According to reports, on June 6, local time, Andrishchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, Ukraine, said that due to a large number of decomposing bodies and garbage flooding, tap water pollution may have led to the outbreak of the city's "first wave of epidemics". According to Andrishchenko, individual residents have been found to be infected with cholera, a potent intestinal infectious disease, and the current situation in the city is "worse than ever".
Mariupol Mayor Boitchenko has warned that as many as 10,000 Mariupol residents could die from infectious diseases such as cholera by the end of the year.
According to reports, after all the remaining personnel in the Azov Steel Plant surrendered, the Russian Defense Ministry said at the end of May that it had completed the demining of the port of Mariupol and the adjacent coast of the Sea of Azov. However, much of the city of Mariupol remains severely damaged, with many pipes in the water supply system destroyed. Nearly 100,000 people are still said to be stranded in the port city.
Andrishchenko said on the 6th that although only a few cases of cholera infection have been recorded, the epidemic has "more or less begun". Andrishchenko said the main reason was that rotting bodies and garbage on the streets were contaminating drinking water sources. Coupled with health problems such as the inability of the health system to function properly and the lack of medicines, Mariupol has entered the first phase of the outbreak and the city is "being quarantined", he added.
Mariupol is flooded with garbage
The World Health Organization reportedly warned last month that damage to Ukraine's water supply system and sanitation infrastructure posed a risk of cholera outbreaks. "The streets are like a swamp, with sewage and drinking water mixed together." Speaking at a news conference in Kiev at the time, WHO's European Regional Emergency Chief, Nietzan, said, "This is a huge risk for a wide range of infectious diseases, including cholera. ”
As for the possibility of an outbreak of infectious diseases, Mariupol Deputy Mayor Orlov said this week that the summer heat was accelerating the decay of "thousands of corpses" and that the city was on the verge of the "explosive" spread of cholera. "Due to the failure of centralized water supply and sewage treatment systems, all the factors that cause intestinal disease are emerging." Orlov added that "a lot of the yards are buried with corpses", which also exacerbates the hygiene problem.
Mariupol Mayor Boitchenko has warned that as many as 10,000 Mariupol residents could die from infectious diseases such as cholera by the end of the year. Orlov called on the international community to help establish a "humanitarian corridor" and evacuate tens of thousands of people from Mariupol to other parts of Ukraine. The Ministry of Health of Ukraine advises local residents to use only heat-treated water sources to avoid the spread of deadly bacterial diseases.
Red Star News reporter Hu Yiling
Edited by Guo Yu
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