Central America Celebrates New Year's Eve With Few Restrictions

Central America will dismiss the year 2021 without major COVID-19 restrictions, although health authorities have asked the population to maintain biosecurity measures and avoid crowds.

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COVID-19 vaccination is advancing in the region, with Costa Rica and Panama leading the way, with 90 percent and 81 percent of the population with the complete scheme, respectively.

Without large mass events and with some capacity restrictions, Costa Ricans will celebrate the end of the year with family or friends. In Panama, authorities canceled public events that some communities in the interior of the country had planned, especially after the detection of several Omicron cases. Nevertheless, tourist reactivation is notorious.

"Hotel reservations for the end of the year celebrations are at 100 percent and around 4 planes are arriving per day, with visitors from Europe, the United States, Canada, and Costa Rica, mainly," the Panamanian newspaper outlet Critica reported, referring to the situation in Boca del Toro province.

Honduras will close 2021 amid the jubilation for the election of Xiomara Castro as the country's new president, and the threat that the pandemic will worsen due to the inevitable arrival of the omicron variant.

While Guatemala does not have restrictions against COVID-19, the sale of alcohol has been prohibited between 2 and 6 in the morning. The authorities do not rule out a new COVID-19 wave in January, especially after the appearance of the Omicron variant.

Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, no public health restrictions have been applied in Nicaragua, a situation that has not changed for the holidays. In El Salvador, the festivities will be lived without restrictions due to the pandemic, since they were lifted by Congress.