Mercado closed by Covid cases; Taxis are allowed to circulate on Sunday; Covid statistics

Jueves, 4/6/2020

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –
De la pagina cultural –

Virtual foto exhibit – The Alianza Francesa presented a foto exhibit titled “El viaje fantástico desde tu casa” on its Facebook page today. It’s composed of 20 fotos selected from 150 submitted. Photographers submitted a photo that recreated either a real or fictitious trip from their houses. The fotos reflect what people are doing during the lock down. <I wonder if there were fotos of boxes full of empty wine and liquor bottles?>

Otras cosas –

Titular – Redada contra la corrrupción (Anti-corruption raid) – Ex-President Abdalá Bucaram was arrested for corruption. <He was known as El Loco while he was in office – Google Abadalá Bucaram y los Iracundos and Jailhouse Rock. Even Trump has never put on a show like that.> See today’s article in CHL for the story.

Mercado closed – The Mercado Nueve de Octubre will be closed until el lunes due to 2 cases of COVID-19. The city will immediately disinfect 150 stalls of which 50% are occupied as a preventive measure. The MSP is also contact tracing to determine the epidemiological enclosure. Minor children, seniors and pregnant women are absolutely prohibited from entering the market. You must also wear a mask to go into the market and it is recommended you carry your own gel or alcohol. <A guard stopped a friend from entering the 27 de febrero mercado. So she went to the diez instead.>

City taxis are can now operate on Sundays.

Green light – Tattoo parlors, bookstores, artists who do not require an audience for their activities, and taxis received a green light from the national COE to reopen. Taxis and mixtos can circulate on los domingos regardless of the number of their license plate. The president of UTA (Unión de Taxistas del Azuay) said that calls for taxis through the Azutaxi app have increased from 4,000 to 6,000 daily. He also said moto delivery services and giving vehicles salvoconductos should be regulated since these activities can cover up piracy. <Spelled “competition.”>

COVID statistics – The MSP reported 30 new cases of coronavirus in Azuay since Tuesday, 29 of them in Cuenca which has registered a total of 796 patients of whom 418 have recovered. Girón has had 4 cases all of whom were discharged last week. Other cantons with open cases include Camilo Ponce Enríquez with 38 and 10 recovered; Paute with 35 and 5 discharges; Gualaceo with 21 and 9, Santa Isabel with 14 and 9; Sígsig with 10 and 4; and Pucará with one confirmed case.

Tax payments – About 97,000 people have until 30/6 to pay the Patente Municipal tax which applies to natural or legal persons and national or foreign corporations headquartered or with establishments in Cuenca. Income from commercial, industrial, financial, real estate and professional activities is taxable. All you need to pay is your cedula and you can pay at the Tesorería Municipal (Sucre y Benigno Malo); JEP, Provida, Erco, La Merced y Caja cooperativas; the offices of Farmasol and ETAPA; or el Banco del Austro.

Cedulas – The Registro Civil has reopened services for cedulación on line. Get an appointment from their web page: virtual.registrocivil.gob.ec and select: Agendamientos de turnos (Appointment scheduling). Then answer the questions, select the agency with which you want to schedule your appointment, pick and time and day and your appointment will be sent via text or email. You do not need to print it out. Foreigners can also get cedula services at the agency in the parque Luis Cordero. You need to present a current order for cedulación issued by the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Movilidad Humana, your passport, visa and proof of payment.

Food for animals campaign – The Bioparque Amaru zoo has a new campaign to raise funds to feed its animals and pay staff. You can buy memberships at different levels. The membresía salvaje costs $40 for one person and gives you unlimited visits to the zoo for a year. Aventureros costs $60 for 2 people, and the manada costs $80 and allows unlimited visits for 4 people for a year. The embajador level costs $350 for one person and allows unlimited life time visits. The zoo also takes donations at their web site: www.zoo-bioparqueamaru.com which has a link to donate. You can also volunteer. <Shoveling shit comes to mind.> The zoo needs vegetables and fruit such as yuca, camote, spinach, chard, cabbage, avocados, plátano, peaches, papaya, pear, watermelon, melon and choclo. As an example, feeding the Amazonian tapirs costs $200/wk and they eat cauliflower, tomatoes, potatoes, apples, pears, yuca and more. <All of that sounds a lot healthier than most peoples’ diets.>

Study on elderly – A study done at the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona revealed that the elderly (over 65) in Latin America were less protected against the coronavirus in their residences than the elderly in Spain. The study used Colombia and Argentina as typical for the continent and found that 51% of Colombianos, 35% of argentinos and only 19% of españoles were not adequately protected from the virus in their homes. South American elderly were less likely to live alone and worked or lived with younger people who could not telework. At most risk were elderly who lived in overcrowded conditions and without public water service. The study found that 67% of Colombian elderly shared their home, and only 38% lived in homes where no one worked. 15% lived in overcrowded conditions without running water. In Argentina, 54% shared their home with 5% in overcrowded conditions without running water. <So did that less protection translate to more infections? And how did that all compare with protection in nursing homes?>

And that´s all for today so Hasta ? –

Jeanne