Long-distance buses resuming service; Intensive care beds are maxed out; Public health centers reopen; Corruption suspect blames dead man

Martes, 14/7/2020

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –
De la pagina cultural –

138 años tiene primera biblioteca (first library is 138 years old) – The article is part of the bicentenial observation. The first public library in Azuay was started 59 years after Cuenca declared its independence. <if you’re interested, it’s on p. 5A of the print edition or try the on-line edition at www.elmercurio.com.ec.>

Otras cosas –

Titular – Volverían viajes hacia Guayaquil (Travel to Guayaquil returns) – Transport companies and authorities in Azuay are starting the process of resuming interprovincial bus service on the Cuenca-Machala and Cuenca-Guayaquil routes. The routes between Cuenca and Loja and Cuenca and Paute restarted ayer with the first bus leaving at 12:15 for Paute. Before boarding, passengers will need to disinfect their hands, wipe their feet, and use masks. Buses should run at 50% capacity to allow for distancing. The terminal also has signage such as círculos de vida (circles of life), informative signs, 5 ozone booths, and 7 handwashing stations, 3 of which are in the food court.

Elderly patients are escorted into a local hospital. (El Mercurio)

Transport resumed in Azogues y La Troncal – -Bus lines in the cantons of Azogues and La Troncal are the first to reopen in Cañar Province. The cooperatives in Azogues have been approved to go to Cuenca where they are waiting for final arrangements in the Terminal Terrestre de Cuenca. Buses from La Troncal are serving Guayas and El Oro. More cooperatives in other cantons are getting ready to restart soon.

Record for critical COVID patients broken – Yesterday, 44 critical patients were registered with only 41 ventilators adapted to treat COVID patients in the intensive care beds. Medical staff treated 3 patients with other support so that no one was left untreated. But this possibility could be getting closer if the citizenry does not take co-responsibility to control the pandemic. The public hospitals are working on getting another 12 ventilators.

In Zone 6, 4,328 cases have been registered since the beginning of the health emergency with 46% or 2,205 of the cases in Cuenca. During the last 4 weeks. the increase in critical patients has coincided with weekends. There have been 69 deaths in hospitals from COVID. At the Hogar Miguel León, there was an outbreak of COVID with 15 infections and at least 12 seniors suspected needing permanent medical care. There were 2 deaths at the facility last week. 4 of those patients along with 2 of their caregivers were taken to the Centro de Alto Rendimiento (sports training center) which has been adapted to care for intermediate cases. PCR tests were given to the seniors and children at the Hogar.

Reopening of health centers – Medisol has decided to reopen 3 of its medical offices with strict measures for bio-security. These are the Madre Teresa center in San Blas, the Center in the Mercado 12 de Abril and the dispensary in El Arenal.

Bus route changes – After el próximo lunes, 11 bus lines including the 5,8,10,14,15,18,22,24,26,29 & 100 will modify their routes. Line 12 changed yesterday when it incorporated line 4. The south end of the route starts at the stop next to the Súper Gran Akí in the Narancay sector. It passes the ciudadela Jacarandá, av. Gil Ramírez Dávalos and ends at the back of the Terminal Terrestre next to the transfer station. The bus serves the Mall del Río; U. del Azuay (UDA); the entrances to the El Valle parish and the Baguanchi sector; the José Carrasco Arteaga, IESS and Del Río hospitals; Quinta Chica; and the Parque Industrial. <Wow, that bus is going all over the place.> For the new routes go to the web page of the Municipio de Cuenca at www.cuenca.gob.ec or the social network sites fo the Cámara de Transporte de Cuenca (CTC).

Police methods – Police responded to citizen complaints as to why robbers got away in a pickup truck. Mario Castro, chief of the Subzona de Policía del Azuay answered that the police does not shoot for shootings sake during operations and they are all trained in capture procedures. The principal they work under is protection of life first and after that, watching over material objects. <So no problems with cowboy cops in Cuenca? And no deaths of apprehended people in custody?>

Daniel Salcedo – Daniel Salcedo, a key piece in the hospital corruption case, recovered enough to give his version of the case and is cooperating with the Prosecutor’s Office. He was asked about his flight to Perú in spite of the fact that an arrest warrant had been issued for him. He blamed the plane’s pilot who was the only one who was killed in the crash. He also said that he had not sold the government any medical supplies. He will also give his version on the charge of money laundering and embezzlement..

Rock from La Josefina – 3 cantons in Auzya are receiving rock for public works projects from La Josefina. The municipalities of Paute, El Pan y Sevilla e Oro will get about 70,000 m3 of material which is stockpiled in the La Estancia sector. The rock is coming from stabilization work on the Tamuga hill. <Glad to hear they’re not digging at the foot of La Josefina to cause a repeat of 1993 when the hill slid into the river, dammed it, and created the largest lake in Ecuador until it was drained.>

Internacional –

Brasil – Pres. Bolsonaro announced he would create a new party, Alianza por Brasil, in 2019 after he left the Partido Social Liberal. In order to create the party, 492,000 signatures needed to be gathered from voters in at least 9 of the 27 states. To date, about 16,000 signatures have been accepted by the Justicia Electoral and more than 25,000 have been rejected for abnormalities such as the signer being dead or non-existent. <More far right corruption.>

And that’s all for today so Hasta ? –

Jeanne