Aeroregional suspends service, Navy ship in quarantine for virus, Criminal gang busted, Airports and buses take precautions

Viernes, 6/3/2020

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –
De la pagina cultural –

Roto Fest finals – 8 alternative rock bands will play in a concert este sábado a las 15:00 in the Casa del Artista (av. Loja next to the Yanuncay bridge) to select which 4 will be in the Roto Fest festival on 1 & 2/5. The Roto Fest will have one day of electronic music and one day of alternative rock with invited international and national bands, and emerging local bands which are being selected.

Voice workshop – Norman Karin is offering an intensive voice workshop for American films from el lunes 9/3 al sábado 14/3 de 9:00 -15:00 in the “Barter Rubio” academy. He coached Wagner Moura who played Pablo Escobar in “Narcos” and other actors. Space is limited to 25. Cost: $120.00 with discounts for groups of 2 and 3 or more. Call Michelle Yépez at 099 229 5347 for more info.

Del cuerpo del periodico –

Free medical and dental consultations – Acción Social of the City will attend to people in the Carmen de Guzho community in Turi Parish mañana entre las 9:00 – 16:00. This will include a desparasitación (deworming) campaign, bone density (?) test, and other tests. <Cheaper than going to your vet for worming pills since you’d need a lot bigger dose than your dog – unless you own a mastiff.>

Otras cosas –

Aeroregional is suspending its Cuenca-Quito service.

Titular – Piden pena máxima para Correa y otros (Maximum penalty asked for Correa and others) – See Friday’s CHL article.

Quarantine – 50 members of the Navy ship Chimborazo have been quarantined since el pasado lunes because one of crew had contact with Ecuador’s patient number 1. The government has also intensified controls at airports, and starting el próximo martes, will require passengers from México, Spain, China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, and Brazil to fill out a “Declaración de Salud del Viajero” (Traveler Health Statement). The number of cases of COVID-19 has increased to 14. All of them are family or close to patient #1, with light symptoms, don’t need medical attention, and are in home quarantine. <Let’s just hope none of them gets bored staying at home and decides to take a vacation to Cuenca.>

Flights suspended – Aeroregional has suspended flights this month on the Cuenca-Quito route. At the beginning of enero, it reduced its flights from daily to los martes y sábados. It is planning on restarting its flights in abril, but that isn’t certain. As of now, they are not making reservations. Unofficial sources say that another airline filed a complaint regarding the operation of Aeroregional, but the process is not public so who made the complaint and why is unknown.

Gang members arrested – In an operation called “Victoria 182,” the Policía Nacional arrested 5 alleged gang members engaged in armed assault and robbery on the streets of Azuay Province. The accused were arrrested in Camilo Ponce Enríquez canton when they assaulted a “ranchera,” a truck retrofitted to carry passengers.

Property and health insurance – The practice of insuring people and property is gradually advancing in the country and in Cuenca in particular. Currently, 30 companies, almost all providing national coverage, are legally authorized to operate in the country. One 52-year-old Cuencano who is also covered by IESS, pays about $400 per month for 2 policies – private health coverage for his family of 5 and for vehicle insurance. Don’t be taken in by advertising, so before you pay for insurance, make sure the company is legally authorized to operate in Ecuador. Insurance companies should have $8 million in capital and reinsurance companies should have $13 million. <The article is titled “Seguros de vida y autos son los más contratados” and there is an inset listing the 30 authorized companies.>

Medical procedure – An device called “hemospray” was used in Ecuador for the first time by gastroenterologist Iván Arciniegas at the clinica Santa Inés for a procedure which he will present at a world endoscopy congress in Río de Janeiro this weekend. A patient suffering from a life threatening bleeding tumor did not respond to standard invasive procedures. The doctor used endoscopy to apply an inert powder to the tumor until the bleeding stopped. This new procedure caught the attention of the medical community.

Bus disinfecting plan – The Cámara de Transporte de Cuenca (CTC) will be disinfecting buses, especially the tubing and agarraderas (grab bars). The CTC is also asking that drivers with any flu like disease or symptoms do not come to work. There is a pool of registered and professionally licensed drivers who can substitute. The problem they are facing is the difficulty of getting disinfectants like alcohols and gels in large quantities. <So is the CTC going to tell its riders they can’t disinfect because they can’t get the sanitizers unless they get a fare increase? Better bring your own.>

Tourist businesses closed – Two businesses offering tourist services in the Miguir sector of Molleturo were closed until they can comply with requirements to function. A hostal and the “Tarabita Guabisay” don’t have certificates from the Municipality saying their operations are compatible with the land use. The tarabita (which looks like a chair ski lift) has to comply with some security measures.

And that’s all for today so la Hasta la próxima semana –

Jeanne