SAN JOSE (Reuters) – Costa Rica will reopen two of its airports on Aug. 1 to tourists from the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada, the government said on Thursday, even as it reported the highest daily number of coronavirus infections to date.
Tourism minister Gustavo Segura announced the reopening of the Juan Santamaria airport in San Jose and the Daniel Oduber airport in northeast Costa Rica, saying both had the sanitary procedures in place needed to resume operations after closing in March to order to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
U.S. travelers, who made up nearly 40% of all visitors to Costa Rica last year, were not included in the list.
Segura said that British, European and Canadian tourists would only be allowed to enter the country after presenting negative COVID-19 test results, as well as travel insurance that would cover any potential quarantine or medical costs.
Costa Rica registered a record 768 new cases of the virus on Thursday, taking the total to 13,129.
(Reporting by Alvaro Murillo; Writing by Laura Gottesdiener Editing by Diego Ore and Leslie Adler)
