City reverses course, allows NYE dummy sales; 40% of population will not be vaccinated; Critical Covid cases increase at IESS hospital; Provinces protest for funds

Jueves, 17/12/2020

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –
Otras cosas –

Titular – Sin recursos propios las Prefecturas (Prefectures without their own resources) – The Provincial GADs are claiming debts and budget cuts from the Government. The prefects of Azuay and Cañar took to the streets because Azuay is owed $28.7 million, and Cañar is owed $17 million. Both provinces rely on federal funding and neither raises additional taxes since Yaku Pérez eliminated the Tasa Solidaria which was collected when car owners registered their vehicles and was used for road maintenance in rural areas.

Autorizan venta de monigotes (Sales of dummies authorized) – The Dirección de Gestión de Riesgos (Department of Risk Management) of the Municipality announced that sales of End of Year dummies will be allowed at 16 to 20 sites in Cuenca from el 25/12 to 31/12. <I bet all you Democrats are going to buy every single Trump dummy and scatter his ashes all over town.> Groups of families and friends can gather to burn the dummies as long as they observe distancing and wear masks. At its last meeting, the Comité de Operaciones de Emergencia (COE) isssued a resolution prohibiting the sale of pirotecnia (fireworks – your word for the day) in public spaces. <I bet New Year will won’t look a whole lot different since I can’t believe that Ecuadorians would give up an opportunity to set off fireworks. Phooey on resolutions.> That decision was made to prevent accidents from the misuse of fireworks since treating those injuries could limit the capacity to treat Covid cases. The locations for monigote sales will be similar to last year with the exception of El Paraiso where ambulatory sales are not allowed for administrative reasons. Remember there is still an ordinance in effect that prohibits vehicular circulation after 23:00. <So you’d better burn that dummy within walking distance of home.>

Following protests, the city has lifted its ban on the sale of New Year’s Eve dummies. (El Mercurio)

Hospitales registran aumento de casos críticos de la COVID (Increase in critical cases of COVID in hospitals) – An average of 90% of the ICU beds for Covid patients are occupied at the IESS hospital. There are currently 27 critical patients, an increase from 21 at the beginning of the month. The Vicente Corral Moscoso hospital has 16 critical patients, up 2 from the beginning of the month. The Coordinador de Salud said that if the regional hospital can keep its ICU beds at 50-60%, they could plan for using some of the ICU beds for patients with other health problems.

Asaltantes entran en casa, someten y roban (Assailants enter home, subdue and steal) – Armed robbers robbed 2 houses yesterday. They entered a property in the Las Orquídeas sector when a taxi driver opened his garage gate to drive out and start his workday. He was surprised and subdued by at least 4 armed thieves who got into 2 houses, intimidated the occupants and took about $1000 in cash.

No vacunarán a los contagiados con el Covid-19 (Those infected with Covid-19 will not be vaccinated) – Juan Carlos Zevallos, ministro de Salud, said Ecuador approved the Pfizer-Biontech vaccine to be administered in 2021 with a plan to cover 60% of the population. The vaccination plan will be carried out in 3 phases. Groups of people who will not be vaccinated include those who have been infected with Covid, have compromised immune systems, are receiving treatment against cancer, have problems with blood clotting, who have had severe allergic reactions, and pregnant women or women who are planning on becoming pregnant within 3 months. Results from a study showed that one of every 3 people in the country have been infected so only 60% of the population or 9 million people, will be vaccinated

Zevallos said the vaccination process will be difficult since it requires a continuous cold storage chain. 9000 vaccination locations need to be created and a follow-up system implemented. The whole process will have 3 phases plus a pilot plan. In the experimental phase, or phase 0, 50,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be given in enero to front line workers treating Covid patients in sentinel hospitals, seniors living in geriatric centers, and geriatric center staff. Phase 1 will be between marzo y abril of 2021 and vaccinate health care workers not vaccinated in Phase 0, police, military, workers in strategic sectors, firefighters, garbage collectors <Or do I need to be politically correcter and use “sanitary engineers?”>, and vulnerable groups including the disabled and those over 55. Phases 2 & 3 will vaccinate the population over 18. Those under 18 will not be vaccinated since there isn’t enough clinical evidence on the safety, efficiency and tolerance to the vaccine by this group. <Sounds like Ecuador isn’t willing to risk its children and future on a fast track vaccine.>

Vaccination centers will be created in all public health centers and hospitals, the IESS dispensaries including Seguro Campesino, occupational medical offices in private companies, pharmacies, supermarkets, shopping centers and an all locations that can guarantee the cold chain.

El SRI suspende varios servicios (The SRI suspends several services) – The SRI will suspend their web page, web portal (www.sri.gob.ec), and electronic paperwork (Gob.ec) from 24/12 to 1/1/2021 for digital re-engineering. The SRI will move their data bases into a cutting edge information system. Contributors will still be attended to at the service window.

Mall del Río en Guayaquil ya está en funcionamiento (Mall del Río in Guayaquil is already in operation) – On 11/12, the Grupo Ortiz opened the ‘Mall del Río Guayaquil’ on av. Francisco de Orellana in the north part of the city. The 70,000 sq. meter center has 60 stores and is anchored by a 10,000 sq. m. Coral. There is a 12 screen muliplex theater with the latest audio and video, VIP salas and a 4D sala. <What is a 4D sala? They blast you into the past or the future?>

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. The text between the carrots, or guillemets (< … >), is Jeanne’s personal opinion and not part of the news translation.