Volunteers assisting in disaster recovery in Hualien County’s Guangfu Township (光復) should put on protective gear, and pay attention to food safety and environmental disinfection to prevent infectious diseases, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.
Heavy rainfall brought by Super Typhoon Ragasa caused a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) to burst on Tuesday, bringing floodwaters sweeping through Guangfu and leaving the town covered in mud and debris.
Several civic groups and people from across the nation have brought shovels and equipment to the town to help with cleanup this weekend.
Photo courtesy of the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation via CNA
CDC Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) yesterday thanked the volunteers, and said that the agency wanted to remind them to first head to the task assignment station in front of the Guangfu train station.
After arriving at the designated disaster recovery task area, volunteers should comply with the local task coordination mechanism for recovery work to proceed smoothly, he said, adding that they should also mind their own safety and take precautions against infectious diseases.
“There is still a lot of mud and floodwater in the area, so if you only bring a shovel to clean up, but don’t have any protective gear, you could easily be infected by bacteria in the flood water,” Lo said.
The CDC recommends three protective items — a facial mask, waterproof gloves and tall waterproof rain boots — to prevent people from inhaling pathogenic bacteria and protect possible open wounds on their hands or feet from direct contact with contaminated floodwater, he said.
“People should also pay attention to food hygiene to prevent gastroenteritis,” he added.
If water storage tanks have been contaminated with floodwater, people should thoroughly wash and disinfect them before storing water again, the CDC said.
Food and water must be thoroughly cooked before consumption, and food soaked in floodwater should not be consumed, it added.
Medical stations are also offering free bleach to people who need to disinfect their living environment, while the volunteer task assignment station is offering free masks, Lo said.
People should use diluted bleach to clean both indoor and outdoor areas, and put utensils in boiling water or rinse them in diluted bleach water for 30 minutes before washing them thoroughly with clean water, he said.
People should frequently wash their hands thoroughly or use a 75 percent alcohol-based hand sanitizer if they cannot access clean water, he added.
The local health department would also coordinate with volunteers to give out bleach to all households in the coming days, Lo added.
The CDC said there are more than 7,000 bottles of disinfectant in Hualien and Taitung counties ready to be distributed, and there are still more than 163,000 bottles of bleach and phenol disinfectant stored nationwide.
The shelters have not shown any signs of infection outbreak, the CDC said.
The CDC said that it would continue to work with the local health department to monitor the spread of disease in the area.
Hospitals are encouraged to ask people if they have had direct contact with floodwater or mud, and report suspected cases of infectious diseases, it said.
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