City noise ordinance needs modification and enforcement; 1,360 new prison guards graduate; Covid cases increase but flu is a growing concern

Miércoles, 30/11/2022
 
Hola, Todos – 

Actividades –

La Compañía de Danza presenta obra en Cuenca (Dance Company presents work in Cuenca) – 11 members of the Compañía Nacional de Danza del Ecuador are in Cuenca to present “Hay alguien en casa” (Someone is at home), a contemporary dance performance. The free performances are at the Teatro Pumapungo, Wednesday and Thursday, a las 20:00. The “story” is of a series of people living in a space, and doing different things. The dancers have been given scenes from movies which are more like guidelines than a formal script. The dancers can use their imaginations to decide what to do. The scenes are set through lighting and projections so that no performance is like the previous performance.

Titular –
¡Gracias tricolores! (Thank you tricolor!) –

The Compañía Nacional de Danza del Ecuador are in Cuenca to present “Hay alguien en casa” (Someone is at home), a contemporary dance performance Thursday night at the Teatro Pumapungo. (El Mercurio)

Cuenca –

De El Mercurio del martes, 29/11:
Multa si se excede ruido (Fines for excessive noise) – According to Councilwoman Carolina Martínez who is president of the Environmental Commission, a municipal noise ordinance which has been in effect since 17/1/2017 needs to be modified. People in El Centro are subjected to loudspeakers played at high volume by businesses hoping to attract business. <Are there that many deaf customers?>

There is a proposal which had the input of neighbors in the Centro Historico to sanction the generators of noise with fines that can exceed the Salario Básico Unificado (SBU) or $425. The proposal addresses other issues such as regulations on the gas trucks and other services that use music. <I liked the beeping horns better then “Por eso, por eso,” etc. At least the honking stopped when the gas people got out of the car to deliver the tanks.> There are 39 locations where noise levels in Cuenca are measured. 75% of the noise in the city is from traffic. <Kudos to you silent people who use your feet, bicycles, or electric gizmos to get around.>

Contagios de COVID-19 son más frecuentes (COVID-19 infections are more frequent) – Positive rates for COVID in Cuenca have doubled from 2% to 4%, but that’s still under 5% at which a pandemic is considered under control. Julio Molina, executive director of the Consejo Cantonal de Salud, said that factors for the resurgence included the movement during the last holiday, and relaxation of mask wearing. He also said that patients’ symptoms were light due to the vaccinations.

Andrea Bersosa, Zone 6 Health Coordinator, said the cuadragésima séptima (47th – your word for the day to take your counting to a new level) week of the epidemic saw 66 new cases as opposed to the 29 in the prior week. She said the respiratory symptoms in children, teens and youth have increased in schools, and that symptoms of flu and COVID are the same. <So parents, be warned that your kid might be bringing her classmates’ germs home with her homework. Like every other year.> She warned that el gripe (flu – a bonus word for the day. A cold is a resfrio – another bonus word – Merry Christmas.) can trigger pneumonia, especially in seniors and people with comorbidities.

Last week the flu shot campaign started for the usual suspects and will last until febrero, 2023. Zone 6 will have 400,000 doses. BQ.1 & Q1.1 ómicron subvariants were identified in Pichincha and Azuay last week, but there have been no new cases in the province since, and only one person was infected with this more contagious subvariant.

Nacional – 

De El Mercurio del martes, 29/11:
Incorporan más guías penitenciarios (More prison guards added) – 1.360 new prison guards graduated at a ceremony in Quito ayer after 6 months of training and were added to the existing 1,593 guards. It is expected that 1,000 more will be incorporated into the force early next year, bringing the total to 3,967. With that number, the country will meet the international standard of a maximum of 10 prisoners per guard for the first time. For the last 9 years, there have been 1,593 guards and 32,000 prisoners – more than 20 prisoners per guard. With all the new officers, there will be one guard per 8 prisoners. <I hope this will stop the massacres.>

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.