Betanzos (A Coruña) experienced a crisis this summer gastroenteritis outbreak affecting a large portion of the population and subsequently leading to Norovirus. months vary mendo river analysis, The Council noted that the root of the problem lay in the fact that, although Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport Suspicion was thought to center on municipal water networks.
Far from being forgotten, the issue has become a hot topic again. Accusations exchanged between Xunta de Galicia and Betanzos socialist mayor María Barral, He announced at a press conference on Friday Ogas de Galicia ‘withheld’ information In its report, it also provides New data supplements report on Seprona case The report has been filed in court and sent to the Betanzos City Council, since complaints were made at the time of the outbreak and, in the words of the mayor of Betanzos himself, “any correspondent will be investigated and carried out as far as possible “.
He recalled, He learned of the first outbreak on May 28. Municipal election day. “When they learned that this was norovirus of human origin, specifically from faeces, technicians always insisted that the cause of the norovirus outbreak was in the water, but they wanted to know what its source was.” In this regard, he assured, “Everything seemed to indicate it must be in the Mendo River,” where they collected water samples, detailing that they were asked to “analyze the river inch by inch.”
In the chain of events, he said on June 13, concessionaire technicians detected cloudiness in the river and sounded a strong odor alarm. To this end, they filed a complaint with the municipality on July 8, providing all information on the water quality analysis up to that moment. “We continue to request the analysis from Ogas de Galicia, Results for never entering Concello pBut the media publicly stated that they were right and that the source could not be in the river,” he explained in his speech.
“We have asked four times to inspect the river, but the response we always received was that the river was in good condition and that the source could not be there,” he criticized. Regarding the alleged “hidden” data of Ogas de Galicia and the Minister of Infrastructure, the mayor described the situation as “outrageous and irresponsible at the very least, because we are talking about the health of Betancilos” “.
Regarding the report, he explained: “It clearly reflects Ogas Galicia’s outlet sampling at various points in the river, four points upstream of the municipal basin and one point downstream, as well as other upstream treatment plants of the municipality. In Mendo.” “These analyzes provided by Ogas de Galicia to Seprona show that samples were taken over two days, before June 13, and the results were negative for the coronavirus. All but two treatment plants tested positive for norovirus,” He promised.
On June 14, Barral stated that the sample was There are 7 spots on the river, and all 7 spots are positive for Norovirus. “Although they collected samples, they did not provide results for those samples on the 15th, and on the 16th, at several points, these negative results were provided, with only one of the treatment plants providing positive results, and since then, additional collections have been Samples were collected for many more days until the end of the month,” he noted, to which he clarified that “some of the samples collected in the river tested positive during these days, and in some cases, such as June 23, Seven samples tested positive for norovirus. ”
“We regret Mayor Betanzos’ appeal to victims and lies”
The Autonomous Region of Galicia, through the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, expressed its regrets in a statement this Friday.e “Mayor Betanzos resorts to victims and lies to avoid direct responsibility for a gastroenteritis outbreak in the city last spring.
The Galician executive argued that “Ogas de Galicia insists, as it has always said, that the values of norovirus detected in the different analyzes carried out in the Mendo River are not higher than in Galicia – Parameters identified in other rivers of the Costa demarcation line and, therefore, they cannot be identified as the source of health problems.
Along these lines, they reminded Mayor Betanzos that “as a councillor, she has the responsibility to guarantee the quantity and quality of water provided to residents.” Based on their analysis, they determined that “water collected from rivers is not potable and therefore is not available for drinking when supplied to the The city council must decontaminate them before they can be used by residents to ensure their health.”
“To date, it is not clear whether the source of the gastroenteritis outbreak is in the water treatment plant, pipes or tanks, which are part of the municipal supply network managed by the Betanzos City Council through a company.”, they noted, while Emphasizing that “the epidemic has subsided, the water is once again in health condition and its use is allowed while the City Council resolves the issue of cleaning up the sediment through a concessionaire” Refusing to face it for weeks. “
In this context, they recalled that Ogas de Galicia launched a special inspection program through the Spill Control Plan, “which demonstrated in its final report that positive values for norovirus were found in the Mendo River, but also in the rivers Tambur and Umia”.
According to Xunta, they estimate 75% positive samples Norovirus collection in the watershed on June 13, 2023. “During the inspection, no uncontrolled discharges or discharges were detected in the Mendo River. The physicochemical and microbiological analyzes carried out to date did not show any signs of contamination in the Mendo River and the analytical parameters are given in the general reference ranges”, they concluded road.
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