Slow growth predicted for Ecuador’s economy; Cuenca air quality rated ‘good’; Vaccine eligibility to expand due to ‘absenteeism’; Geezers and high tech

Lunes, 21/6/2021

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

Del cuerpo del periodico –

Monserrath Astudillo estrena obra (Monserrath Astudillo premieres work) – Monserrath Astudillo is returning to the Teatro Casa de la Cutura with her new monologue, “¿Vieja yo o millennials ustedes?” (Old me or you millennials?) <I’d welcome a better translation than that if you can provide one.> Her show is about the necessity for past generations <That would be us geezers.> to adapt to digital media which has had repercussions during the pandemic. To her, this new era feels super accelerated and that has pros and cons, and sometimes this overwhelming need to be connected on social networks is too much. Her show will be el jueves a las 20:00. Tickets are $20.00 and can be bought at https//www.meet2go.com/ev/viejayoomillennialsustedescue.

Despite having one of the largest concentrations of cars in the country, a government environmental agency rated Cuenca’s air quality as ‘good.’

Explican cómo postular a fondos concursables (How to apply for competitive funds explained) – The call for applicants for competitive funds, “Ranti 2021” will open el próximo 9/7. A fund of $82,481.20, administered by the Dirección de Cultura del Municipio de Cuenca will be for artists, producers, cultural managers, and researchers with projects related to music and scenic arts, visual arts, audio production, design, crafts, and cultural activations in heritage houses. Go to bit.ly/3i-P0RDD. <I’mn not sure if the dash is part of the address or a line break. Also don’t know if the 0 is a zero or capitol O, but it looked more like zero.>

Otras cosas –

Titular – 57 vacunados VIP, en la mira (57 vaccinated VIP, in the crosshairs) – A definitive report from the Contraloría General del Estado (Comptroller) <The one who was working from a jail cell before he went into the hospital?> confirmed that in Phase 0 of the vaccinations, people who were not working in health services or living in geriatric centers received vaccines. Of the first 450 vaccines to arrive in Ecuador, 285 went to doctors and medical personnel in the Hospital Pablo Arturo Suárez and 63 to those in the hospital de los Valles. Of the remaining 102 doses, 33 went to residents and staff of the Riveras del Río Suites including the mother of the ex-ministro de Salud. 33 doses went to people having nothing to do with the Hospital de los Valles, 15 went to members of the Presidential Cabinet, and 18 to workers in the Presidential offices. Other vaccines went to 15 people over 80, but 9 of them did not live in a gerentological center. 294 doses went to the hospital Carlos Andrade Marín where people not on the front lines got vaccinated including a public relations person and an administrative technician. The Comptroller established that 57 people who didn’t meet the requirements for Phase 0 received vaccines, but since many of these were given on verbal orders, there aren’t records in many cases. There were attachments with recipients names, which are now in the hands of the Fiscalía General (AG) and MSP.

El aire de Cuenca es “bueno”, según recien análisis (Cuenca’s air is “good”, according to recent analysis) – The most recent report from the Instituto de Estudios de Régimen Seccional del Ecuador (IERSE – Studies of Sectional Regimen of Ecuador) <Does that title give you any idea whatsoever of what that institute does?)> which moniters air quality in Cuenca said that the air quality is “buena” in spite of Cuenca having on of the largest concentrations of cars in the country. EMOV (Empresa Municipal de Movilidad) estimated there were about 150,000 cars circulating in Cuenca. A 2017 study showed vehicles represented 57% of air contaminants followed by industry with 16%. Air quality improved during the health emergency due to restrictions on movement of vehicles with almost all types of emissions decreasing in the first month. <And here is your chemistry vocabulary for the day.> Monóxido de carbono y dióxido de azufre (Carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide) decreased by 26% and dióxido de nitrógeno (nitrogen dioxide) went down by 42%. What did not go down was particulate material because of ashfall in Cuenca from the eruption of the Sangay volcano. <What have I been saying about la Pachamama? She can screw up any plans we humans can make. Even when we’re doing good, she can make us look bad.> However, the air quality in 2021 is approaching pre-pandemic levels. Chester Sellers, director of the air quality analysis project, said that IERSE should think about how to control the number of cars, creation of new green spaces, and advancing alternative transportation.

Vía a Pasaje se acopla al comercio (Vía a Pasaje is liked with commerce) – About 31 km.of the vía Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje will be converted to a commercial space to reactivate the economy of Girón, especially for women of limited means. The city and Gobierno Provincial de Azuay provided 20 demountable booths to sell agricultural products, fruit, and local gastronomy. The metal booths, located along the state highway, have a small bodega and display shelves.

Lejana está la meta de crecimiento económico (Goal of economic growth is distant) – In spite of the Product Interno Bruto (PIB – GDP) showing the worst fall in its history in 2020 and decreasing by 7.8%, the FMI (IMF) predicted a growth of 4.8% in 2021 for Ecuador. This was later revised to 2.5% which coincides with the Banco Central projections. But according to experts, even the lower amount is still unreachable. According to the IMF, Ecuador is one of the economies in Latin America slowest to recover, only ahead of Venezuela. One expert said the country would take 4-5 years while the rest of the region will recuperate from the pandemic in only 2 years. Acccording to SRI data, tax collections have improved by 7% compared to 2020. To achieve 2.8% growth, tax collections should be $15 billion in 2021, or $7.5 billion in the first half of the year. However, only $5.563 billion has been collected. Based on what has been collected, the country could grow by 1.5%.

Verónica Sevilla, executive director of the Comité Empresarial Ecuatoriano (CEE), said that there are sectors that have reactivated in the first half of 2021. These are mainly related to non-petroleum exports such as bananas (up 10%), canned fish (up 20%), and shrimp (up 5%). Exports to the US grew by 20% and to the EU by 3%. The problem is internal in sectors such as tourism which brought in $1.5 billion in 2019, but which is still depressed due to lack of internal travel plus the confinement of abril y mayo.

Old news from viernes, 18/6/2021 –

Nuevo cronograma de vacunación (New vaccination schedule) – The Ministerio de Salud published the new vaccination schedule for the next 4 weeks in which people from 50-61 will be vaccinated. In the week of 21-27/6, people from 59-61 will be vaccinated, two days for each age with domingo for those that missed their days. It is suggested, but not obligatory, that people with cedulas ending in even numbers go on lunes, miércoles o viernes, and people with odd number endings go on martes, jueves, o sábado. In the same week, people from 40-45 years old with catastrophic illnesses or disabilities, can get vaccinated. The second dose of Pfizer or Sinovac will be given to people who got their first shots between 24-30/5. Get your 2nd dose of AstraZeneca if your first dose was given between 1-7/4.

From 28/6 to 4/7, people 56-58 will be vaccinated. The week of 5-11/7 is for people 53-55, and the week of 12-18/7 is for people aged 50-52. With that, Phase 2 of vaccinations ends.

Note the next article from Monday’s paper.

Vacunación: ampliarán rango de edad (Vaccination: age range will be expanded) – MSP data shows that the rate of absenteeism for getting vaccinations is reaching 30% <Must be all those gringo anti-vaxers not going to their appointments.>. Pres. Lasso instructed VP Borrero to increase the age ranges for vaccines given the no show rate and because there are no lines. <So I’m guessing as long as you’re an adult, if you want a vaccine you could just show up and get it. Better than throwing overheated vaccines away.>

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.