Marine firefighters from Marseille, specializing in the search for the coronavirus in wastewater, went to Moselle to train local firefighters in the department, where the Brazilian and South African variants continue to spread.   

REPORT

In Moselle, the spread of the Brazilian and South African variants continues to worry health authorities and local politicians.

While 30,000 additional vaccine doses were announced Monday by the prefecture for people aged at least 75 years and health professionals, the department is benefiting from another helping hand given by the marine firefighters of Marseille.

The latter, specializing in the search for the coronavirus in wastewater, went to the east of France to help and train local firefighters. 

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At the bottom of a wastewater sewer, equipped with a container at the end of a chain, a Moselle firefighter and a Marseille firefighter are on the move, both dressed in protective suits.

"We are very proud to be able to come to the aid of those who ask us," said Eric, who heads the teams from Marseille, to Europe 1, describing the course of operations.

"We took charge of these samples, we filtered them, sent them to the tarmac to be picked up by a plane chartered only for that. Two hours later, at Marseille-Provence airport, they were picked up by our services and analyzed immediately upon arrival in our laboratory. "

"Have the most precise mapping possible"

In Marseille, teams are able to spot one or another variant in the water in the sewers of Metz or Thionville, explains Olivier Delcayrou, the secretary general of the prefecture of Moselle.

"About thirty Moselle firefighters are mobilized on this system, and will take advantage of these few hours that they share with the Marseille firefighters to acquire their data and knowledge, then to be able to manage more independently", he assures at the microphone of Europe 1. "The objective is to have the most precise possible mapping of the entire department. We can speed up the tests and tools for protecting the population." 

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In sewage, the virus can be detected a good week before symptoms appear, which allows carriers of the virus to be isolated more quickly, and could ideally help contain the Brazilian and southern variants. African, very present in Moselle.