Five unions that group workers in Health Services demanded that Minister Daniel Salas issue an “immediate total confinement” due to hospital saturation. The request was made through a press release published on social networks this past Tuesday. In the document they request, among other things, that shops, airports, and borders be closed, and that the vehicle restriction be extended at least until New Year’s.
The employers representatives did not take long to react to this request by the Health unions. “We understand the request of the health workers, it is not strange for us nor does it surprise us, it is their right and even their responsibility, but we, as the economic counterpart, also have to be responsible in saying that a total closure would be catastrophic for the country, that is why we ask the authorities not to take us out of business” said Mauricio Rodríguez, director of the Costa Rican Chamber of Restaurants (CACORE).
“We have high inventories, a lot of logistics in place and many workers hopeful that their situation will improve even a little bit at the end of the year. After the previous Father’s Day (last minute restrictions that caused millions in losses in the tourism and commercial sector) the Government promised us that they would not do something like this again and we hope they will keep their word,” he added.
Worsen the economic crises
For his part, Arturo Rosabal, vice president of the Costa Rican Chamber of Commerce, assured that a closure would aggravate the country’s economic crisis at a time when the economy is doing its best to recover. “We remind the Government to also understand that we are in the middle of a serious economic crisis; There are more than 5,000 companies that keep people’s jobs suspended, more than 7,000 with reduced working hours, unemployment is at 22%, the situation is very complicated and more restrictive measures could make this situation even worse, which will cost us a lot to overcome” Rosabal indicated.
The merchants acknowledged that the health situation in the country is serious and that citizens are not fulfilling their part in the commitment to prevent the spread of COVID-19. That is why they called on people to be responsible for precisely not generating new closings. “We call on all Costa Ricans to please be responsible, abide by Health guidelines, use a mask, respect traffic capacity and restrictions,” said Rosabal.
Maintain health safety measures
While José Álvaro Jenkins, president of the Union of Costa Rican Chambers and Associations of the Private Business Sector (UCCAEP), said: “We call on the population to respect health measures and to stay in their social bubbles with the aim of not overloading health services. Once again we acknowledge and thank the commendable work of all health personnel who have been at the forefront of this Pandemic with great vocation and dedication”.
