March 2020

March 29th is our 14th day in total isolation which is more than distancing which means not leaving your home.  People 65+ cannot leave their homes at all. So if you need shopping done you need to find someone younger to shop for you. There are plenty of services offering shopping and restaurants for take-out orders and will deliver. We are lucky to have a good friend that picked up an ample supply of vegetables and fruit for us. There is also a meat delivery service that delivers outside San Miguel HOA once a week. You just order online and a good way to keep folks supplied. The curfew hours have changed from 5 am -2 pm for everyone.  There are now flights from the United States arranging transport for citizens back home. I think the United States and the Ecuadorian Government have worked well to get this accomplished.

Our little town of Cotacachi does not have any confirmed cases of COVID-19  yet but that can change in the blink of an eye.

So you may wonder how we are doing in isolation? Well, day 14, and Bill and I have not been cross with each other yet.  We are lucky to have a large yard that has a tall 8-foot privacy wall. We have plenty of avocados. lemons, mandarines, and fig trees which are produced in abundance.  Bill’s greenhouse has plenty of jalapenos, cherry tomatoes, and onions and he just planted more green beans. I have cilantro, basil, lemongrass, sage, and thyme growing. We are doing FINE.

Somehow our days continue to be busy. Of course, we are both cooking more and trying out new recipes. I enjoy watching Michel Symon on Food Network during his special on how to cook using items in your pantry during this time.  I have lots of projects that I need to complete. I just wonder how I feel once I get to the bottom of my to-do list?

Understanding the Covid-19 health emergency rules … and when will they end?

Mar 29, 2020 | CuencaHighLife |

 Views: 2,129

On March 16, the day Ecuador’s Covid-19 virus case count reached 58, President Lenin Moreno declared a national health emergency, or emergencia sanitaria, and imposed Latin America’s toughest social distancing rules. Since the 60-day emergency decree was issued, the number of confirmed cases in Ecuador has soared to 1,835 and will probably top 2,000 when Sunday’s numbers are reported.

Although the intent of the restrictions is clear, many of the details are not, partly because a number of them have been revised since March 16. In the last week, the curfew has been extended for the third time, travel between provinces and cantons has been restricted again and the number of days private cars are allowed on the street has been reduced. There will almost certainly be more changes in the weeks ahead.

Here are the key rules covered under the health emergency.

1. Residents are under orders to stay home except to purchase food and medical supplies; to attend medical appointments; to get to work if the work is deemed essential by the government; to visit banks for essential business, such as taking out cash; and to care for the elderly or disabled. The order is in place until April 5 but the interior ministry says the date will be extended.
2. Face-to-face contact is restricted as all public and private schools and universities are ordered to close; in-store restaurant service is discontinued although restaurants are allowed to offer take-out and delivery service; all non-essential businesses are closed, and all non-essential government services are closed with employees ordered to work from home if possible.
3. A nationwide curfew is in effect from 2 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily. Additional curfew restrictions apply in Guayas Province and in the Galapagos.
4. International and national air travel have been suspended as has interprovincial bus service. Municipal bus service has been partially and completely suspended in most urban areas. These suspensions are scheduled to end on April 5 but will likely be extended.
5. Only one member per family is allowed to shop at supermarkets, mercados, and pharmacies. Those under 18 or over 65 are not allowed to shop unless there are no others in the household between those ages. There are additional restrictions in Quito where the elderly have been defined as all those over 55. Shoppers are advised to wear masks and plastic gloves, which are requirements for entry at some stores and markets.
6. Restrictions on the use of private vehicles mandate that vehicles with license plates ending in 1, 2, and 3 will be allowed to circulate only on Monday and Friday; vehicles with license plates ending in 4, 5, and 6 can circulate on Tuesday and Saturday; vehicles with license plates ending in in 7, 8 and 9 can circulate on Wednesday and Sunday; and vehicles with plates ending in 0 can circulate on Monday and Thursday. Vehicles are only allowed on the streets during non-curfew hours. On permitted days, drivers must have a legitimate reason for leaving homes, such as purchasing food or medicine.
7. Restrictions on highway travel allow only permitted vehicles making essential deliveries, such as food, medical supplies, and fuel, to cross provincial borders, and travel between cantons is restricted to vehicles with authorized business.

When will the rules be relaxed? According to Interior Minister María Paula Romo, it is too early to say. “We have not yet reached the peak number of virus cases and it could be weeks after we do before we can make changes,” she says. “We all want to return to a normal life but we must overcome this terrible disease or there will be no normalcy. The emergency declaration is for a term of 60 days but this will be extended if necessary.”

Ecuador Health Minister Juan Carlos Zevallos believes that the country is on the right track. “We started earlier than most countries in imposing restrictions and even though we have seen rapid growth in the cases, our growth rate is significantly below that of other nations,” he says, adding that a lack of testing is a continuing problem.

As evidence that Ecuador’s stay-at-home order is having the desired effect, Zevallos points to the situation in the U.S. state of Florida, where similar orders have not been imposed. “At one point last week, Ecuador and Florida had the same number of confirmed cases and today Florida has more than twice the number we have. I think our rules have made a difference.”

The new health minister worked with U.S. CDC

January found me observing on the internet the unfolding events in China regarding the Coronavirus just as the entire world was watching.

February Bill & I were both sick with a terrible cold and sore throat. One of the customs in Ecuador is to greet everyone with a hug and kiss which is a favorite of Bill’s but not so much for me. We had an Ecuadorian friend that had just returned from NYC with a cold and of course the hug and kiss routine occurred with her and Bill. Then naturally Bill caught a cold and shared it with me. After a week I finally went to see the German doctor in Otavalo. The waiting room was filled with sick folks of all ages.  I finally started to get better and then Bill caught it again. I was basically sick for 3 weeks with a sore throat that progressed to runny nose and cough but never ran a fever. I still have the occasional cough. So during those 3 weeks, we stayed at home missing a wonderful breakfast party at La Mirage and then a Mardi Graw friends party.  I just wanted to use this as an example of how easy it is to transfer a virus to someone.

The first two weeks of March were normal for us but then around the middle of March Ecuador announced an enhanced screening of people arriving from the United States from Massachusetts, California, New York, and Washington. The first case of COVID-19 was diagnosed with an Ecuadorian woman that now lived in Spain. She traveled back to Ecuador to visit family in Guayaquil. So as the story goes the 71-year old Ecuadorian woman from Spain landed at the Guayaquil Airport.  A party with 30 guests celebrated the arrival of the aunt returning to  Ecuador for a family vacation. The family said the aunt never traveled anywhere since she did not have the time so this was a special event. Since the aunt arrived she was in poor health and during the trip, she thought she had a slight fever and said there were many people on the flight coughing.  On February 22, she was hospitalized in the nearby city of Guayaquil, the current epicenter of the pandemic in Ecuador. On the 29th it was officially confirmed that she had COVID-19. The relatives were quarantined and subjected to tests. It was a difficult and scary time for her family to be put in isolation.

The Ecuadorian woman traveling from Spain died on March 13.  But now there were a dozen of the family nucleus now infected. What a sad tragic event when a woman traveling back to her home country to be with family and ends up inoculating her family and country with COVID -19. So now the world events were getting more of my attention and we now had more cases in the port city of Guayaquil. This was only the beginning.

I knew with the Ecuadorian custom of kissing, hugging and handshaking the virus would move quickly throughout the county.  I had learned valuable lessons after the national strike last fall. I had emergency supplies of food, medicine, and insulin for Winky Dog. Our local stores did not have a shortage of supplies and I did not hoard but bought wisely for later use. No problem finding hand sanitizer and Lysol products. My goal is for us to be able to stay confined to our home for 2-3 months if needed. I sent a list to my family and friends back in the US but at this point, I do not think anyone took it seriously. But I tried to warn them. In Ecuador, things can change in the blink of an eye.

March 17th the President set a curfew from 9:00 pm to 5:00 am. So think of something similar to a limited type of Marshal Law. All the stores were mandated to be closed except the grocery stores, pharmacy, and banks. Only 1 family member could be in the store with no more than 30 people in a store at one time. All the restaurants were closed but some were offering take out. I am very leery to taking out food service since I do not know how effectively the cookware is cleaned and sometimes hot water is not used. You are restricted to driving during curfew hours based on certain days by the last digit of your car license plate number. The police will stop and question why you are out and you are at risk of being arrested. You must have a mask on when outside.

Not long after that the airports did not physically close but would not allow international travelers from countries that were considered a risk and the list kept growing.  International travelers had to be quarantined for 14 days in the city where they landed. The airlines started canceling flights. There were folks that wanted to leave and go back to their home country including the United States but the airline would not send empty planes.  The whole country was currently locked down. During this time no one in or out.  All the borders were closed. I think the Ecuadorian President learned and benefited what had happened in other countries and hoped to be ahead of the virus that was going to sweep across South America like a bomb getting ready to explode.

What really upsets me is there are some people that must be in denial since our enemy is invisible. Parties going on on the port city Guayaquil and on the beaches. Ecuador is doing its best to protect everyone and honestly, the approach is superior to what is occurring currently in the United States.

Hang on folks this is going to be a bumpy ride. Watch for more information in Part 2