DOH warns Tacloban residents: Don’t drink tap water

AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday  warned residents in Tacloban City not to drink tap water in the area, saying the water system has been contaminated following the devastation wrought by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan).

“Water here is really dangerous and not safe for drinking. We advise residents not to drink directly from faucets,”  said DOH Assistant Secretary Rosell Paulyn-Ubial on Wednesday.

Ubial said 29 out of the 45 water systems tested by the DOH have been found positive for coliform bacteria.

The DOH, with the help of the local government units, is assisting households in conducting water treatment, she said.
“All water sources should be examined including water tanks and water refilling stations,” Ubial said.

According to Ubial, there have been cases of diarrhea reported in Tacloban City but maintained that there was no outbreak of the disease in the city.

“We don’t want this to be blown out of proportion. We need to remove contaminants from the drinking water. Our teams are going around establishing areas for water chlorination,” she said.

She also encouraged residents to do “search-and-destroy” in households as well as in evacuation centers to fight the outbreak of dengue cases.

“Let’s us cover containers with water where mosquitoes could thrive. And let us maintain sanitation and cleanliness in our respective areas,” she said.

Ubial reported that the DOH already finished giving vaccinations to 6,000 children below five years old in Tacloban City and are still targeting 29,000 more children for immunization from measles.