Making beach path safe
VILLAJOYOSA council’s technical services department has begun work to improve the route down from the Tellerolla promenade to Torres beach.
The work is financed entirely by the council and includes repairing the stairs and sprucing up this access route to the beach.
The steps will be resurfaced and levelled for greater comfort and safety, and the fencing next to the steps will be restored using wood that was removed from the Tellerola coastal park. The wood will be treated and painted prior to installation.
In addition, a bench will be installed at the vantage point on the descent to the beach. These works, together with the cleaning and clearing of vegetation and any rubbish from the sides of the steps, will enhance the state of the path, giving it a renewed and improved appearance, according to acting councillor for technical services and the environment, Kiko Carreres.
He visited the area and was able to verify the deficiencies which need to be addressed.
He also took the opportunity to check on the state of the replacement works for the fencing in the Tellerola coastal park that started a few weeks ago.
Sr Carreres said the work is ‘very advanced’ and he hoped the park will soon be able to reopen to the public.
Similar work also starts this week on the access to the ‘Sendero de la Costa’ (coastal pathway), one of the most popular and scenic walking routes along Villajoyosa’s coastline from Torres beach up to the Torre del Aguiló
Roman remains in Cala Villajoyosa.
Council workers will carry out clearing work and remove fallen or damaged vegetation that hinder walkers’ progress.
Fencing that marks the access to the route will also be repaired to improve safety.
THE EFFICACY of new rapid saliva tests for Covid-19 has been validated by studies at eight primary attention centres in the Torrevieja and Vinalopó hospital catchment areas.
Both areas are managed for the regional public health service by the private health group Ribera Salud.
Ribera and medical material distributor Safadifarma presented the results of the research, carried out between January 3 and February 3, on Thursday. Saliva samples were taken from more than 1,400 patients, in parallel to performing conventional tests for the disease. These saliva tests correctly detected 94% of positive cases of Covid and 71% of healthy patients.
Assistant director of nursing for both areas, Paqui Puerta said they were able to carry out 1,403 tests ‘in record time’ and detected 688 cases of Covid, ‘in order to isolate them more quickly and provide the corresponding treatment’.
Ribera group director of patient care, Carlos Catalán praised the work of nurses during this important trial at such a busy time.
“January has been the month with the highest incidence of infections in the Vinalopó and Torrevieja areas, so the conclusions of the trial are crucial,” he said.
The trial also determined the test had sensitivity levels of up to 90% at some centres, in addition to allowing mass testing due to its low cost, speed, non-invasive procedure and not requiring specific infrastructure to check the results.
Of the patients tested, 79.8% displayed symptoms while 29.2% were asymptomatic.
The trial concluded that the test ‘enables large groups to be analysed and diagnosed quickly in order to identify positives and negatives who are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms'.