Costa Rica has set aside $5 million to help stave off a possible pandemic of influenza A (H1N1), a situation the government declared as a national health emergency after identifying two potential cases of infection, officials said Wednesday.

The announcement of the emergency funds came as the World Health Organization (WHO) upped its alert level from Phase 4 to 5. (For a complete explanation of the WHO's alert phases, see http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/phase/en/index.html )

In a weekly televised cabinet meeting Wednesday, President Oscar Arias said Costa Rica is examining 50 suspected cases, but he called for calm from citizens and urged them to keep faith in the country's well-regarded medical institutions.

“…A country that is organized and possesses a health system such as Costa Rica's will be able to (ensure) the epidemic doesn't have consequences of extreme severity,” he said.

Health Vice Minister Dr. Ana Morice confirmed the Health Ministry possesses 35,000 doses of antiviral medication, which can be used as the need arises.

The patients possibly infected with the so-called swine flu – both of whom had traveled to Mexico before developing flu-like symptoms – are awaiting confirmation of the nature of their illness from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Costa Rican Nutrition and Health Research Institute, which is carrying out preliminary testing of suspected cases, lacks the primer needed to confirm whether patients are in fact infected with the type A (H1N1) virus. Dr. Morice said on Wednesday the Health Ministry is expecting to receive primer kits from the CDC by Friday to be able to better detect the disease in Costa Rica.

Health officials on Wednesday urged passengers on Mexicana Airlines flight 387, which arrived Friday from Mexico, and TACA Airlines flight LR 631, which arrived from Mexico Saturday, to report to the nearest hospital or other health center after it was learned that the two persons with partially confirmed flu cases had traveled on these flights.

Both possible flu cases – a 21-year-old woman and a 28-year-old man – are now stable and were instructed by health officials to isolate themselves by staying in their homes.

According to the WHO, nine countries have officially reported 148 cases of influenza A (H1N1).

TT reporter Chrissie Long contributed to this story.

The U.S. economy's loss is Costa Rica's gain.

President Oscar Arias was on hand Tuesday to inaugurate a new air springs plant for the U.S. company Firestone Industrial Products Co. in Turrialba, southeast of San José, a glimmer of hope for the Costa Rican economy as U.S. businesses may look to cut costs by moving operations overseas.

The 123,785 square foot plant will add over 100 jobs to the area, and has already received $8 million in investment from the company. The final investment will total around $14 million, plant manager Alvaro Murillo estimated.

In a statement, Arias and Foreign Trade Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz, who also attended the plant's official opening, hailed the plant as an economic lifeboat in an area currently struggling amidst the recession.

“It pleases me very much that Firestone comes to manufacture springs in Turrialba, demonstrating the trust they have in Costa Rica,” Arias said.

“This plant was in Indianapolis and they brought it here because certainly the costs of production are cheaper in Costa Rica, but overall it is important in a canton as this, depressed in employment numbers.”

Added, Ruiz: “This new project becomes reality in difficult times where the generation of jobs is a priority for the country and of course for a region like Turrialba.”

Firestone is a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas, Inc., which has operated a tire factory in La Ribera de Belén, northwest of San José, since 1967.

“We continue to see opportunities in emerging markets to develop and grow our air springs business internationally,” said Mike Cerio, president of Firestone Industrial Products, in a statement. “Our new facility in Costa Rica represents an excellent opportunity to better support these emerging international markets in a cost-effective manner.”

Also on Tuesday, Arias attended the opening of a plant for U.S. food company Lam Snacks, which is expected to generate 45 jobs, also in Turrialba.

Rolene Walker is living up to her name and making a walking pilgrimage from the U.S. city of San Diego, California all the way to Santiago, Chile, in an effort to promote environmental awareness in schools.

The 60-year-old trekker arrived in San José on Monday morning and visited Heredia and Dos Ríos de San Francisco, north and southeast of the capital respectively, by foot. She said she's impressed by Costa Rica's environmental consciousness and called it one of the cleanest countries she has traveled through thus far.

A member of the Quaker faith, Walker could not pass up a visit to Monteverde, a village tucked behind a mountain cloud forest in north-central Costa Rica, where a community of her coreligionists from the U.S. settled in the 1950s.

Walker's journey began on March 9, 2008, one year after retiring and 10 years after starting to pray for answers about what her next step should be, she said.

She normally covers about 10 to 15 miles a day and is approximately halfway through her trek. She has already visited some 300 schools, talking to students ranging from upper primary to university level.

“I tell the students that I don't really have the answers (to the world's environmental problems),” said Walker. “It's really their homework because it's the world they're going to be inheriting.”

She's trying to raise consciousness in a new, solution-orientated way.

“The thing is that we've done a pretty good job of telling kids that the world is in trouble but we haven't really told them that there is something they can do about it,” said Walker.

She asks them all to plant 10 trees, to try and eliminate gasoline use in the next 10 years and to pray and meditate every Sunday at 6 p.m. for a beautiful, sustainable and peaceful world.

Walker is often joined on her journey by groups and individuals, particularly from the universities where she gives her speeches. One university student accompanied her for four months and just recently left the pilgrimage to return home. She said two members of the Monteverde community have now decided to join her.

“It's so much more interesting to have someone to travel with,” said Rolene. “Instead of only sharing your thoughts at the schools, you actually share the experience along the way.”

Walker said one of the most amazingly aspects of the walk are the people she meets along the way.

“People have treated me so beautifully,” she said. “I actually have a more fond view of humanity after this walk.”

Starting early this month, new tollbooths will stand in the highway between San José and Caldera. But instead of creating long lines of traffic, proponents of a new electronic toll pass hope cars can continue to pass through smoothly.

London-based bank HSBC is selling the toll passes, called TAGs, which consist of a small device drivers place on their windshields. The toll is deducted automatically as the driver passes the booth.

Drivers with HSBC accounts can enroll in the program with an initial entrance fee of $15 and a $1 monthly charge. Non-HSBC customers can create a toll pass account for $30, subject to the same $1 monthly fee as well as a minimum deposit requirement of ¢5,000 (about $8.73).

The contract required to sign up for the electronic pass has raised concerns about privacy, however, as it allows for HSBC to share clients' personal information with third parties.

According to Gina Mitchell, head of mass consumer goods at HSBC, the information will only be shared with other banks as part of the project's second phase.

“The information will only be shared with other banks with which HASBC creates strategic alliances,” Mitchell told The Tico Times. Only information such as name, identity card number and license plate number will be available, she said, and will be considered “bank secrets.”

Mitchell could not confirm how many toll passes had been sold to date. The daily La Nación reported Tuesday that only 1,000 passes had been sold.

While the ultimate decision lies in the hands of the Transportation Ministry, Mitchell said the toll pass program could be expanded to other highways.

The new tolls for automobiles will be ¢310 (about $0.54) at Escazú, ¢480 ($0.84) at Pozón and ¢160 ($0.28) each at Cuidad Colón and Costanera Sur.