Cuenca confined, Beer company makes antibacterial gel, Curfew violators busted, Zoo animals need help, Air quality improves

Miércoles, 25/3/2020

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –
De la pagina cultural –

On-line festival – The CCE is transmitting the “Festival Arte Desde Casa” live during this health emergency. Much of it is aimed at children with puppet making, games, yoga classes, and reading childrens’ books. Musician Javier Calle inaugurated the festival by reading “La Caperucita Roja y El Lobo” (Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf) and “Cuentos en verso para niños perversos” (Revolting Rhymes) by Roald Dahl. Eventually there will be dance classes for seniors. The festival is on the Casa de la Cultura’s Facebook and Instagram sites at 9:00 and at 19:00.

Otras cosas –

Titular – Cuenca se ‘confina’ (Cuenca is ‘confined’) – Tuesday, the local Comité de Operaciones de Emergencia (COE) approved closing all of the land accesses to Cuenca to people and vehicles from other cantons and provinces. Only vehicles and people working in strategic sectors – the media, health sector, financial institutions or in the supply chain of food and medicine – will be allowed in and out. People in those groups will need to provide a salvoconducto to move in and out of Cuenca and show that their trip is strictly necessary. Paperwork for the salvoconductos can be done on line at www.gob.ec.
The controls will be in effect until further notice at all access points to Cuenca including secondary routes such as the Panamericana Norte and Soldados-Chaucha. <That route skirts the Cajas and I think it’s a dirt road – you’d have to be desperate and ready to sacrifice your car to use it.> The Zone 6 health coordinator said it is important to maintain the epidemiological confinement to contain the virus in Guayas. She said there are people from Azuay who work in Guayas and vice versa and eventually one of them will get the virus.

Cultural and information program are available online during the health emergency.

Bureaucracy problems kept test kits from getting to the clinica Santa Inés even though 1,500 were imported at the beginning of the week. Besides Santa Inés, the lab at the Instituto Nacional de Investigación de la Salud Pública (INSPI) is doing 100 tests a day, but for 6 provinces. The Health coordinator said they are readying the application of tests through a screening which will cover the majority of the population so they can establish the most effective epidemiological containments. The Ministerio de Salud Público has bought tests, medical equipment and supplies, and other supplies.

Infectious waste – EMAC EP (garbage company) will comply with the National COE resolution to separate waste from people in quarantine with symptoms and those in quarantine for a confirmed infection. There are three levels of waste, each treated differently. Level One is from people in quarantine. They need to coordinate with COE depending on where they’re staying – at home or in a hotel. Both food waste and cleaning product waste should be collected in a way that differentiates it from other garbage. <Wrap it in yellow peligro tape?> It should be double bagged, and double knotted.

Level Two is for health establishments attending, temporarily or initially, to people who are showing symptoms. The garbage should be disinfected with 5% hipoclorito de sodio (sodium hypochlorite) and the garbage should be differentiated from other garbage.
Level Three is for waste from patients confirmed with coronavirus. It is treated like Level Two waste. Level 2 & 3 waste is collected by special trucks.

Masks and gloves used in houses should go into black bags and not red infectious waste bags so as not to overwhelm the sterilization plant in Pichacay. A infectious waste specialist recommended a light fumigation of garbage bags with bleach and water before they are collected. <We really don’t want the garbage collectors to get sick.>

On-line campaign to fight the virus – Go to the Facebook page for the Consejo Cantonal de Salud de Cuenca for information on the “Juntos podemos contra el voronavirus.” The campaign is spreading the information directly at strategic points in the city where people collect, principally the mercados. It includes protective measures people can take to prevent contagion and guides on how to conduct various administrative processes on line.

At the Parque Industrial, only food processing factories are at work. Normally there are 130 different industries there, but they opted to suspend rather than reduce or modify their operations so only 5 food companies are left. Still working are Lácteos de San Antonio (Nutrileche), Embutidos La Italiana, Corporación Azende (which makes antibacterial liquids), Mopalex (pastas), Pastificio Nilo (noodles), y Cartopel (cardboard boxes for other companies).

Cervecería Nacional – The beer company is making alcohol and will donate it to the Gobierno Nacional to make 55,000 units of antibacterial gel in 240 & 500 ml. bottles to be given to the most vulnerable communities in Ecuador.

Food donations – 13,500 food packages from MIES and 2,000 from the Prefectura were delivered to vulnerable people. You can make $5.00 or larger donations to this effort at www.inclusion.gob.ec.

Nature is recuperating – Measurements taken by EMOV and ETAPA show both air and water quality have improved in Cuenca since the travel restrictions. <No buses, especially those smog belching blue buses.> Vehicles in the Cajas have dropped from 3,000 to 250 per day. Air quality dipped slighly Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning due to emissions from the Sangay volcano.

Toque de queda violations – Last lunes, police arrested 7 young people who were playing pool and drinking after curfew in a space next to a tienda that had been adapted for pool. The tienda was also closed for not having a permit to operate.

Zoo animals – The owner of the Yurak Allpa zoo in Tarqui parish said he was worried about the 400 animals he is sheltering. He needs food such as corn, wheat, grains in general, balanceados (balanced feed), meat, fish and more. If you can donate, call 098565 2133 and refuge workers will collect the donation.

And that’s all for today so Hasta ? and stay healthy –

Jeanne