Chinese city rushes to build massive COVID-19 quar

Mkhize: Not yet time to lift ban on alcohol sales - Eyewitness News

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said that the ban had assisted in opening up facilities to caring for COVID-19 patients and it was not yet time to resume the alcohol trade.

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said that the ban had assisted in opening up facilities to caring for COVID-19 patients and it was not yet time to resume the alcohol trade. DURBAN - Health Minister Zweli Mkhize is calling for a continued ban on the sale of alcohol. However, this comes as various stakeholders in the liquor industry call for the resumption of alcohol sales, saying that this will assist in keeping their businesses afloat after only trading for three months last year. Mkhize said that the ban had assisted in opening up facilities to caring for COVID-19 patients and it was not yet time to resume the alcohol trade. Liquor industry players, including the South African Beer Association, South African Breweries and the South African Liquor Brands Association, said that they supported measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, including the curfew and reduced trading hours and days. However, they are against the outright ban on the sale of alcohol due to the economic devastation linked to this. Minister Mkhize said that it was not yet time to lift the ban. "Hopefully, that's going to continue for a while that we get this space to be able to manage people who are under the pressure of COVID-19, so we will then continue to monitor the situation and see when there would be the need to change the restrictions that have been put in place." Mkhize said that the ban was reducing pressure on the healthcare system as it was decreasing trauma cases linked to car accidents and alcohol induced-brawls. Download the Eyewitness News app to your iOS or Android device.

Eskom to reduce load shedding to 2 hours in parts of NW & Gauteng - Eyewitness News

The utility said the move from four-hour cuts to two hours was to address the consequences that come with longer supply interruption.

The utility said the move from four-hour cuts to two hours was to address the consequences that come with longer supply interruption. JOHANNESBURG - Eskom said it would be reducing load shedding to two hours in parts of the North West and Gauteng from Tuesday. The utility said the move from four-hour cuts to two hours to address the consequences that come with longer supply interruption. Monday was day five of consecutive power cuts, with Eskom citing a loss in generation capacity. #Eskom_Gauteng#MediaStatement Eskom to reduce loadshedding to two-hour events in parts of Gauteng and North West Province pic.twitter.com/Cy0hgsfcKy Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) January 18, 2021 At the same time, City Power said its load shedding schedule would remain the same. City Power urges its customers to ignore the recent incorrect media reports suggesting that there are, or there will be, changes to the current schedule which remains unchanged, spokesperson Isaac Mangena said. Should there be any changes or plans to move to a new schedule and times, we will communicate with customers first. Download the Eyewitness News app to your iOS or Android device.

Private schools are not breaking the law by reopening - Isasa - Eyewitness News

Some independent schools had already started with teaching and learning last week when the Department of Basic Education announced that schools would only reopen in mid-February.

Some independent schools had already started with teaching and learning last week when the Department of Basic Education announced that schools would only reopen in mid-February. CAPE TOWN - The Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa (Isasa) on Monday said private schools that had opted to remain open were not breaking any laws. This is despite concerns of growing COVID-19 infections across the country, which have prompted the government to delay the reopening of all schools. Some independent schools had already started with teaching and learning last week when the Department of Basic Education announced that schools would only reopen in mid-February. READ: Dept confirms reopening of schools postponed by two weeks Isasas executive director Lebogang Montjane said: There is no regulation that precludes an independent school from opening at this point in time, so its really important that those schools are not breaking the law if it they pupils on campus at the moment. Isasa said was unreasonable to expect schools to rearrange plans following government's decision to postpone the reopening of schools. He said: Some of our schools had to call in students this weekend to set them up for online learning, and I think its no reasonable to expect all schools to be ready to just shut down because youve made a media announcement, not a legal one. READ: DA asks for clearer regulations from education dept The Western Cape Department of Education is not forcing independent schools to close and said it was awaiting national government for direction. However, Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi said no school would be allowed to operate over the next two weeks. WATCH: Our decisions are expert-driven - Lesufi at Helpmekaar Kollege after school reopening confusion

2021 - The year of authentic visual immersion - Studio[K]irmack - Bizcommunity.com

Here are eight key trends that will affect online retailers in 2021 from Craig Bellingham, founder and CEO of Studio[K]irmack...

1. Sales are driven by visual immersion “In 2021, as cocooning humans spend more time at home than ever before, they’ll lean into the virtual using video and rich, smart imagery to guide their ecommerce choices for both work and home,” says Craig Bellingham of Studio[K]irmack, Africa’s first high-tech and fully fledged ecommerce photo studio driven by artificial intelligence. “The global Covid-19 pandemic has radically shifted buyer behaviour, both in the business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) sectors. Today, buying is done increasingly remotely which means that visual content be it still, 360° or video is more important than it ever was to customers,” says Bellingham. McKinsey confirms this trend with new analysis. The global consultant’s key take-out? Humanity’s buying and selling habits have changed forever, and virtualizing experience will mean creating hyper-real experiences with smart imaging. Sales for global retail ecommerce is expected to reach $4.9trn in 2021, a massive opportunity for the South African ecommerce cohort that is readily embracing innovation to leap ahead. Brand owners are now embracing artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics together with new video and imagery solutions to get them to market faster while improving the user experience (UX). 2. TikTok explodes, driving video engagement “As 2020 comes to a close, the big news is that social media gorilla, TikTok, is investing heavily in social commerce and has done a major e-commerce deal with Shopify. TikTok is massive, with over 800 million users, and the partnership will see Shopify’s one million merchants enjoy better access to TikTok’s huge audience,” says Bellingham. “Given that TikTok is hugely popular with Generation-Z and is video-driven, this means the move to video is a media trend retailers can’t ignore in 2021,” he adds.3. Visual automation wins “Agility and innovation will be central to marketing, which will lean into photographic automation to drive better speed to market and to increase responsiveness,” says Studio[K]irmack’s founder. “The traditional way of doing a photo shoot was about hiring crews and equipment, but automation tools for e-comm studios has penetrated the video and photography sector thanks to advances in both robotics and artificial intelligence resulting in costs per image being reduced 10x and producing 4x more photos per day.”Today’s fashion and e-commerce world demands speed to market, and this has seen the rise and rise of automated product photography equipment with software-controlled compact studios for still and 360° product photography, as well as video. “I’ve seen this trend accelerate first-hand after investing in our automated photography and video solutions that make it faster than ever to execute creative for high fashion, technology, FMCG and anything that requires visual imaging to connect to customers and sell,” Bellingham explains. He explains that the high-end machinery and all-in-one solutions allow clients to cut costs on equipment and eliminate repetitive tasks for your teams and most importantly minimise post-processing time.  “The interface of these studios is simplicity itself, and anyone can produce a high-end shoot faster than ever before. Because of this, in a recessionary environment, we’ve seen a 300% growth year on year,” he says. Why this massage surge? Bellingham says that automation that delivers better quality means e-tailers can be freed up to obsess about every customer detail in the effort to differentiate and personalise services and products. 4. Safer creative working environments “Covid-19 has changed the way we work, and part of this will be ensuring safe working environments where we are protected, calm and able to do our best work. In the worlds of retail and fashion, where video and photographic shoots have meant clusters of teams working closely together, photographic and video automation will bring better safety standards,” Bellingham predicts. “Technology will enable brand owners to create sophisticated, innovative shoots at the touch of a button. This will do away with the requirement for huge, expensive fashion shoots and will enable a new generation of creativity with safer working environments.” This is important given that Covid-19 will not go away sometime soon.5. Authenticity matters more Authenticity is everything and will be pivotal to building trust with customers in both B2B and B2C markets. From a digital retail perspective, consumers are increasingly looking for authenticity and this has been a rallying point for building trust and connections. “From a video and photography perspective, this means paring back, bringing in natural colours and shying away from overt photographic manipulation,” says the owner of Studio[K]irmack, adding: “In a world where trust is the biggest conversion factor, leaning hard into authenticity creates better credibility and believability.”6. Speed to market Getting your product online quickly, accurately and with a large degree of consistency is key to how your consumers engage with your brand. No matter the size of your business this is critical.For huge, global retailers like Zulily for example, speed to market is everything, a pressure that will continue in 2021 and filter to smaller brands. Zulily offers customers ‘a new store every day’. To achieve this, the massive retailer cuts down on time wastage by keeping photography in-house and using photographic automation. Zulily typically loads up more than 9,000 products a day on its website.  Says Bellingham: “To achieve the kind of photographic quality and style the brand’s 700,000 daily visitors expect, Zulily uses industrialized photography processes and photographic automation. This means a new season, with thousands and thousands of products can be shot in a number of days. Traditionally - without using automation - this photo and video process could take weeks, if not months.” 7. Minimalism and simplicity A global pandemic has made the world more chaotic, unpredictable, complex and stressed. In this context, trends show that consumers long for simplicity and minimalism. “In terms of photography, this means that less is more in a 'busy and complex world’,” advises Bellingham. “Visual imagery and video play a powerful role in contributing to the user experience, and in 2021 customers will want balance, calmness and pared-back image styling.” Bellingham points out that another expression of this trend is that customers will increasingly look for photography that hasn’t been obviously manipulated or changed by Photoshop. Because of this brand owners will need to focus on creating product shots and styled photography that looks and feels natural.8. Virtual and augmented reality mainstreams Now that humans are familiar with online shopping they will want to try before they buy, and this is where virtual and augmented reality comes into play. “Let’s face it, customers want the benefit of being as close to reality as possible but without the risk of being exposed to other humans they don’t know in the real-world retail environment,” Bellingham says. “But augmented reality and virtual reality can plug the gap here and give humans the opportunity to ‘try-before-you-buy’. However, what will be critical to ensuring the integrity of experience will be the quality of the photography. With automation retailers can achieve both quality and speed, which means automation can provide the right imaging for virtual and augmented reality quickly and easily,” he says. E-commerce is projected to reach $4.9trn by 2021, a massive market for South African and African retailers looking for recovery and growth. Science shows that 90% of what our brains process is visual, which is why leaning into video, and using a smarter approach to photography and visual imagery, will drive ecommerce growth. For more information:Visit www.studiokirmack.co.za Studio[K]irmack are sole agents for OrbitVu in ZA. www.orbitvu.co.za Follow Studio[[email protected], Facebook @StudioKirmack and on Twitter @StudioKirmack

The real reason Joburg load-shedding lasts 4 hours - MyBroadband

City Power has explained why Joburg residents experience four-and-a-half hours of continuous load-shedding instead of two hours.

Johannesburg residents are among the only South Africans who experience four-and-a-half hours of load-shedding under stage 2, with most other South Africans only being subject to two-hour blackout periods. Eskom recently rectified this for the areas of Johannesburg that it supplies, but City Power, which supplies power to the majority of built-up areas in Johannesburg, said its load-shedding schedule will remain unchanged. This is because the nature of the electricity grid in Johannesburg makes it impossible to reduce load-shedding periods to two hours. “We chose four hours because of many reasons – including our capacity to manage it, the interconnectivity of our network, and the ability of our infrastructure to handle the load-shedding demand,” City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena told MyBroadband. He said that unlike other power utilities in South Africa, City Power is not able to adequately separate areas into blocks for load-shedding on a more refined scale. “For example, Tshwane is able to switch off Mamelodi and Attridgeville, without impacting parts of central Pretoria or Centurion. Ekurhuleni also can switch off Springs, or Vosloorus without impacting Katlehong, or Germiston,” Mangena said. “With City Power, you have for example Orlando substation that feeds almost 20 substations, which may translate to 20 suburbs or townships such as Lenasia, Eldorado, Mulbaryon, Nirvana, Mondeor etc., most of which are in different geographic areas.” “If we switch off Orlando, all those suburbs are going to be affected. So unlike other municipalities, we don’t have the luxury to separate our network blocks for now,” he said. “There is nothing we can do” Mangena noted the adverse effect that more than four hours of load-shedding has on South Africans who are working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but said there is nothing City Power can do to resolve this. “Load-shedding is done by Eskom, and as City Power, while we sympathize with our customers, there is nothing we can do,” he said. “Even ourselves as the power utility we feel the pinch, more so in terms of the knock-on effect our network, infrastructure, and manpower in terms of tiredness and overtime.” He said that switching off the power for four hours means that customers will lose power less frequently, and it has a reduced impact on the health of the municipal power grid. “Currently, with four hours of load-shedding we switch customers off once a day, and maybe come back and switch them off after 24 hours,” Mangena said. “We opted for that because with two hours it will force us to switch off customers frequently, at least two to three times a day.” Substations exploding due to load-shedding The municipal electrical infrastructure is also severely impacted by being switched off and on regularly, making four-hour load-shedding blocks preferable. “By its nature, electricity infrastructure is not meant to be switched on and off,” Mangena said. “Our ageing infrastructure won’t stand two-hour frequent switching. Already, we have a challenge of substations blowing up due to on and off of load shedding.” “[On Monday] at Nursery substation in Roodepoort, a transformer blew up after restoration. The same thing happened in Ennerdale, Randburg substations, etc.,” he said. City Power, therefore, has no current plans to adapt its load-shedding schedule, although it noted that it had received a number of suggestions from “different stakeholders”. “If anything changes, we will involve our customers and communicate accordingly,” Mangena said.

Most pregnant women with COVID-19 don't have symptoms - Midrand Reporter

Are you pregnant and have tested positive for Covid-19? The good news is you will likely not experience severe symptoms. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “among 598 h

Are you pregnant and have tested positive for Covid-19? The good news is you will likely not experience severe symptoms. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “among 598 hospitalized pregnant women with COVID-19, 55% were asymptomatic at admission.” Amongst the 130 pregnant women admitted at the Elmhurst hospital in Queens, New York, one-third of them were asymptomatic. This research was published in the PLOS One journal. The 72% that tested positive did not show any symptoms, mostly because testing was limited to symptomatic patients. According to a different journal, pregnant women did not experience any negative outcomes, even after testing positive for the coronavirus. However, all cases of Covid-19 differ. Some pregnant women may experience severe symptoms, and extreme cases have led to hospitalisation, including intensive care. Some have ended in death. The CDC study shows that 16.2% of the admitted pregnant women were admitted to intensive care, while 8.5% needed invasive mechanical ventilation. According to study author, Dr. Sheela Maru from the Mount Sinai hospital in the US, “in future epidemics, it may be prudent to look at labour and delivery screening numbers much earlier on, as pregnant women continue to seek essential care despite social-distancing measures and also represent the generally young and healthy community population.” This means that this group of women was not a focus during the pandemic. The virus was only picked up when they were admitted for delivery or other pregnancy-related issues.

• Fever
• Dry cough
• Tiredness
• Chills
• Sore throat
• Headache
• Loss of smell or taste
• Muscle aches and pains

• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
• Chest pain or pressure
• Loss of speech or movement

2021 - The year of authentic visual immersion - Studio[K]irmack - Bizcommunity.com

Here are eight key trends that will affect online retailers in 2021 from Craig Bellingham, founder and CEO of Studio[K]irmack...

1. Sales are driven by visual immersion “In 2021, as cocooning humans spend more time at home than ever before, they’ll lean into the virtual using video and rich, smart imagery to guide their ecommerce choices for both work and home,” says Craig Bellingham of Studio[K]irmack, Africa’s first high-tech and fully fledged ecommerce photo studio driven by artificial intelligence. “The global Covid-19 pandemic has radically shifted buyer behaviour, both in the business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) sectors. Today, buying is done increasingly remotely which means that visual content be it still, 360° or video is more important than it ever was to customers,” says Bellingham. McKinsey confirms this trend with new analysis. The global consultant’s key take-out? Humanity’s buying and selling habits have changed forever, and virtualizing experience will mean creating hyper-real experiences with smart imaging. Sales for global retail ecommerce is expected to reach $4.9trn in 2021, a massive opportunity for the South African ecommerce cohort that is readily embracing innovation to leap ahead. Brand owners are now embracing artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics together with new video and imagery solutions to get them to market faster while improving the user experience (UX). 2. TikTok explodes, driving video engagement “As 2020 comes to a close, the big news is that social media gorilla, TikTok, is investing heavily in social commerce and has done a major e-commerce deal with Shopify. TikTok is massive, with over 800 million users, and the partnership will see Shopify’s one million merchants enjoy better access to TikTok’s huge audience,” says Bellingham. “Given that TikTok is hugely popular with Generation-Z and is video-driven, this means the move to video is a media trend retailers can’t ignore in 2021,” he adds.3. Visual automation wins “Agility and innovation will be central to marketing, which will lean into photographic automation to drive better speed to market and to increase responsiveness,” says Studio[K]irmack’s founder. “The traditional way of doing a photo shoot was about hiring crews and equipment, but automation tools for e-comm studios has penetrated the video and photography sector thanks to advances in both robotics and artificial intelligence resulting in costs per image being reduced 10x and producing 4x more photos per day.”Today’s fashion and e-commerce world demands speed to market, and this has seen the rise and rise of automated product photography equipment with software-controlled compact studios for still and 360° product photography, as well as video. “I’ve seen this trend accelerate first-hand after investing in our automated photography and video solutions that make it faster than ever to execute creative for high fashion, technology, FMCG and anything that requires visual imaging to connect to customers and sell,” Bellingham explains. He explains that the high-end machinery and all-in-one solutions allow clients to cut costs on equipment and eliminate repetitive tasks for your teams and most importantly minimise post-processing time.  “The interface of these studios is simplicity itself, and anyone can produce a high-end shoot faster than ever before. Because of this, in a recessionary environment, we’ve seen a 300% growth year on year,” he says. Why this massage surge? Bellingham says that automation that delivers better quality means e-tailers can be freed up to obsess about every customer detail in the effort to differentiate and personalise services and products. 4. Safer creative working environments “Covid-19 has changed the way we work, and part of this will be ensuring safe working environments where we are protected, calm and able to do our best work. In the worlds of retail and fashion, where video and photographic shoots have meant clusters of teams working closely together, photographic and video automation will bring better safety standards,” Bellingham predicts. “Technology will enable brand owners to create sophisticated, innovative shoots at the touch of a button. This will do away with the requirement for huge, expensive fashion shoots and will enable a new generation of creativity with safer working environments.” This is important given that Covid-19 will not go away sometime soon.5. Authenticity matters more Authenticity is everything and will be pivotal to building trust with customers in both B2B and B2C markets. From a digital retail perspective, consumers are increasingly looking for authenticity and this has been a rallying point for building trust and connections. “From a video and photography perspective, this means paring back, bringing in natural colours and shying away from overt photographic manipulation,” says the owner of Studio[K]irmack, adding: “In a world where trust is the biggest conversion factor, leaning hard into authenticity creates better credibility and believability.”6. Speed to market Getting your product online quickly, accurately and with a large degree of consistency is key to how your consumers engage with your brand. No matter the size of your business this is critical.For huge, global retailers like Zulily for example, speed to market is everything, a pressure that will continue in 2021 and filter to smaller brands. Zulily offers customers ‘a new store every day’. To achieve this, the massive retailer cuts down on time wastage by keeping photography in-house and using photographic automation. Zulily typically loads up more than 9,000 products a day on its website.  Says Bellingham: “To achieve the kind of photographic quality and style the brand’s 700,000 daily visitors expect, Zulily uses industrialized photography processes and photographic automation. This means a new season, with thousands and thousands of products can be shot in a number of days. Traditionally - without using automation - this photo and video process could take weeks, if not months.” 7. Minimalism and simplicity A global pandemic has made the world more chaotic, unpredictable, complex and stressed. In this context, trends show that consumers long for simplicity and minimalism. “In terms of photography, this means that less is more in a 'busy and complex world’,” advises Bellingham. “Visual imagery and video play a powerful role in contributing to the user experience, and in 2021 customers will want balance, calmness and pared-back image styling.” Bellingham points out that another expression of this trend is that customers will increasingly look for photography that hasn’t been obviously manipulated or changed by Photoshop. Because of this brand owners will need to focus on creating product shots and styled photography that looks and feels natural.8. Virtual and augmented reality mainstreams Now that humans are familiar with online shopping they will want to try before they buy, and this is where virtual and augmented reality comes into play. “Let’s face it, customers want the benefit of being as close to reality as possible but without the risk of being exposed to other humans they don’t know in the real-world retail environment,” Bellingham says. “But augmented reality and virtual reality can plug the gap here and give humans the opportunity to ‘try-before-you-buy’. However, what will be critical to ensuring the integrity of experience will be the quality of the photography. With automation retailers can achieve both quality and speed, which means automation can provide the right imaging for virtual and augmented reality quickly and easily,” he says. E-commerce is projected to reach $4.9trn by 2021, a massive market for South African and African retailers looking for recovery and growth. Science shows that 90% of what our brains process is visual, which is why leaning into video, and using a smarter approach to photography and visual imagery, will drive ecommerce growth. For more information:Visit www.studiokirmack.co.za Studio[K]irmack are sole agents for OrbitVu in ZA. www.orbitvu.co.za Follow Studio[[email protected], Facebook @StudioKirmack and on Twitter @StudioKirmack

The real reason Joburg load-shedding lasts 4 hours - MyBroadband

City Power has explained why Joburg residents experience four-and-a-half hours of continuous load-shedding instead of two hours.

Johannesburg residents are among the only South Africans who experience four-and-a-half hours of load-shedding under stage 2, with most other South Africans only being subject to two-hour blackout periods. Eskom recently rectified this for the areas of Johannesburg that it supplies, but City Power, which supplies power to the majority of built-up areas in Johannesburg, said its load-shedding schedule will remain unchanged. This is because the nature of the electricity grid in Johannesburg makes it impossible to reduce load-shedding periods to two hours. “We chose four hours because of many reasons – including our capacity to manage it, the interconnectivity of our network, and the ability of our infrastructure to handle the load-shedding demand,” City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena told MyBroadband. He said that unlike other power utilities in South Africa, City Power is not able to adequately separate areas into blocks for load-shedding on a more refined scale. “For example, Tshwane is able to switch off Mamelodi and Attridgeville, without impacting parts of central Pretoria or Centurion. Ekurhuleni also can switch off Springs, or Vosloorus without impacting Katlehong, or Germiston,” Mangena said. “With City Power, you have for example Orlando substation that feeds almost 20 substations, which may translate to 20 suburbs or townships such as Lenasia, Eldorado, Mulbaryon, Nirvana, Mondeor etc., most of which are in different geographic areas.” “If we switch off Orlando, all those suburbs are going to be affected. So unlike other municipalities, we don’t have the luxury to separate our network blocks for now,” he said. “There is nothing we can do” Mangena noted the adverse effect that more than four hours of load-shedding has on South Africans who are working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but said there is nothing City Power can do to resolve this. “Load-shedding is done by Eskom, and as City Power, while we sympathize with our customers, there is nothing we can do,” he said. “Even ourselves as the power utility we feel the pinch, more so in terms of the knock-on effect our network, infrastructure, and manpower in terms of tiredness and overtime.” He said that switching off the power for four hours means that customers will lose power less frequently, and it has a reduced impact on the health of the municipal power grid. “Currently, with four hours of load-shedding we switch customers off once a day, and maybe come back and switch them off after 24 hours,” Mangena said. “We opted for that because with two hours it will force us to switch off customers frequently, at least two to three times a day.” Substations exploding due to load-shedding The municipal electrical infrastructure is also severely impacted by being switched off and on regularly, making four-hour load-shedding blocks preferable. “By its nature, electricity infrastructure is not meant to be switched on and off,” Mangena said. “Our ageing infrastructure won’t stand two-hour frequent switching. Already, we have a challenge of substations blowing up due to on and off of load shedding.” “[On Monday] at Nursery substation in Roodepoort, a transformer blew up after restoration. The same thing happened in Ennerdale, Randburg substations, etc.,” he said. City Power, therefore, has no current plans to adapt its load-shedding schedule, although it noted that it had received a number of suggestions from “different stakeholders”. “If anything changes, we will involve our customers and communicate accordingly,” Mangena said.

Desmantelada red de tráfico sexual que funcionaba entre Venezuela y Trinidad - El Carabobeño

El Fiscal General de la República, Tarek William Saab, informó que resultó desmantelada una red de tráfico de personas con fines de explotación sexual entre los estados Delta Amacuro, Lara y La Guaira con Trinidad y Tobago

El Fiscal General de la República, Tarek William Saab, informó que resultó desmantelada una red de tráfico de personas con fines de explotación sexual entre los estados Delta Amacuro, Lara y La Guaira con Trinidad y Tobago. A través de la televisión estatal, Saab detalló que la aprehensión de los sujetos se realizó el pasado sábado 16 de enero. La investigación se inició por la denuncia de una madre cuya hija se fugó con otras adolescentes con destino a Trinidad y Tobago para ejercer la prostitución. La joven la llamó y le informó que quería irse pero no se lo permitían. Aseveró que durante las investigaciones, mediante el análisis de telefonía, se logró dar con el lugar en que se encontraban las adolescentes en Tucupita, Delta Amacuro, donde les rescataron. En el sitio resultaron detenidos ocho integrantes de la red. Una red compuesta, hasta ahora, por 13 personas Junto a los ocho detenidos en Delta Amacuro, Saab especificó que se detuvo a otros dos implicados en Lara y uno más el día de ayer en el estado La Guaira. Las víctimas rescatadas son tres mujeres adultas y siete adolescentes. Al mismo tiempo, señaló que una dama aparece como jefa de la red, la cual se encuentra prófuga en Trinidad y Tobago, quien actuó en complicidad con una hermana. Ésta última está entre los detenidos. Identificó, de hecho, a Grecia Verónica Jiménez Mendoza y Leomara Elena Pérez Vegas como las líderes de la organización, quienes se encuentran en la isla caribeña. Asimismo, Saab mencionó que uno de los detenidos estaba encargado de coordinar la logística de captación y traslado de las víctimas. En total suman 13 los involucrados hasta el momento. A todos se les han imputado los delitos de tráfico de personas con fines de explotación sexual, con el agravante de tratarse de víctimas adolescentes, y asociación para delinquir. Con información de VTV.