The wastewater can say a lot about the problems faced by the inhabitants of a city. In Paris, these waters are then reprocessed are being studied by the authorities, in particular since several months. The objective : to assess the circulation of the coronavirus in the population of paris. The project is called "Obépine" and has helped to establish, on the basis of samples collected between 5 march and 23 April, a link between the amount of virus present in the wastewater and the number of actual cases. However, since a fortnight, and the end of the containment measures, the amount of virus detected in these waters may indicate a small reversal of the epidemic, according to several sources report that referred to by The World.
Water in Paris indicates that the wastewater "in part reflect the state of health of the population" and are an indicator of 'advanced' stage of the epidemic. Because the virus is present in the stool of a sick person, even before that it only reports the first symptoms, and will therefore "contaminate" the waters which drain the stool. This contamination had been noticed during the containment, in the network of parisian non-potable water, fed by the waste water after their passage in the wwtp. The City of Paris had decided to stop using this non-potable water as a precaution. In mid-may, the new levies had not allowed us to bring forward new traces of the virus.
positive reviews, and an ARS on his guard
But, the Covid-19 seems to have made his return in the samples collected between 22 and 25 June. The World shows that 6 of the 12 analyses have concluded that a very weak virus in the wastewater. Other tests were carried out a week later that arrived at the same conclusion. Results that question the scientists and authorities who believe that they have " require additional items ".
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The regional Agency of health (ARS) Ile-de-France also remains on his guard : "We are aware of these analyses, but we need to build the method to use. We do not want to engage us on false tracks, " says its director Aurélien Rousseau, quoted by the daily of the evening. The ARS has been working with the Waters of Paris and the Union, the interdepartmental sanitation of the paris conurbation (SIAPP) on a system that would better track the presence of the virus in these wastewaters.
No warning major, but the vigilance is
If, on the 25th of June, the public Health of France noted an epidemic curve that " goes back slightly in the Yvelines, Hauts-de-Seine, Val-de-Marne and the Val-d'oise, france, is unrelated to changes in the rate of testing ", Aurélien Rousseau believes that" at this stage, we did not alert major on a resume epidemic." According to him, fluctuations of the indicators have already been observed, but never a "sustainable" way. All the other indicators of epidemic does not reflect a true rebound, but more of a " traffic moderate but stabilized the virus."
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However, the LRA remains careful : "We are very vigilant because, otherwise, the virus could begin flowing in urbanized areas [...]. We are preparing for the operations of reconfinement targeted ", he explains to the World. In the columns of le Figaro, July 7, Jerome Solomon, director-general of Health, is also a speech of caution. "This is essentially our behaviors that affect the recovery of the epidemic : if we want to avoid this, it is necessary that each and every employee continues to comply with the measures of barriers, measures of hygiene, distancing physical and wearing a mask, especially in crowded and in a confined space ", he says as well. While adding that it is necessary to " prepare for a resumption of the epidemic, or even a second wave ".
