Covid cases and deaths drop in Cuenca following lockdown; Lasso faces fuel protests; Water service restored in Victoria del Portete; Guayas earthquake

Lunes, 31/5/2021

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –
Nada.

Otras cosas –

Titular – El oro de Andrés Chocho lleva dedicatoria al cielo (Andrés Chocho’s gold bears a dedication to heaven) – Speedwalker Chocho won a gold medal in the 20,000 m. in the Campeonato Sudamericano Absoluto de Atlestismo in Guayaquil el sábado.

Bioseguridad debe seguir por más que se aplique vacunas (Biosecurity must continue no matter how many vaccines are applied) – According to data from the Proyecto Internacional Ciudadano (ICP) COVID-19, compliance with biosecurity measures in Cuenca until agosto, 2020 was high. Use of masks reached 97%, social distancing was around 92%, disinfecting hands was over 91%, and avoiding social gatherings exceeded 90%, but by febrero of 2021, it had fallen at least 20%. This was partly due to a false sense of security caused by the arrival of vaccines and changes in the health stoplight system. <Or how about everybody just getting tired of this thing on your face, measuring distances all the time, and chapped hands?>

In the case of Cuenca, there was better control of use of public space, but starting el 12 de septiembre, there was more mobility and contact between people. Additionally, there were several holidays from septiembre and other events such as elections which caused a 20-40% increase in cases. The lockdown on weekends between 23/4 and 21/5 reduced the number of contagions by 60%. In Azuay, between 5-26/4, 588 new cases were reported. At the end of the state of emergency, the number of registered cases fell to 267. The number of deaths went from 37 to 6 per week.

Cuenca pilots Alfredo Cordero and his Gregory Cordero, flew a 6 seater Cessna 206 Stationair from Miami to the Mariscal La Mar Airport in 15 hours, landing on Saturday. (El Mercurio)

Volar 15 horas desde los EE.UU. hasta Cuenca, sueño cumplido (Flying 15 hours from the US to Cuenca, dream come true) – <I bet most of you gringos who travel from the US to Cuenca would consider a 15 hour journey a dream come true, too.> 69 year old Alfredo Cordero and his 28 year old nephew, Gregory Cordero, flew a 6 seater Cessna 206 Stationair from Miami to the Mariscal La Mar Airport. Flying is in the family’s blood with Gregory currently working for American Airlines in the US, and another uncle the owner of the Cessna. His great-uncle was a well known Cuencano pilot who died in an air accident. <I bet he preferred that to dying in a hospital connected to tubes and hoses.> The pilots’ route took them to Jamaica, then Panamá, Esmeraldas, Guayaquil and finally Cuenca, with most of their trip over water.

Vuelven a tener agua en Victoria del Portete (They have water again in Victoria del Portete) – There was a minga last weekend to restore potable water to the Tarqui-Victoria del Portete community water system. Participants included water users, personnel assigned by the Municipio de Girón, and workers from the parish junta. The flooding from the río Irquis last 15/5 destroyed the catchment and water mains that served 2,000 families. Because the damage was in the hills in areas inaccessible to machinery, all the work was done by hand. The water is still turbid since it is carrying a lot of mud from slides. These emergency repairs will need to be studied to see what permanent repairs will need to be done to prevent future water shut-offs.

USD 53.000 llevan de un comercio en San Blas (USD 53,000 taken from a business in San Blas) – Around 13:50 last sábado, a computer store in San Blas was robbed by 3 antisocials who overcame the victims with un arma de fuego (firearm – your word for the day), tied the owners up, and took portable computers and phones. The loss amounted to $53,000. They also took a pickup truck which was abandoned in the Totoracocha sector.

En ocho días, Lasso marcó “hitos” claves (In eight days, Lasso marked key “milestones”) – Various analysts have seen Lasso’s first 8 days in office as positive. He repealed the Ley de Comunicacion, made changes in the Secretaría de Educación superior (Senescyt) so students can pick their professions, and removed 1.7 million people from the credit registry (central de riesgos – a credit rating agency?) who owed less than $1,000, and started his vaccination plan. However he could face indigenous protests el 11/6 led by Leonidas Iza, president of the Movimiento Indígena de Cotopaxi (MICC) over the increase in fuel prices.

Sismo de 3.57 grados se registró en Guayas (3.57-degree earthquake in Guayas) – A 3.57 quake occured in Guayas at 6:42 ayer. There is no information about victims or material damage from the quake which was at a depth of 7.66 km nad 17.97km from Pedro Carbo in Guayas.

Noticias viejas –

From sábado, 29/5 –
Gobernador plantea 4 ejes de trabajo (Governor proposes 4 lines of work) – The newly appointed governor of Azuay, Esteban Bernal, will concentrate on 4 areas during his term: vaccinations, security, environment, and roads. He also wants to improve the Registro Civil and make paperwork easier for the more than 15,000 North American citizens residing in Cuenca. He is going to work with the US Government to create a consulate in Cuenca. <That would be so nice. No more driving to Guayaquil or waiting for the periodic visit to Cuenca.>

Internacional –

Descubren restos de centenares de niños indígenas en escuela (Remains of hundreds of indigenous children discovered in school) – Remains of 215 children were found at an old school residence in Kamloops, 350 km. northeast of Vancouver, Canada, where they were forcibly interned for almost 80 years. They were found with ground penetrating radar and the discovery confirmed oral histories about various generations of children who had disappeared in the area. <Kind of like the Magdalene laundries in Ireland – abusing people for their own good?>

And that’s all for today so hasta ? –

Jeanne