05/04/2020 - 18:59
- Clarín.com
- Cities
In vulnerable neighborhoods , where public services arrive intermittently and precariously, residents face a paradox: how to maintain quarantine in their homes when, for the time being, the formula to keep the virus away continues to be " preventive and compulsory social isolation " . And despite the efforts made by many families, the virus entered the neighborhoods and this generates a lot of concern not only among the neighbors, but also in the neighborhood organizations and the local government. So far, in Buenos Aires territory and according to the information provided by the City, 223 positive cases of coronavirus and two deaths have been registered. For this reason, from tomorrow an operation will be activated that will include swabs to people who have had close contact with those infected and also suffer symptoms.
The governments of the Nation and the City will carry out the operation together. The same mechanics will be applied in the La Paz neighborhood of Quilmes , where the Government of the Province and the local municipality will also participate . Both City and Presidency sources clarified that these are the so-called PCR tests , which are the ones used to diagnose the disease. In addition, they assured that first cases of close contact with those infected with symptoms will be sought. And then the investigation will continue to detect more people who may be infected. If it is considered that they had links through which they may have been infected, they will also be tested.
The DETeCTAr operation will also have mobile sanitary units . The objective is "early detection", so they estimate that the test results will be in 24 hours . In addition, they seek to expand it to the rest of the country's vulnerable neighborhoods.
In the Capital, villas 31 and 1.11.14 continue to be the most affected by the situation. As confirmed by the City, in the Retiro neighborhood there are 133 confirmed cases, while in Flores, there would be 67. The distribution of cases in vulnerable neighborhoods is completed by three that were detected in the Ramón Carrillo neighborhood; two in Hidden City; two in Villa 20; one in the Fatima neighborhood; one on 21-24; one in Rodrigo Bueno; one in Piletones; another in Barrio Miter and eleven other residents who live in vulnerable neighborhoods but choose not to say which one.
COVID-19 in
vulnerable neighborhoods of the City
Tap to explore the data
Source: GCBA Infographic: Clarín
And there are another 75 suspected cases, which are being studied by the Epidemiology team of the Ministry of Health.
The death of two people and the contagions that are becoming known, question the residents of the popular neighborhoods. On the one hand, because the conditions imposed by isolation are unfeasible. Even in material houses, humidity and lack of ventilation are the norm; Furthermore, the vast majority of households are multi-generational . And on the other hand, job insecurity, which immerses everyone in an even more complex panorama than they usually go through. In fact, dining rooms in some neighborhoods nearly doubled their turnout. And for example, in villa 1.11.14, emergency dining rooms were set up for dinners. The truth is that they had never been necessary before.
These days, neighborhoods are also crossed by different concerns. Drinking water is one of them: "Eight days without water . This is the situation in our house. We are trying to find a solution, while the City tells us that we have to wash our hands and maintain hygiene. Furthermore, this situation it forces us to go out permanently to look for water . We do not know how to make the authorities understand that we cannot live in this way, and also with concern, we live with the fear and terror of not having water and that infections continue to grow ", Ramona, a resident of block 35 of the Retiro neighborhood, said. Here the residents are very dissatisfied with the presence of the Ministry of Urban and Social Integration, an organism created ad hoc for urbanization works in the town.
Villa 31 de Retiro is the most affected by the coronavirus in the City. Photo: Germán García Adrasti
The Buenos Aires Government's response was that, after a drop in pressure due to a flaw in the San Martín de Aysa plant , which occurred on April 26, assistance was provided, together with the company, with supplies through trucks.
This operation, according to sources, had 6 trucks of 8,000 liters of capacity and 2 motorcycles of 500 liters. To this were added trucks from the company AySA, of 30,000 liters.
" 303,000 liters of water were distributed per day, including all the trucks and motorcycles that made several trips per day," they reported, adding that this Sunday it was verified that the pressure with which the water reached the neighborhood was necessary to supply it. . However, according to the neighbors, the problems persist.
With particularities, each neighborhood has its dynamics and situations that were suspended with the appearance of this pandemic. It also occurs in the Chacarita beach and in the Villa Rodrigo Bueno of Puerto Madero, where the residents had begun a process of moving to the new homes built by the City Housing Institute (IVC). Those removals are slowed, just like the loans that those who did move had begun to pay.
In Rodrigo Bueno, on a rainy day like this Monday, the anguish is focused especially on the residents who still continue to live below the level of the river and who have their houses mounted on stilt houses. With irony, a delegate told Clarín that "those families, who live two centimeters from the river and the box floods when two drops of rain fall, the City sent them alcohol gel."
The growth of cases in popular neighborhoods is on the policy agenda. From the Front of All, the legislator Laura Velasco, understands that "the resources are there, but the response of the Buenos Aires government has been very ineffective and very slow . We want to be proactive, the popular organizations put on the assistance tasks from the Committees of Crisis and you have to go out and ask for donations of bleach because not even that comes. Several days without water in Villa 31 in this context is directly immoral and the main cause of the exponential growth of infections, "the legislator evaluated.
From the Ministries of Human Development and Habitat and of Health, a series of actions are coordinated, focused on popular neighborhoods. Among other things, together with the parishes and neighborhood clubs, spaces were set up for older adults to move and pass the isolation in better sanitary conditions; a communication and awareness campaign was also launched; reinforcement of food, viands and bags in canteens, picnic areas and early childhood centers; and finally, cleaning operations on streets, corridors and even in homes.
