Arauz and Lasso begin runoff campaign in Quito; Those over 65 don’t need to register for vaccinations; New seniors club opens; Rural tourism routes set

Miércoles, 17/3/2020

Hola, Todos –

Sorry – I think I didn’t send this out after I wrote it yesterday so here’s yesterday’s periodico. The one for Thursday will post tomorrow.

Actividades –

De la pagina cultural –

Galería muestra la colaboración entre Francia y Ecuador (Gallery shows the collaboration between France and Ecuador) – “Cooperación Francesa en Ecuador, una historia en común,” a photo exhibit, opened today at the Alianza Francesa and at the Casa de Servicios at UDA. It will run until 17/4 with hours from 8:30-17:00.

Danza en la sala “Alfonso Carrasco” (Dance in the “Alfonso Carrasco” room) – “NUNO, el viaje de una mujer” (NUNO, a woman’s journey) is a dance performance of a woman’s journey to unfamiliar places. It will be los 19, & 20/3 a las 20:00 in the sala “Alfonso Carrasco” at the CCE. Limited capacity. Cost: $5.00.

Otras cosas –

Titular – Vacuna a obreros (Workers vaccinated) – Yesterday, workers at EMAC (Empresa Municipal de Aseo de Cuenca – the garbage company), Guardias Ciudadanos, Bomberos (firefighters), and EMUCE (Empresa Municipal de Cementerios – Cemetery) got their first vaccine dose. Also vaccinated were 140 people in the Hospital Municipal, 49 elderly and their care givers in the Centro Municipal del Adulto Mayor, and 20 seniors the the Desarrollo Social y Productivo projects. The Municipio de Cuenca and the Coordinación Zonal de Salud collaborated to bring 9.000 first doses to people in el Austro (the south), and 2nd doses to another 2,000.

Front-line municipal workers wait in line for their vaccinations. (El Mercurio)

Azuay is continuing with Phase 1 vaccinations for front line workers and the elderly. Next week they hope to immunize ETAPA crews, transit agents, and seniors who weren’t part of the first phase. Mayor Palacios emphasized that, at the moment, no officials in senior management such as managers of the municipal businesses, department heads, coordinators, council members nor the mayor and his family have been vaccinated. The priority is for personal de primera fila (front line workers) with sanctions for those who do not respect the priorities for vaccinations.

Prevencion del cáncer por el mes de la mujer (Cancer prevention for Women’s Month) – Data from the MSP shows that breast cancer affects 40 outof 10,000 women in Ecuador which makes it one of the main types of cancer in the country. The pandemic has caused many women to not go to their citas médicas de control (follow-up appointments/ check-ups?) which could result in early detection of cancer to decrease and critical conditions to increase. A specialist at Roche Ecuador said that in addition to self exams, women should see their doctors annually for exams to detect anomolies that can progress to breast cancer.

Municipio entrega terrenos para viviendas (Municipality delivers land for housing) – The City transferred pieces of land to the Empresa Municipal de Vivienda (EMUVI) to be used for social housing. The first lot of 300 sq. m. is in the La Gloria sector and the other 4 are in Milchichig with 2 at 220 sq. m., one at 200 sq.m., and the last with 167, all of which abut each other. The lack of land is one of the main problems in constructing housing for the poor and this transfer hopes to partially solve this scarcity in a city which has a shortfall of 40,000 housing units.

Cuatro rutas para fomentar el turimo rural (Four routes to promote rural tourism) – The Ministerio de Turismo presented the guía Vuelve al Campo (Back to the Country guide) in Cuenca yesterday. In contains information in general and about the tourist attractions for four structured routes through regions that are promoting tourist attractions in the rural areas of Azuay, Cotopaxi, Tungurahua, Pastaza, Morona Santiago, Chimborazo, Cañar, Loja, Zamora Chinchipe y El Oro Provinces. The goal is to contribute to the reactivation of rural tourism and as an response to a growing demand for activities directly related to nature.

Listo nuevo acceso a Ingapirca (New access to Ingapirca ready) – The vía San Pedro-Curiquingue has been changed to a new access to the Complejo Arqueológico Ingapirca. The access connects the Panamericana to the ring road Honorato Vázquez-Ingapirca-El Tambo.

Arauz y G. Lasso arrancan campaña (Arauz and G. Lasso start campaign) – The 2 candidates for the second round elections on 11/4 started their campaigns in the south of Quito with promises to overcome the country’s economic crisis. <And a whole lot of other campaign promises too tedious to translate.> One of Lasso’s proposals was to raise the SBU (minimum wage) to $500, including domestic workers. .

Cambia plan para inmunizar a los mayores (Plan to immunize the elderly changed) – The Ministerio de Salud Pública (MSP) announced that it is not necessary for the elderly to sign up for vaccines at its web page. Some 120,000 seniors with disabilities, 400,000 IESS retirees, and 350,000 receiving MIES payments will be registered immediately. Another 250,000 seniors in vulnerable conditions, many living on the street, will receive vaccinations directly and without the need to register. This decision was made after the problems with the Plan Vacunarse page. MSP’s last report said only 6,000 seniors successfully registered with 17,000 in the process.

Rioquinto Seniors Club, un centro con una propuesta diferente (Rioquinto Seniors Club, a center with a different proposal) – María Daniel Larriva, founder of the club, said the club offers extra services to seniors with low levels of dependency. The club has 24 suites with private bath and terrace. She called it a gerontological rather than a geriatric center. Her clients are able to take care of their daily needs, but want an additional level of service. The club offers medical accompaniment, recreation spaces, game room, walking spaces, physical therapy rooms, and gardens. Staff includes a doctor, nurses, psychologist, occupational therapist, social worker, admin. workers, nutritionist, and kitchen and cleaning staff. It is located in Challuabamba on the vía a Nulti, going towards the new Feria de Autos. The club has options for day use (although that has been suspended) and short term stays from a weekend on up. <Sounds like the perfect place to go to recover from surgery or veg out. Like a spa but without the sweat.> They are considering permanent residents.

The opening will be either el 29/3 or el 5/4. I think the cost is $1,500 per month. For more info click here or go to www.rioquinto.com, contact them at info@rioquinto.com or call 0980172694.

And that’s all for today so Hasta ? –

Jeanne

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Editor’s note: Jeanne’s Periodico is a translated digest of news from the Cuenca daily newspaper El Mercurio. If details, such as event dates and times, do not appear in the translation, they did not appear in the newspaper (please don’t ask her for them). The text between the carrots, or guillemets (< … >), is Jeanne’s personal opinion and not part of the news translation.