The Oaxaca State Health Department and the State Commission for the Prevention of Sanitary Risks have begun taking seawater samples from all tourist beaches in the state to determine if they are suitable for visitors during the December holidays.
This monitoring is carried out annually before each holiday season to ensure that none of these beaches pose a risk to tourists.
Jazmín Solano, head of the Evidence and Risk Management Department, stated:
The purpose is to evaluate the microbiological quality of the seawater. The monitoring consists of six days of sampling; one sample is taken daily at each beach.
For each holiday season, 17 beaches in three tourist destinations in Oaxaca are monitored: Huatulco Bays, Puerto Escondido, and Puerto Ángel.
With this monitoring, authorities aim to ensure that fecal enterococci do not exceed the levels permitted by health regulations, because when these levels are exceeded, they can cause stomach, skin, and eye illnesses among beachgoers.
Although some beaches on the Oaxacan coast have failed to meet standards in previous years, the clean beach committees are confident that this year all 17 tourist beaches in Oaxaca will comply with all controls without any problems.
For her part, Josefina López, a tourist, stated:
“I feel like this has been the clearest beach we’ve visited. The others are a little murkier, but it’s fine. I mean, unlike the weather in Coahuila, right now it’s three degrees there and here it’s clear as day.”
Source: nmas
