IESS health system could go broke; How to get vaccination certificates; High UV warning continues through July; Suicides up 15%; Cuenca cultural tours

Jueves, 8/7/2021

Hola, Todos –
Lo siento. I finished writing this around 10 Thusday night and I forgot to send it. So better late than never.

Actividades –

De la pagina cultural –

Programa de formación (Training program) – The Asociación Nacional de Diseñadores Escénicos de Chile and the Museo de Arte Moderno de Cuenca will have a regional training program in set design from agosto, 2021 to abril, 2022. <Not for dilettantes.> Get more information at https://bit.ly/3ACM2La, or send your resume to disenoescenico.formacionreg@gmail.com.

Recorridos culturales (Cultural tours) – The Dirección de Cultura del Municipio de Cuenca will have cultural tours on los sábados de julio to 3 different sites: the Planetario, the Museo Municipal Remigio Crespo and the ex Excuela Central. The 1st tour will be el 10/7 a las 10:00 and meet at av. Florencia Astudillo y calle Federico Malo. If you’re interested sent an email to jfserrano@cuenca. Spaces are limited. <If that email doesn’t work, try jfserrano@cuenca.gob.ec.>

Taller de manualidad (Craft workshop) – The Centro Cultural Municipal de el Cebollar has organized a free craft workshop for youth and adults related to windmills. It will be from el 12-23/7 a las 14:00. If interested, send an email to criera@cuenca.gob.ec. Limited spaces.

The IESS board of directors says the health system could run out of money within a month although the government says it plans an intervention.

Titular – Jóvenes prefieren medicina y derecho (Young people prefer medicine and law) – <Is it young people or their parents who prefer medicine and law?> In 2020, public universities and technical institutes offered 343 carerras (majors) but 60% of the 393,276 applications to higher education, were concentrated on 15 academic programs considered traditional including medicine, architecture, business administration and law. However, this concentration does not fill the needs of the country for graduates in other fields and professions.

Cuenca –

Control en tres vías pasará a la EMOV (Control of 3 roads will go to EMOV) – The av. Enrique Arízaga Toral, known as the autopista Medio Ejido; the Panamericana Sur where the vía Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje starts; and the Circunvalación Sur will be controlled by the Empresa de Movilidad (EMOV EP). These 3 roads are in the urban zone of Cuenca, but are part of the federal road system and therefore are the responsibility of the Comisión de Tránsito de Ecuador (CTE). The current and previous adminstrations of Cuenca asked the Ministerio de Transporte y Obras Públicas (MTOP) and the Agencia Nacional de Tránsito (ANT) to take control of those roads. Now this will finally happen.

Alta intensidad de rayos solares (High intensity of solar rays) – There will be high levels of ultraviolet radiation at least until the end of the month. The UV radiation index is predicted to reach 13-16 which is considered extremely high. You can see the index on the solmáforos installed in the city. When the light is green, the radiation is low with no risks. An intense green means use sunglasses and sunscreen. At yellow, you need to add a sombrilla (parasol, umbrella). When the light is orange you should cover your whole body <a hazmat suit would do double duty against the sun and Covid>; and at red, you should look for shade. When it’s purple, the sunlight is extreme and it’s better to stay inside <but in a well ventilated space to protect against Covid as well. So there you sit, sweltering in your space suit and sunglasses, and dripping sunscreen, but protected against both skin cancer and Covid. Is it worth it?>.

Dos opciones para obtener certificados de la vacunación (Two options for obtaining vaccination certificates) – Ximena Garzón, minister of Health, explained that Covid vaccine certificates should arrive in your email since you are registered the minute you receive the vaccine. If that doesn’t happen, the Ministerio de Salud has an option on their web page where you can download your certificate with a QR code. Go to sgrdacaa-admision.msp.gob.ec/hcue/paciente/certificadovacuna/public/index which will ask you to fill in your cédula, passport, visa or refugee card, and date of birth to get your certificate. If you were vaccinated outside of the country and are not in system, or vaccinated during the previous Gobierno, you can go to lugarvacunacion.cne.gob.ec to register your vaccination. If none of this works, call 171 <or have your facilitator do it> and report the problem. Provide your name, the brand of the vaccine, and the dates you received the doses. This will allow the MSP to have the data to show the percentage of the population that is vaccinated. <And will keep the vaccination brigades from showing up at your door.>

Sucesos –

Crecen suicidos en el país (Suicides grow in the country) – Suicides and suicide attempts have grown by 15% over the past year. According to ECU 911 data, citizens frequently call for help for others at risk of suicide. From enero to junio, 2021, ECU 911 has avoided 357 suicides nationally, thanks to the actions of first responders, monitoring of unusual actions on bridges or buildings, and the actions of “verbalización” by special units. From enero to junio, there were 194 emergency calls related to suicides which is worrying because that is a 37% increase over 2020. The provinces with the largest increase in calls were Guayas (28% – 55 reports), Azuay (20% – 19), El Oro (10% – 7), and Tungurahua (6% – 11).

Region –

Proyecto hidroeléctricoSantiago (Santiago hydroelectric project) – Studies and designs for the Santiago hydroelectric plant in the cantons of Tiwintza, Limón-Indanza y Santiago de Méndez in Morona Santiago province were presented ayer in Quito. The plant will be the largest in Ecuador, with an installed power of 3,649.2 megawatts, and a production of 15,154 gigawatts per hour. It will be built in 2 phases, the first of which will start operation in 2027.

Nacional –

Gobierno presenta su política petrolera (Government presents its oil policy) – With Executive Degree 95, Pres. Lasso established the first guidelines in his hydrocarbon policy. The general goals are to double oil production, improve income, change contracts in this area, and create a fund to solve social problems. <Sound a little like back to the future when Correa used oil money to fund social improvements?> In Lasso’s plan, the private sector will play an important role. Lasso pointed out that as the world evolves, it will stop using fossil fuels so that it’s necessary to accelerate the extraction of the crude the country has. <Making hay while the sun shines?> He wants to attract foreign investment including companies that left the country during Correa’s administration. He also wants to open new fields to the private sector and sell state owned gas stations.

Fondo de Salud del IESS casi sin recursos, advierte delegado (Delegate warns IESS Health Fund almost without resources,) – César Rodríguez, an employers delegate, warned the IESS board of directors that the Health Fund of the IESS has enough money for only one more month. According to Rodríguez, the cause of the crisis is that the Government has not paid for health services for retirees or for patients with catastrophic illnesses. In addition were the unexpected expenses due to Covid. He, along with ex-officials of IESS, pointed out that IESS provided services without funding such as medical care for children of affiliates. The State owes the IESS health fund over $5 billion.

And that´s all for today so Hasta ? –

Jeanne