Indigenous want England to return the ‘crown’; Post office reopens for deliveries; Covid stats; Feria Libre reopens; Man sentenced for bribery

Jueves, 25/6/2020

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –
De la pagina cultural –

Taller – The Cinco Sentidos Arte academy will hold a design workshop for children and teens starting 6/7 on Zoom. Go to the academy’s Facebook page or call 099 680 5102 to register. Cost: $35.00.

A curator at the Royal Collection Trust Museum in England examines the golden Kañari crown.

“Corona Kañari” – Indigenous peoples and organizations are demanding the return of the Kañari Crown which is in the Royal Collection Trust Museum in England. The crown was taken out of Sígsig in 1854 and given to Queen Victoria in 1962 (sic. I think they meant 1862.) by Pres. Gabriel Carcía Moreno for England’s protection of Ecuador. <From what or whom? I don’t know enough Ecuadorian history to say what the country needed protection from.>

Otras cosas –

Titular – Dos ferias libres quieren despegar (Two free fairs want to take off) – The feria libre at El Arenal, one of the largest in the country <Our trivia pursuit item for the day.>, reopened este miércoles with half the usual number of merchants and under strict biosecurity measures. Even at half, it is reviving the sector around which are stores of all types. Two merchants who came from Otavalo and Riobamba were interviewed and said that this is the first feria libre to open. One also sold at ferias in Ambato and Quito. The other side of the coin are the feria libres for used cars in Nulti. Even with with the biosecurity measures, there are few customers. The Vehiculos 12 de Abril is operating with only 30% of its dealers and is open lunes a sábado from 7-17:00. The “Feria de autos ciudad de Cuenca” is only seeing about 15% of normal traffic and is open from lunes a sábado from 8-17:00.

1 COVID death every 2 days – In the first month in yellow, the number of cases has almost doubled in Cuenca with 652 new cases in the last month. An official called citizens’ behavior as “exceso de confianza” (overconfidence – your word for the day). Police have fined people for not wearing masks and drinking in public spaces <although that’s not a new problem>, broken up parties and team sports, and nightlife centers.
During the last month, cases have gone from 679 to 1331, and the average of critically ill patients in ICU beds from 22 to 41 with all ICU beds are occupied on some days. Deaths in hospitals increased from 33 to 48 cases with 19% of them of people betweeen 50 & 64 years old an 11% between 20-49. According to tests done by the city, 3% of Cuencanos have had the disease leaving 97% or about 620,000 still at risk.

The feria libre next to El Arenal had reopened at 50% capacity. (El Mercurio)

Latest virus stats – On Thursday Ecuador said it has recorded 53,156 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 4,343 deaths. Azuay Province has 1,551 confirmed cases, 1,247 in Cuenca.

Día del paramédico – Wednesday was Paramedics Day, and paramedics celebrated by saving lives. Many of them have isolated themselves from their families since the start of the pandemic so as not to infect their loved ones. <This is definitely work you don’t want to bring home with you.>

Intrafamilial violence – Since the start of the health emergency, ECU 911 registered 985 cases of intrafamilial violence in Azuay and Cañar with 799 in Azuay and 729 in Cuenca. Of those 729 calls, 492 were intrafamilial violence in general, 145 for physical violence, 91 for psychological violence and 1 for sexual violence.

Intento de soborno – A man was sentenced to 1 year in prison and a fine of 4 basic salaries <which would be $1600 based on this year’s SBI> for attempting to bribe an EMOV agent (transit cop) in Cuenca. The legal process started in 2019 when the driver was parked on a sidewalk and tried to bribe the agent to avoid the sanction. This was captured on the bodycam. The infractor used his right to a conditional suspension of the sentence. The Criminal Guarantees Court established some conditions, which if not fulfilled, will result in the infractor completing his sentence at the CRS Turi. <The moral of this story is don’t try bribe a traffic cop, at least not one wearing a bodycam – this isn’t 1999 any more.>

Correos del Ecuador – The Post Office has reopened with biosecurity measures to deliver packages from outside the country. It is only delivering packages that the user has already paid for. For more information, go to servicioalcliente@correosdelecuador.gob.ec. If you want to make a claim for damage or missing items, you need to do it at the time you receive the package. <Maybe my Christmas present from my sister will finally get here after being stuck in Quito for months.>

And that´s all for today so Hasta ? –

Jeanne