Version # 17 of the COVID-19 Surveillance Guideline, published today by the Costa Rican Ministry of Health, establishes that close contacts of a confirmed case that do not present symptoms will be quarantined at home for a total period of 10 days, which will be counted from the date of the last contact with the confirmed case. This except caregivers of people at risk, workers of long-stay homes, prisons and health workers, who will continue as before with a 14-day quarantine.
Prolonged-COVID
In addition, the definition of “Prolonged-COVID” is incorporated into the group of symptoms and ailments that occur in patients who meet the temporary definition of COVID-19 recovery, but who experience mild symptoms for more than three weeks after the start date of first symptoms. The Ministry of Health establishes that these patients do not require persistently positive RT-PCR tests to consider this condition and they are not considered contagious.
Ministry of Health provides definitions of reinfection
The guideline defines suspected, probable and confirmed cases of reinfection to determine the 10 cases that are currently undergoing reinfection analysis in the country. However, within the framework of these definitions, the guideline is clear in indicating that establishing the status of confirmed reinfections is difficult in Costa Rica, due to the limitations to have the genetic sequencing of the first and second episode viruses.
