Closing down of schools could have been prevented, says GSD

St Bernard’s Lower Primary, St Bernard’s Upper Primary, St Joseph’s Lower Primary and St Joseph’s Upper Primary were all closed, while the water system at these four schools was subjected to a hypochlorination treatment.

The closure could have been prevented if proper checks had been carried out in the run-up to schools fully reopening.

There has been significant discussion about the dangers of stagnant water in the technical and academic press for weeks and, to the GSD’s knowledge, as far back as late April, but perhaps the Public Health director Dr Bhatti was too busy with his pet subject of experimenting with new antibodies, while pandemic cases kept going up.

An article in April referred to a study of Purdue University, a leading American University, highlighted that: “While millions of people are under orders to stay home amid the coronavirus pandemic, water is sitting in the pipes of empty office buildings and gyms, getting old and potentially dangerous.

“When water isn’t flowing, organisms and chemicals can build up in the plumbing. It can happen in underused gyms, office buildings, schools, shopping malls and other facilities. These organisms and chemicals can reach unsafe levels when water sits in water pipes for just a few days.

But, what happens when water sits for weeks or months?

“Harmful organisms, like the bacteria that cause Legionnaire’s disease, can grow. If not maintained, devices like filters, water tanks, heaters and softeners can become organism incubators.”

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03-06-2020 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR