Governor Andrew Cuomo on Sunday promised to take state action to regulate cooling towers, after an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the South Bronx that has killed ten people and infected at least 100.
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The South Bronx remained ground zero for the outbreak, as the bacteria have now been found in a total of 10 buildings. However, in a speech made Saturday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the outbreak “has been contained”, despite his acknowledgement that this outbreak was unprecedented in its nature. In recent days, de Blasio’s team sought to reassure New Yorkers that the rate of Legionnaires’ infections is waning, while Cuomo voiced concern about the flare-up and likened it to something out of a “bad science fiction movie”. “We are committed to keeping New Yorkers safe and we will continue our efforts to prevent the increased number cases of this disease”.
De Blasio last week announced that NYC will start to inspect cooling towers.
“We’ve never seen a situation like this before in New York City or, of course, these efforts would have been in place in advance”, the mayor said.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state Department of Health would offer free testing of cooling towers and evaporative condenser units, where the bacteria also can hide.
According to ABC7NY, the following buildings in New York had their cooling towers scrubbed after testing positive for the virus: Streamline Plastics Company, the Opera House Hotel, Concourse Plaza Mall, Lincoln Hospital and a Verizon office at 117 Street.
“The good news is, this outbreak is clearly tapering off”, he added.
“And I want to say to the people in the Bronx and I want them to know, government is responding to them, just the way government would respond in Manhattan”. Officials said they believe that contaminated water mist emitted by the structures is the cause of the cluster of Legionnaires’ infections in the South Bronx. Then Cuomo announced that 150 officials would be sent to help with testing. Under Cuomo’s direction, on Saturday state health commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker arrived at Montefiore Robert Moses facility to test for the bacteria. Hospital staff said they followed strict guidelines on keep the cooling towers. All five buildings have already had their cooling towers cleaned and do not appear to pose any danger to locals, health officials said. However, the state and city health departments are asking the residents to not panic and stay calm as the legionella bacteria induced disease is not communicable. But their presence in the Bronx comes a day after the long-simmering feud between Cuomo and de Blasio ignited again over their administrations’ response to the outbreak.
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Infections result from inhaling airborne droplets of contaminated water.
