity of fifty percent (50%).

26. Laundries, with an occupancy capacity of fifty percent (50%).

27. Public or private banking and financial services, in financial or non-financial entities, with an occupancy capacity of fifty percent (50%).

28. The sale of lotteries and gambling products duly authorized by the Social Protection Board (JPS).

29. Funeral homes and / or vigil chapels, with an occupancy capacity of fifty percent (50%).

30. Public, private or mixed daycares supervised by the CAI.

31. Public and private care centers for people in vulnerable and dependent conditions.

32. Hotels, cabins or accommodation establishments.

33. Swimming pools, restaurants and gyms of hotels, cabins or accommodation establishments, with an occupancy capacity of fifty percent (50%).

34. Centers with thermal water pools, with an occupancy capacity of fifty percent (50%).

35. Accommodation activities for short stays (motels).

36. Parking lots or public parking lots.

37. Activities behind closed doors without public in theaters (including the National Theater and the Melico Salazar Popular Theater), churches, municipalities with their municipal council sessions, district councils, committee meetings and other municipal meetings, as well as any other closed space for the development of virtual transmissions, with strict compliance with the preventive protocols and guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and with the minimum required personnel.

38. Activities of agents dedicated to the sale of live animals (livestock auctions), with an occupancy capacity of fifty percent (50%).

39. Shooting ranges, with a fifty percent (50%) occupancy capacity.

40. National Parks according to the list published by MINAE.

41. Shops within the national and international terminals of the Juan Santamaría and Daniel Oduber International Airport, with an occupancy capacity of fifty percent (50%). 

42. All those other establishments with a sanitary operating permit that do not provide attendance to the public in person.

B. Businesses that  may operate from Monday to Sunday from 5:00 a.m. to 09:00 p.m., with modified capacity:

1. Drive-through services.

2. Take-out food services. 

3. Adventure tourism, with the mandatory use of a mask or face shield while putting on and taking off the safety equipment to carry out the activity, and respecting social bubbles.

4. Beaches and lakes, with prior approval of protocols by the ICT with each municipality.

5. Individual sports, outdoors or indoors, without the public, according to the list authorized by the Ministry of Sports.

6. Contact sports for training of the highly competitive Women’s and Men’s National Teams; and competitions in the high-performance or professional category, behind closed doors and without the public, according to the list authorized by the Ministry of Sports.

7. Contact Sports for individual training without contact or physical approach, according to the list authorized by the Ministry of Sports.