Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - March 2020 / Covid-19

During March, visits to this blog were received from the following 19 countries:

There were no new countries and the overall total since November 2012 remains at 129 countries. 

Interestingly, the number of countries from which visits were received in March of last year was only 13. So, Covid-19 seems not to have deterred interest despite the fact that Costa Rican borders are totally blocked to the entry of people from foreign countries until at least April 30th.

The following is a summary of weather for the month in the area where we live:

The dry season continued with marginally higher average temperatures than February and no rain (at least none in our locale). There was one day with a record high for the year: 94°F (34.4°C). But, on most days, the high was below 90°F (32.2°C). On 16 of those days, the measured high was 88°F (31.1°C).

With regard to Covid-19 it may (or may not) be noteworthy that at this time of year the season is the "dry season". There is little or no rain in many parts of the country and it is not "cool" or "cold" as in many northern climes. Except for hot, humid temperatures on the coasts, the temperatures are comfortable or at least tolerable from a North American perspective (Canada or the USA).

With regard to Covid-19, it will be interesting to see whether tropical climates like that in Costa Rica mitigate the dangers. At the present time, on a per capita basis, Costa Rica in one aspect can seem to be doing significantly better than Canada or the USA. The population of Costa Rica (CR) is just over 5 million. That of Canada is about 7.4 x CR and that of the USA is about 65 x CR. From March 1 (the first case) and as of April 7, the Costa Rican Ministry of Health reported 483 confirmed cases with 2 fatalities, 24 recoveries, and 5,042 cases testing negative. Since March 26 and 27 when the number of new cases per day peaked at 30 on each day, the number of reported cases has been on a generally downward curve.

However, there is another aspect. Apart from being on a downward curve at the present time, the number of Covid tests so far in Costa Rica seems to be disproportionately lower than that in Canada and the USA. Roughly 0.1% of the population in Costa Rica has been tested. In Canada, the number appears to be close to 0.9%. In the USA the number appears to be just over 0.5%. If Costa Rica catches up with the number of tests relative to its population size, then its comparison with Canada and the USA may change significantly. That is, unless the tropical climate makes a difference.