Six-million single-dose vaccines purchased; Land donated for new police facility; In-person graduations allowed; Chile re-considers same-sex marraige

Miércoles, 16/6/2021

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –
Nada.

Otras cosas –

Titular – Aprueban uso de CanSino (CanSino use approved) – The Agencia Nacional de Regulación, Control y Vigilancia Sanitaria (Arcsa) qualified the Chinese CanSino vaccine for use in Ecuador. The Government plans to acquire 6 million doses, 3 million in julio and 3 million in agosto, with the purchase financed by the Chinese government. Since the vaccine only needs one dose, 6 million citizens will be able to be fully vaccinated. <A side, side comment – have any of you noticed that your SuperMaxi receipts have your vaccination status printed on them?>

Phase 2 of the Plan de Vacunación 9/100 started yesterday so that people aged 64 to 50 will be vaccinated in descending order along with people with serious illnesses and disabilities. Hoy y mañana the vaccines will be given to 64 year olds. This week people with illnesses who are 45-50 years old will get their vaccines. Pregnant women also have a vaccination schedule so women who are more than 12 weeks along, are over 35, or have serious morbidities can get their jabs. Women without illnesses can be vaccinated after 20 weeks. All they need is a doctor’s certificate as to how far along the pregnancy is and any illnesses. Pregnant women also have to sign an agreement to be vaccinated. <For pregnant men, the staff will call Ecuador TV, CNN, and Fox news.> Women who are lactating will have to wait their turn according to their age.

In-person graduation ceremonies will be allowed for Cuenca high school graduates if biosecurity measures are observed.

Reemplazan el EAES por evaluación “Transforma” (EAES replaced by “Transforma” evaluation) – Ayer, the Secretary of Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología, e Innovación (Senescyt) announced that it is eliminating the Examen de Acceso a la Educación Superior (EAES) for admission to public universities or technological institutes. In its place will be a new evaluation process called “Transforma” which will measure high school graduates’ skills and abilities. “Transforma” will be on-line this year with computer labs set up for graduates without access to a computer or internet.

Graduation ceremonies for 12,013 Cuencano high school seniors will also be different. In person graduations will be allowed, with schools making the choice to hold virtual or in-person ceremonies. If in-person, the events need to be outside or in well ventilated spaces with room for social distancing. The maximum number of students in the ceremony will be 20, each of whom can bring 2 guests, and ceremonies are limited to 2 hours.

Sugieren acutalizar mapas de riesgos (Update of risk maps suggested) – 3 risk reduction researchers agreed on the need to update the 1998-2000 map of unstable soils in Cuenca. The issue has returned to public attention with the reactivation of the large slide in the ciudadela Jaime Roldós, last Sunday’s slide in San José del Balzay, and houses at risk of collapse in Sidcay. Geologist Marco Rivera explained that there are geological faults mostly affecting 10 of the 15 rural parishes. He said it was like a ring around the city which can’t be avoided since there are large masses of dirt. <All of it obeying the laws of gravity.> He said that in 1998, the Red Sísmica del Austro (RSA) made a map of the risks in Cuenca and identified 27 critical zones in both urban and rural parishes. The problems have been aggravated by construction of houses and bad wastewater management including septic tanks built without any technical considerations. <I sure wouldn’t want to live below a poorly located and badly built septic tank.>

Cristian Cabrera, a civil engineer, said that a good number of the risky sites have clay or sandy soils which lose strength and stability when wet; and when you add weight, you have a time bomb. Both engineers agreed that building in these zones should be prohibited.

Parque para carreras (Park for races) – The City of Cuenca is building the parque Eucaliptos on Los Laureles behind av. Ordóñez Lasso for model cars and racing them. The 12,000 sq. m. site is 50% finished with a 782 m. long track that will be the longest in the city. There is also a control tower for people who fly model airplanes, biosaludable games, 4 pergolas, children’s games, and rest zones <Will those be for the drunks to pass out in?>. The park should be finished in mid octubre.

Municipio dona predio para un nuevo UVC (Municipality donates land for a new UVC) – The City of Cuenca is ready to approve the the transfer of a property in the El Salado sector to the Ministerio de Gobierno to build a new Unidad de Vigilancia Comunitaria de la Policía Nacional. Councilman Xavier Barrera said that the action will allow the construction of the first of these units in Cuenca so it will have 300 more police in the future. The land has a value of $1,456,000 and the building will cost $8 million. The UVC will be a headquarters of the National Police with operational functions.

Retiran seguridad a los familiares de expresidentes (Security for family of former presidents removed) – After images of State security agents with ex. Pres. Moreno’s daughters on holiday in Europe were published, Pres. Lasso removed security for families of Presidents, VPs, and Government ministers and secretaries. Holders of Government positions and their families will receive security only if they fit a risk profile determined by the Casa Militar Presidencial.

Internacional –

Chile – Matrimonial igualitario (Equal marriage) – Ayer, Chile retook the discussion on a law that would allow equal marriage. If it is passed, it would become the 8th country in Latin America to ratify this social right, along with Argentina, Brasil, Colombia, México, Uruguay, Ecuador, y Costa Rica. The reactivation of the discussion came after Pres. Sebastían Piñera said the time has come to approve gay marriage.

Descuentos y compras –

Galo Tamahyo Tienda de Ciclismo – Fathers Day discounts of 5, 10, 15, 20, & 25% in the whole store – 17 & 18/6 – 03 251 2575, 099 753,5600, 099 885 1779.

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 (please don’t ask her for them). The text between the carrots, or guillemets (< … >), is Jeanne’s personal opinion and not part of the news translation.