Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
In the absence of people, crocodiles take over Oaxaca beaches With the tourists away the crocs come out to play
In the absence of people, crocodiles take over Oaxaca beaches
With the tourists away the crocs come out to play
The crocodiles of La Ventanilla, Oaxaca, have taken to the beach for the first time in decades in the absence of human activity during the Covid-19 emergency.
The popular ecotourism destination is home to a lagoon in which the crocodiles normally spend most of their time, avoiding visitors who come from nearby Mazunte, Zipolite, Puerto Escondido and other destinations to snap photos of them from tour boats.
But when the tourists are away, the crocs will play, and a photo of five large reptiles enjoying the otherwise empty beach made the rounds on social media on Sunday.
The federal government closed all Mexico’s beaches in early April to prevent people from gathering in groups and further spreading the coronavirus. Since then there have been a number of observations of wildlife reclaiming spaces they previously avoided due to human presence.
Fishermen and Civil Protection agents from nearby Santa María Colotepec captured a crocodile in a lagoon adjacent to the popular tourist and surfer destination Puerto Escondido in March. The animal was released in wetlands south of that city.
There have also been reports of jaguars and leatherback sea turtles re-entering spaces in Cancún from which human activity had kept them away for decades.
In Oaxaca, crocodiles occasionally enter spaces normally occupied by people. A fisherman was attacked by a crocodile while taking a nap on the Boca Barra beach, just south of Puerto Escondido, in November.
Similar incidents in the lagoons west of Puerto Escondido led the federal environmental protection agency Profepa to carry out a census of the animal’s numbers in the Manialtepec and Chacahua lagoons before the Covid-19 pandemic stopped normal life in its tracks.
The original project, which was suspended due to a lack of resources, aimed to find better ways to protect both humans and crocodiles, as people have encroached more and more into the animal’s habitat in recent years.
Sources: Mediotiempo (sp), Milenio (sp)
Monday, April 13, 2020
Doctors warn of ‘ticking time bomb’ as citizens ignore safe distance measures It's like there is no health risk at all, the doctors said of several México state municipalities
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Doctors warn of ‘ticking time bomb’ as citizens ignore safe distance measures
It's like there is no health risk at all, the doctors said of several México state municipalities
Doctors at hospitals in several México state municipalities have warned of a “ticking time bomb” as many citizens ignore the government’s social distancing recommendations amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Doctors in municipalities including Tlalnepantla, Ecatepec, Tecámac, Nezahualcóyotl, La Paz and Chalco – all of which are in the greater Mexico City metropolitan area – told the newspaper El Financiero that many residents don’t accept that Covid-19 even exists or don’t follow the recommended health measures, such as staying at home, because of their precarious economic situation.
Markets are crowded with people, street food stalls and small restaurants known as fondas continue to attract large numbers of customers, public transit is full, children are playing in the streets and locals are holding parties, they added.
It’s like there is no health risk at all, the doctors said, describing the gatherings as “large focuses of infection.”
The doctors charged that municipal authorities are not doing enough to warn people about Covid-19 and its risks and as a consequence residents are continuing to work, go shopping and eat outside their homes as if coronavirus didn’t exist.
Some patients with the telltale symptoms of coronavirus, such as fever and a dry cough, are not tested for the disease and therefore their illnesses are not classified as Covid-19, they said. The doctors also said that their hospitals lack equipment, medicines and personnel to give adequate treatment to coronavirus patients.
“This situation turns these marginalized areas into a ticking time bomb that could explode very soon,” they told El Financiero.
“After Mexico City, we’re the state with the most cases. … The problem will be huge without the reorganization of hospitals, without [enough] ventilators.”
Mónica Bautista, a federal deputy who represents México state, said that the doctors’ demand for more personal protective equipment (PPE) has not been met. The lack of PPE is the cause of Covid-19 infections among medical personnel in the state, she said, adding that the director of the emergency department at the La Perla hospital in Nezahualcóyotl lost his life to the disease.
Bautista, a lawmaker with the Democratic Revolution Party, was also critical of the fact that some doctors are earning a fortnightly salary of just 8,000 pesos (US $340). The doctors themselves said that about 20% of those employed at public hospitals in several México state municipalities don’t even have a contract and as a result cannot access benefits including free medical care.
Although President López Obrador claimed on Saturday that “the vast majority” of Mexicans are doing the right thing and staying at home as much as possible, the picture painted by the México state doctors tells a very different story.
Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell also contradicted the president, stating Saturday night that social distancing recommendations are not being adhered to as the government would like in some parts of the country.
“Schools were closed on March 23 and that was the most solid contribution to the healthy distance [initiative] because from one day to the next about 15 million stopped traveling [on the nation’s streets]. The suspension of the remainder of [nonessential] activities was added later but … it hasn’t been fully respected,” he told reporters at the nightly coronavirus press briefing.
López-Gatell called on state health authorities and governors to take the necessary decisions and implement the operations required to ensure that the social distancing rules are upheld.
A stricter “stay at home” rule to limit the spread of Covid-19 took effect in Sonora on Monday and Nuevo León Governor Jaime Rodríguez Calderón said Friday that his government was also considering the option of using the police to ensure people comply with the order not to go out.
Although he said on March 31 that the commencement of the government’s social distancing initiative should soon result in a decrease in the number of coronavirus cases reported on a daily basis, López-Gatell said Saturday that it was still too soon to know the impact of the measures put in place.
Confirmed cases of Covid-19 have continued to rise steadily in April and the total is now approaching 5,000. Just under 300 people in Mexico have lost their lives to the disease, which has now killed close to 120,000 people around the world.
Source: El Financiero (sp), El Universal (sp)
Sunday, April 12, 2020
Saturday, April 11, 2020
Municipalities close the way to coronavirus
Fri, 10/04/2020 - 08:29
Municipalities close the way to coronavirus
At least 28 municipalities in Oaxaca have determined to close accesses and exits to their communities as extreme measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 contagion.
The cases documented by the Human Rights Defender of the People of Oaxaca (DDHPO) contemplate San Lorenzo Albarradas, a population that determined to prohibit the entrance to the Hierve el Agua tourist spot.
Another town is Capulálpam de Méndez, which in addition to closing accesses established a curfew.
Villa Alta did the same, same as this Thursday, according to a complaint from the medical and nursing staff working in the town, by restricting free movement they were retained.
In Santiago Astata the population agreed to close the beaches and their agencies.
In San Dionisio del Mar they closed the main access to the population.
In Valle Nacional they prohibited access to ecotourism areas in San Mateo Yetla.
The same restricted access in Cerro Marín, Rancho Grande, Nuevo Palantla in the Cuenca.
San Juan Mixtepec, San Antonino Monteverde, Santa María Camotlán, Asunción Nochixtlán, Santa María Colotepec, Santa María Huatulco, Tonameca, San Mateo Piñas, San Miguel Puerto, La merced del Potrero, Santiago Pinotepa Nacional, Puerto Escondido Beaches, Zicatela joined with the restriction measures.
In addition, the beaches of Huatulco, Zipolite in Pochutla, likewise San Pedro Mixtepec, Villa de Zachila, Magdalena Apasco Etla, San Andrés Huayapam, Tlalixtac de Cabrera.
Respect for human rights
The head of the DDHPO, Bernardo Rodríguez Alamilla indicated that, although the communities that are governed by indigenous regulatory systems have the right to decide in community assembly about internal life, these actions must respect human rights.
“These actions have a limit and this is the limit of human rights. We respect their powers, but we ask that in this decision, human rights not be violated and that these actions be based on scientific criteria, that they be respectful of human dignity, not arbitrary or discriminatory, ”he stressed.
He added that in crisis contexts the population often panics and based on this make radical decisions, however, you should not lose sight of the technical criteria established by the authorities so as not to fall into arbitrariness and discriminatory situations, even placing yourself in risk.
“These geographical spaces or territories may somehow put other rights such as free transit, food and the right to health at risk, since by restricting free transit, it may be that no medicines arrive or an ambulance in the journey from one community to another, if this geographic space is closed, it is probably going to be late to offer a service and could be counterproductive, "he stressed.
Friday, April 10, 2020
Thursday, April 9, 2020
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
Sweet Darling: Baking with Sarah Darling - Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies
ngredients: ½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and just warm to the touch, ¾ cup packed light brown sugar, ½ cup granulated sugar, 1 egg, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, 1 ¼ teaspoons kosher salt, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, 1/4 cup flaked salt Follow me here: Follow Sarah Darling: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialSara... Twitter: https://twitter.com/_SarahDarling Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialsar... Spotify: https://sarahdarling.lnk.to/Spotify Apple Music: https://sarahdarling.lnk.to/AppleMusic
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