The Grand Narbonne will join the Obépine network, which sets up the analysis of wastewater to highlight the presence of the coronavirus.
It is one more tool in the fight against the coronavirus which will be implemented in Grand Narbonne, even if for the moment no date has been announced… Wastewater from the city of Narbonne, via its station of purification, will be analyzed for the presence of the virus. We know that SARS-CoV-2 can be found, in large quantities, in the stool of an infected person – even asymptomatic – and thus end up in wastewater. It is therefore an interesting indicator for mapping the presence of the virus and monitoring its evolution.
Nearly forty cities are currently being tested by the Obépine network, the epidemiological observatory of wastewater, which offers wastewater analysis as an epidemiological surveillance tool. “They chose 150 wastewater treatment plants in France, including that of Narbonne-ville and we responded favorably”, specifies Michel Jammes, vice-president within Grand Narbonne in charge of water and sanitation. “Two weekly analyzes will thus be carried out initially in Narbonne which is the mother station. In the event of positive analyzes for the virus, other tests will be carried out in the” daughter “stations, that is to say in Gruissan. , Port-Leucate and Port-La Nouvelle “, he adds.
At the end of last week, the elected members of the opposition RN, Jean-François Daraud and Milanka Petrovic, had sent a letter to this effect to the mayor of Narbonne to ask him “to strengthen the sanitary analysis of wastewater”. “This action would make it possible to anticipate changes in the health situation and take appropriate measures more quickly” they indicated. Water is a competence of the agglomeration community of Grand Narbonne and not of the City.
Analysis data, combined with other indicators such as screening tests, are reviewed by specialists. They could make it possible to anticipate peaks of the disease, but also to monitor the effects of the restriction measures put in place, such as the current curfew, and the progression of variants in the territory.
–
