Experts say children should return to class; Azuay ranks high in Covid positives; High UV warning in the sierra; Local restaurant wins Latin American honor

Martes, 15/12/2020

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –
De la pagina cultural –

Festival apunta a recuperar los villancicos tradicionales (Festival aims to recover traditional Christmas carols) – Singer Diego Zamora, Embajador Turístico del Ecuador, is organizing the Festival Online de Villancicos NaviDIZA to preserve traditional Christmas carols. Those who know or remember carols sung by previous generations and want to participate can learn more about and send videos to the social networks of Corporación Cultural Diego Zamora DIZA until el jueves, 17/12 a las 23:59. The videos should be horizontal, in MP4 or MOV format with 1080 pixel resolution or good quality.

Libro reseña virtudes de un líder (Book reviews virtues of a leader) – David Lamka, a Swede who has been living in Argentina, Chile and Ecuador has written a book called “Las 5 virtudes del Líder Transformacional” (The 5 virtues of a transformational leader).

Otras cosas –

Titular – Hay temor por volver a aulas (Fear of returning to classrooms) – Parents worry about their children returning to classrooms. One mother with 3 school aged children filled out a survey asking if she wanted her children to go back to class with “no.” Currently, the Ministerio de Educación is waiting for the 12,500 school campuses to submit protocols for teachers to return starting in enero, but with no fixed date for the return of students. Two experts, an epidemiologist and a doctor/ researcher/ teacher, agreed that world statistics showed the level of contagion in children is low and often symptomless. They talked about factors beyond spreading Covid including students dropping out of school and the decrease in the quality of education. There are also cases of violence and mistreatment of children and they are worried about the children’s mental health and stresses in the family. <You’ve all seen the jokes about home schooling where a parent’s main teaching aid is a bottle of vodka.> They also talked about motor skills and social development that children are not receiving since they are not in school.

Azuay ranks fifth in the country in number of cases per 100,000 population, with 1,436. Pichincha is first with 2,239. (El Mercurio)

Protocols discussed were reducing class sizes from the 35-50 students commonly seen before Covid. One said that there needs to be a cultural change. He pointed out that Asian countries have prioritized discipline in students while in Ecuador it is unknown if kids will take off their masks and exchange them or comply with protocols. <I bet the kids at the escuelita I helped at would add disinfection of their desks and chairs to their normal tasks of mopping the classroom and patio floors. I don’t know how well they’d social distance, though.>

Incidencia del COVID en Azuay es alta (High incidence of COVID in Azuay) – Azuay is 5th in the number of cases per 100,000 population with 1,436 cases behind Pichincha with 2,239, Pastaza – 2,067, Carchi – 1,818, y Morona Santiago con 1,741. Azuay is 4th in the total number of cases with 12,670, behind Pichincha with 72,305, Guayas con 26,080, y Manabí con 14,061 since the start of the health emergency. There is a decrease in positive results with the PCR test with 25% testing positive. Testing has increased in Azuay which is the province with the 3d most tests given. The low demand for ICU beds was maintained through last weekend in the Zone 6 (Azuay, Cañar y Morona Santiago) public hospitals.

Medicina llega a un total de 92 dispensarios del Seguro Social (Medicine reaches a total of 92 Social Security dispensaries) – Medicines, medical supplies, orthodontic biomaterials, and paper goods were delivered to 92 dispensaries in Zone 6. In 2020, the dispensaries visited 10,367 households to bring medicines, medical attention, training talks, and heath promotion. The coordinator of the Seguro Social Campesino commented that they delivered the medicines with the most demand to prevent a shortage. 55,319 patients are served by the IESS warehouses

Alerta por la alta radiación solar en Azuay (High solar radiation alert in Azuay) – In Azuay and the inter-andean areas of Ecuador, there will be high levels of UV radiation for at least the next 7 days. The cantons with the highest intensity will be Camilo Ponce Enríquez, Pucará, and Santa Isabel, specifically where they border Guayas. Recommendations by Inamhi (Instituto Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología) are to avoid direct exposure to the sun; use long sleeved clothing; avoid clothing in dark colors; and use sun screen, a hat or cap, and sunglasses. Inamhi predicts temperatures reaching 23 C., mostly between 11:00 & 14:30. Through the end of the month, temperatures will drop considerably at night due to masses of cold air from the south of the continent. This will also cause strong rains in some areas of Azuay, Cañar, Loja, Morona Santiago, and Zamora Chinchipe.

Fabricio Moscoso, a dermatologist, said that Quito, Loja and Cuenca have the highest number of skin cancer cases. It’s the 3d most common type of cancer in men and the 5th most common in women. SOLCA reports that there are 650 new cases of skin cancer in the country each year with most patients dying. <So here’s that boring annual warning – you fair skinned gringos who turn red at the drop of a hat (literally) need to heed this advice. And ladies of tercera edad, remember your hair is a lot thinner than it used to be and less protection against the sun than you’d like to think.>

Compañia retoma nombre (Company retakes name) – The provincial government has retaken the name “AgroAzuay” for the mixed purpose company which was called “AgroKawsay” during Yaku Pérez’s administration.

‘Dos Sucres’ parte de “El Espíritu de Latinoamérica” (‘Dos Sucres’ part of “The Spirit of Latin America”) – The “Dos Sucres” restaurant is part of “El espíritu de América Latina,” organized by The World’s 50 Best Restaurant. These restaurants are those that have generated a positive impact in Latin American cities. Chef / owner Daniel Contreras works directly with local producers and has a sales area for the Asociación de Agroproductores de Yanuncay. His menu uses local agro-ecological products and changes with the seasons and what the growers he works with have produced.

Descuentos y compras –

Tia – for every $10 in purchases receive a raffle ticket for a turkey dinner (500 to be raffled) – discounts up to 50% on selected items with purchase conditions.

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.