Because of the worldwide lack of protective equipment and disinfectants at the beginning of the corona pandemic in spring, Bremen has set up its own warehouse. (Frank Thomas Koch)
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The corona pandemic largely dominates the agenda of the health deputation this Tuesday.
The cost of storage of protective equipment, disinfectants and vaccination accessories is expected to cost Bremen around half a million euros for the current year. Two locations in the city are currently rented for this purpose, a third is provided free of charge by the Bremen fire brigade. However, this warehouse for disinfectants has to be closed because the license for it is expiring. This emerges from a proposal that the Senate dealt with on February 9th. This leaves the two locations “Industriehafen” and “Neustädter Hafen”.
According to the health authority’s calculation, the costs for rent and management total 407,379.61 euros for the current year. It is currently not foreseeable how the pandemic situation and the market situation will develop. In order to have financial leeway for unforeseen additional costs, a cost surcharge of 25 percent is assumed. “This means that budget funds of EUR 500,000 will be required for the year 2021 for renting and managing the storage facilities,” says the proposal, which the Senate has already approved. It was presented to the Health Deputation for information this Tuesday. A full coverage from the budget of the health department is not possible, the additional costs should therefore be covered with funds from the Bremen Fund. Possible federal or EU funds, which could be added in the course of the year, would reduce the use of the Bremen fund.
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Pandemic unit in planning
-The Bremen warehouse for protective equipment is full
In the future, the central procurement office for protective equipment will be operated by Immobilien Bremen. The health department is also planning a pandemic unit to …
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But there were also other topics: The deputies also had a new report on the pollution of the Ochtum with perfluorinated and polyfluorinated chemicals (PFC). They come from extinguishing foams that were used at Bremen Airport up to 2003 during fire protection exercises. The substances have been banned since 2010, but the pollution of the surrounding waters continues. In 2019, the Bremen authorities officially declared a “PFC damage case at Bremen Airport”. The consumer protection ministries in Bremen and Lower Saxony gave the urgent recommendation not to eat any more fish from the Ochtum. The substances have now also been found in the liver and milk of grazing animals that graze on the Ochtum. Numerous private gardens in Grolland are also affected, the irrigation of which takes place via ditches connected to the Ochtum. The owners have grown east and vegetables for their own use. An examination of around 50 samples of the fruit did not reveal any concerns about consumption by adults, because the quantities found were just above the offspring limit.
An opinion from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has been new since September 2020. In contrast to earlier observations, the sum of the most frequently occurring PFC compounds was assessed in a risk assessment. The result is a new health benchmark of a maximum of 4.4 nanograms per kilogram of body weight per week. Compared to the previous guide values, this means a further reduction in the maximum amount. Other effects were also studied. There is now evidence that PFC compounds affect the immune system in young children, so that vaccinations have a reduced effect. The problem: The measurement methods available to date are hardly sufficient to reliably detect the mostly very low levels in a wide variety of foods.
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Experts are investigating the source of the poison
-Bremen Airport has toxic contaminated sites removed
After residues from poisonous extinguishing foams have reached the groundwater, the airport starts up the cleaning system. First of all, the …
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