CENTRAL AMERICA & CARIBBEAN

On April 30, the Executive Branch of Costa Rica extended the restriction on business operations until May 15. Restaurants selling alcoholic beverages may only operate between 5 am and 7 pm.  The Department of San Marcos in El Salvador also published a measure restricting alcohol sales, previously applied in the Department of Santa Ana. Finally, Honduras and Puerto Rico have modified their lockdown measures.

Costa Rica

The new Costa Rican regulation establishes that restaurants selling alcoholic beverages may operate from Monday to Friday at a 50% occupancy rate, like supermarkets which may however operate from Monday to Sunday, with no time restrictions but with a maximum occupation of 50%. There are no restrictions on the sale of alcohol in these establishments. The regulation came into force today and seeks to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the country. 

El Salvador

For its part, the San Marcos Department established that all stores authorized to sell alcohol must restrict trading hours between 6 am and 6 pm and prohibited the consumption of alcohol in public. This comes after the Department of Santa Ana prohibited the sale of alcohol the previous week between 8 am and 4 pm. Similar measures could be implemented in other districts in the short term. 

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico’s Governor Wanda Vazquez has announced the extension of the curfew until May 25 as well as the resumption of some activities, although none related to the alcohol industry. Restrictions on citizen mobility continue to be total except for emergencies and essential tasks such as buying food or medicine, allowed between 5 a.m. and 7 p.m. 

Honduras

Given the rise in COVID-19 infections, the Honduran government has decided to establish a full lockdown in 15 districts, only allowing pharmacies and shops selling food to operate, albeit in line with strict safety protocols. Other services will remain completely closed until May 6.