Coronavirus in Ecuador

Herd immunity for Ecuador.

Presidente Lasso expects La República to achieve "what the experts call herd immunity" by the end of next month (February 2022) when he now expects 85 percent of the public over age 5 will be fully vaccinated.

El Presidente says Ecuador is in the top ten nations worldwide in its vaccination efforts.

Source... www.cuencahighlife.com

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Top officials test positive.

Vice President Alfredo Borrero and the head of Ecuador's national emergency committee, the COE -- Juan Zapata -- have tested positive for coronavirus.  The governor of El Oro province also tested positive.

All three men are vaccinated and have had mild symptoms.

Presidente Lasso is working virtually for a few days as a precaution.  He has canceled a trip to a town where cave-ins at illegal mines had recently occurred.

Source... www.cuencahighlife.com

U.S. Embassy resumes services for Expats.

The U.S. Embassy in Quito has announced that it has resumed servicing requests by visitors to Ecuador and U.S. Expats living in La República, following months of Embassy-services shutdown due to The Situation.

The Embassy and the U.S. Consulate in Guayaquil are also resuming visa services for Ecuadorians seeking visas for use in the States.

Health requirements for Embassy visits now include a vaccination certification or an exemption document.

cccmedia

Dilemma in Guayaquil.

Guayaquil's mayor says the city is in covid-emergency status with five more deaths daily since New Year's.

However, Ecuador's emergency committee (COE) has decided not to declare another national emergency .. and Presidente Lasso said this week that he will not issue another emergency declaration.

So the nightly curfews and travel restrictions that Big G's mayor, Cynthia Viteri, wants in order to slow an omicron/covid spread .. apparently are off the table this month.

Nationwide, there has not been any significant increase in covid deaths, according to health minister Ximena Garzón.

There has been a large increase in the number of positive covid tests in Guayaquil since New Year's, largely attributable to a ten-fold increase in the number of covid tests given, according to a former health ministry official.

Source... www.cuencahighlife.com

Despite the Omicron spread....

Ecuador's death rate from covid is at its lowest rate of the pandemic era.

That rate was measured at 1.6 people of every 1,000 covid-positive people in Ecuador during the first two weeks of 2022.  That's down from 43 per 1,000 last April (2021), and is the lowest death rate during the nearly two years of The Situation.

Widespread vaccinations are credited with the decline in covid deaths.  Eighty percent of Ecuador's population has been vaccinated, according to the health ministry, with almost 90 percent vaxxed in Quito and Cuenca.

Source... www.cuencahighlife.com

Emergency committees order restrictions.

On Sunday (Jan. 16, 2022), the national COE met and voted to suspend face-to-face classes at Ecuador public and private schools for at least a week.

Later on Sunday, the Cuenca COE reduced capacity to 30 percent for various restaurants, businesses and nighttime venues.  These restrictions are in effect for 15 days.

The moves were prompted by what the national health ministry calls an "explosive" increase in omicron cases.

Details at www.cuencahighlife.com

PCR tests no longer required.

Ecuador is no longer requiring negative PCR test results in order to enter the country.

According to the national emergency board or COE, the sole requirement is now a card showing that a traveler has been fully vaccinated.

Source...www.cuencahighlife.com

Famous doctor congratulates Ecuador for its anti-virus efforts.

Dr. Fauci video-conferenced with Alfredo Borrero, Ecuadorian vice president, and congratulated Ecuador for its superior vaccination numbers.

90 percent in Ecuador have received a covid vaccination .. and 84 percent have received two shots.

Dr. Anthony Fauci is Chief Medical Advisor to the President of the United States.

Source.... www.cuencahighlife.com

Wow! I din't know that! Thanks for sharing! Here's the article on the Vicepresident office website:
https://www.vicepresidencia.gob.ec/dr-a … acunacion/
BTW, I got my booster shot yesterday. A few days ago a shipment of 1.4 million Pfizer doses arrived as a donation from Spain, so yesterday (I went to colegio San José in GYE) and today (I checked again in City Mall, GYE) they're using Pfizer as a booster shot for everyone... while supplies last.

Indoor venues move to 100 percent capacity.

The government of Ecuador announced on Friday that stores, restaurants and most other indoor venues may accommodate the public by operating at 100 percent capacity.  Sporting events may also operate at full capacity.

The health ministry expects that the government's masking and social-distancing recommendation can be eliminated within a few weeks .. based on high vaccination rates.  At least 85 percent of the public has been fully vaccinated in Ecuador.

Source... www.cuencahighlife.com

Quito venues drop vaccine-certificate requirements.

Presidente Lasso announced on Friday that the national government has dropped its guidance to businesses nationwide that vaccine-certificates of patrons be checked at entrances to commercial enterprises.  However, individual businesses have the option to require certificates be presented at the door.

Here in the capital, some businesses in El Centro -- for instance, Banco Guayaquil and the El Comisariato supermarket -- had dropped their vax-certificate requirement as of late this past week (today is Saturday, March 19, 2022).

cccmedia in Quito

I just wanted to add that the government only reached these decisions after having confirmed a sharp drop in hospitalizations two weeks AFTER the Carnival holiday. Some people were expecting things to get worse after that holiday, but that didn't happen. So, if that crazy movement of people didn't make things worse, removing restrictions seems like a safe bet now. It's still a bet, tho.

And even though the government is no longer requiring businesses to request vaccine certificates, AFAIK businesses are free to keep their private restrictions in place. So don't get mad if you get refused entry to a place where they require you to show a vaccine certificate. I even know of a church that is going to reopen next month for "hybrid" services (In person + Zoom) after having been Zoom-only for two years, but they'll be requiring you to always carry your vaccine certificate AND keep your mask on.

Almost over.

The two-year-old Situation is almost over in Ecuador, says health minister Ximena Garzón.

She says only one covid death was recorded in La República during ten days in late March (2022).

Garzón says covid rates did not tick up as a result of either El Presidente's announcement of full-capacity-allowed in indoor venues nor (as Gantorig stated above) the recent Carnaval events.

Source... www.cuencahighlife.com

Well, I guess we can relax a bit for now until the next wave/variant comes along.

As for me, I'll keep wearing my mask and not shaking hands:

[link moderated]

Mask on.

Source... www.cuencahighlife.com

- @cccmedia

Presidente declares covid is over in Ecuador.

Presidente Lasso said in a radio interview this weekend that the

'pandemia' is over .. and he expects the COE will eliminate

all restrictions such as masks and tests in the next few days.

While there were a few hundred new cases of the virus last week,

the government says the cases were mild.

The government may shortly eliminate the rule that passengers

entering Ecuador show a test result or proof of vaccination.

Source... www.cuencahighlife.com

I had my mask down on my chin while walking to my local Pharmacy's, although I shifted it up when I entered it. I don't know if it is required, but the employees wear them, so I do

In Quito, mask rules are not being enforced

in farmacias as a rule.

Where did you say your pharmacy is located?

cccmedia

@N.Barley …

In Quito, mask rules are not being enforced
in farmacias as a rule.
Where did you say your pharmacy is located?

cccmedia
-@cccmedia

https://maps.app.goo.gl/MF17yJ1Ydid9ThnG6

Vaccine rules go poof!

The national government has eliminated

covid-vaccine rules for travelers entering

Ecuador.

No covid test is now required for

arriving passengers.  Nor is a vaccine

card needed.

The elimination of these rules is effective

as of late last week.

The change is consonant with El Presidente's

recent statement that the pandemic is

over .. in Ecuador.

Source... www.cuencahighlife.com

Dust off those covid masks for bus travel.

An uptick in the corona virus numbers has prompted

Ecuador's emergency operating committee, the COE,

to re-impose the mask requirement for travel by bus

and other public transportation.

Though more people in Ecuador have been coming down

with the flu than with covid, the COE instructs residents

to self-isolate if covid symptoms persist.

Source... www.cuencahighlife.com

@Rich Gringo Keep shouting at those clouds and listening to Alex Jones. 

Covid era officially marked as Over.

Following similar announcements in the USA

and Europe, Ecuador has officially announced

that the Covid Emergency has ended.

Ecuador has dissolved the national

covid emergency coordinating committee.

Source... www.cuencahighlife.com

Covid numbers.

Officially, about 67-thousand deaths are attributed

to covid in Ecuador.

Just over a million people contracted the disease

in Ecuador during the now-ended Covid Era.

However, the health ministry says millions more

probably contraccted covid but were not counted

in the total, often due tp not being tested for

milder versions of covid.

Source.... Cuenca HighLife