Public Works - MS (Parks) assigned this issue to Public Works - PL (Buildings)

The DPW turns off the water to the Hand Washing station during the cold weather season to protect it from freezing. This has been the standard procedure since the installation of the Portland Loo in 2015, and there is the hand sanitizer unit within the Portland Loo for use.

Sorry for the typos.

If the water is off, there should be a sign that indicates that. People should not have to guess and wonder and/or get frustrated. Communication is easy!

ETHYL (at 80%) ALCOHOL IS NOT EFFECTIVE AGAINST HEPATITIS A VIRUS

“Ethyl alcohol, at concentrations of 60%–80%, is a potent virucidal agent inactivating all of the lipophilic viruses (e.g., herpes, vaccinia, and influenza virus) and many hydrophilic viruses (e.g., adenovirus, enterovirus, rhinovirus, and rotaviruses but not hepatitis A virus (HAV) 58 or poliovirus) 49. Isopropyl alcohol is not active against the nonlipid enteroviruses but is fully active against the lipid viruses 72

https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/guidelines/disinfection/disinfection-methods/chemical.html#Alcohol

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7132458/

It’s utterly disgraceful that this is what Cambridge’s Harvard Square offers for public rest facilities.

There should be a reg requiring a posting of what etiological agents hand sanitizers are not effective against.

HEPATITIS A (Hep A) CAN SURVIVE WEEKS TO MONTHS ON SURFACES, so when people walk through MBTA stations where people are sheltering and relieving themselves and then put their feet on the seats….

The DPW turns off the water to the Hand Washing station during the cold weather season to protect it from freezing. This has been the standard procedure since the installation of the Portland Loo in 2015, and there is the hand sanitizer unit within the Portland Loo for use.

Massachusetts health officials are warning that a hepatitis A outbreak has hit the state …. Several of the patients reported being recently homeless or having unstable housing, as well as a history of injection or other drug use, according to an alert issued Monday by the MDPH.

ALCOHOL HAND SANITIZER IS INEFFECTIVE AGAINST HepA AND WITHOUT POSTING THIS CAVEAT ON HAND SANITIZER DISPENSERS LEADERSHIP IS PROMULGATING A FALSE SENSE OF SAFETY.

Freddy I’m right there with you friend but this platform is for reporting constituent issues to the city of Cambridge that they can immediately assign work orders to get fixed. For complaints about the MBTA please join me in using the “see-something-say-something” for direct coms with transit police or go to MBTA.com and scroll down to their customer comments tool. I agree they should be ashamed of themselves but they’re….not for some reason.