Holiday of the Dead lights up alert for care at cemeteries

Cemeteries are places to honor loved ones who have died. With the arrival of All Souls’ Day, the number of visits to the site increases, and thus the number of flower pots, candles, and objects used for decoration and veneration in chapels and tombs. The alert, given by the epidemiological surveillance of Urusanga, through the agents of endemic diseases, is to take care of the accumulation of water that can occur after rains in these places, which generates the risk of the spread of larvae of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which transmits dengue, yellow viruses, chikungunya and Zika virus.

“Every 15 days, we go to all cemeteries to check and eliminate potential mosquito breeding sites. We turn over vases, plates and containers where water can accumulate. With community guidelines to help us care and avoid using water-accumulating items,” explains endemic worker, Vanderlei Figueiredo Tavares.

Recommendations include:

avoid vases and pots in which water can accumulate and give preference to models with holes, both for mobile and stationary vases;

do not leave garbage piled next to the graves;

Make regular visits to your loved ones and friends, and always leave the graves clean and tidy.