Cuenca-Quito flights resume; Local hospitals increase Covid-19 capacity; Latest virus stats; Prison break foiled; New ambulances on the way

Martes, 16/6/2020

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –
De la pagina cultural –

Fiesta de la Música – For the first time, this music festival produced by the Alianza Francesa will be virtual and will be a joint effort with other Alianza Francesas in Latin America and the Caribbean. The event will have 6 hours of concerts by 50 artists from the Cono Sur (Southern Cone <Look at a map of South America and what shape do you see?>) and 10 from France. The festival will be transmitted este domingo a las 3:00 on the Alianza Francesa de Cuenca’s facebook page, at “Fete de la musique 2020 Edition Amérique latine et Caraibes,”and the pages of the Alianza Francesas of the other organizing countries.

Otras cosas –

Titular – Aerolíneas deben a Corpac USD 190 mil (Airlines owe Corpac USD 190 thousand) – Flights into Cuenca from Quito resumed yesterday, but the 31 commercial spaces in the airport remain closed with 7 vacant. Rental contracts were suspended due to the pandemic, so that the Corporación Aeroportuaria de Cuenca (CORPAC – Cuenca Airport Corporation) is losing that income. The three airlines operating before the health emergency owe CORPAC $190,073.42 in airport taxes and commercial concessions. Latam, the only airline that has resumed service, owes $27,871.33. TAME, which is in liquidation, owes $46,744.15. <Where do airports fall in the pecking order for debt payoffs when airlines liquidate?> Aeroregional owes $115,457.94.

The IESS and public hospitals in Cuenca have increased their beds for Covid-19 patients. (El Mercurio)

98 passengers from Quito arrived on the first flight which returned to Quito with 96. All had to have their temperatures taken, the seating capacity was reduced, disinfectant dispensers are available, and protective screens were installed at the counters. <Checking in is going to feel like going to a bank, and flying is going to be more comfortable for a while with all those empty seats to stretch out on.>

Expansion of areas for COVID patients – The José Carrasco Arteaga IESS hospital put 5 new beds for COVID patients into service. A MSP spokesman said that the ventilators at the hospital were 85% occupied before the 5 new beds. He also insisted that citizens should take individual responsibility for their health including correct and constant use of a mask, avoiding gatherings of family or friends and only going out to shop when it is necessary. The Vicente Corral Moscoso hospital is also arranging an increase in ventilators. The regional hospital has transferred its outside consulting to the Centro de Salud No. 1 (Huayna Cápac 1-270) with hours desde 8:00 a 13:00, lunes a viernes. The specialties include gynecology, pediatric surgery, traumatology, oncology, psychiatry, infectology, internal medicine, and pediatrics. The hospital is contacting patients whose appointments were disrupted by the health emergency to schedule new appointments. If you don’t get a call about an appointment, you can reschedule one at http://hvcm.gob.ec/.

COVID statistics – The last report from the MSP said that Azuay reported 1,262 cases of which 1,098 are in Cuenca with 782 recovered. La Red Pública Integral de Salud (The Comprehensive Public Health Network) of Zone 6 reported 67 patients hospitalized with 37 critical and 30 stable. Azuay has 29 critical patients, Cañar 4, and Morona Santiago 4. It also reported 6,469 negative cases in Zone 6 with 4,387 in Azuay, 1,290 in Cañar and 792 in Morona Santiago. The number of deaths in the 3 provinces is 86 with the most in Azuay at 41.

Attempted escape at CRS Turi – 8 inmates tried to escape from the CRS in Turi yesterday afternoon. They broke bars, damaged doors, and used sheets to go up and down walls. They wound up close to the visitors’ parking lot in the prison. They were captured before they got out of the cárcel (jail/prison – your word for the day. <I hope you never have to make a call that starts out, “Estoy en el cárcel, pero puedo explicar.”>

New ambulances – The Cuerpo de Bomberos de Cuenca (Fire Department <Don’t ever call for the fire department in Spanish (bomberos) at a US airport.>) is in the process of getting 5 new type II 4×2 ambulances at a cost of $652,520.

And that’s all for today so Hasta ? –

Jeanne