The Metropolitan Region's Regional Health Secretary, Pía Venegas, said the region's drinking water is safe following the mudslide that hit Las Condes. The municipality was declared a disaster zone following the emergency, which occurred the previous day.
According to La Tercera, Venegas ruled out supply problems both inside and outside the worst-affected area. "Today there are no problems associated with drinking water," she said, specifying that this includes the disaster zone, the area under red alert and the area under yellow alert in Talagante. She added that water utilities are coordinating their work with the authorities.
The regional secretary also announced the start of a vaccination campaign against hepatitis and tetanus. It targets volunteers and workers who may be exposed to mud or contaminated materials, or suffer injuries during cleanup. Both infections can be transmitted through contaminated water or skin injuries, which explains the preventive measure.
Vaccinations are being administered through the Primary Health Care (PHC) network, local clinics and family health centers. An additional vaccination site is operating at Claro Arena. Venegas stressed that the vaccine "is safe, free and universal" during the emergency and also urged those helping with the response to get vaccinated.
Regarding the health care network, Acting Health Minister Julio Montt reported that the Centralized Bed Management Unit is monitoring availability for possible transfers. On the day of the mudslide, six patients from the UC Christus clinic were transferred within the Catholic University's network. The following day, another two were taken to Metropolitan Hospital.
At the scene, Presidential Delegate Germán Codina confirmed to 24 Horas that hepatitis vaccination had already begun under the regional health secretary's management. He also provided timelines for the municipality's recovery.
"Getting this back to normal will take several weeks and, probably, months," Codina said. He estimated that cleaning streets and sidewalks will take several days, although he hopes to restore traffic on all affected streets in a couple of days.
Machinery is operating in the Camino La Fuente area, where vehicles swept away by the mudslide have accumulated. Codina explained that crews first dig a trench so cranes can remove the cars before the mud hardens. For now, he asked volunteers not to obstruct the work and explained that they would avoid involving them in those tasks.
