A fourth person died in the epidemic of legionaries in the center of Harlem, while the number of people with severe pneumonia rose to 99, against 90 earlier in the week, the city’s ministry and mental hygiene reported on Thursday.
The new accounts occurred a few hours after the city officials revealed that several buildings that house government programs are among those where water cooling towers have been tested positive for Legionella, bacteria that cause disease, in the midst of a survey on the source of the disease epidemic in the Harlem center.
This includes the Marshak Science Building of Cuny City College at 181 Canevent Ave., the NYC Economic Development Corp. at 40 West 137th St., and the central Harlem Sexual Health Clinic of the City Health Department at 2238 FIFTH AVE.
Among the 10 buildings identified by the health service, all except one had cooling tricks which were either late on the Legionella tests required or which had not been inspected by the city in the past year, according to a gothamist analysis of the city.
According to the law, the owners of buildings are required to test the presence of Legionella bacteria every three months. Although the city is not required to regularly inspect the cooling towers, the spokesperson for the Health Department, Chantal Gomez, said the agency aims to inspect each round each year. She added that staff shortages have made this difficult in recent years, but the agency continues to recruit inspectors.
Harlem hospital, a medical center managed by the city where many legionary patients in the current epidemic have been treated, were also tested positive.
City officials said they were still working to confirm what a specific cooling tower had caused the current epidemic.
Legionella bacteria can develop in the water cooling towers of the buildings, then get spitted in the air with the mist that the towers emit. If it is inhaled, Legionella can cause legionaries’ disease, a serious form of pneumonia.
The city previously declared that 11 towers of cooling in the region had been tested positive for Legionella thanks to an initial screening process, but refused to share their addresses at the time. City officials said they had now completed a more rigorous form of test and found 12 towers of cooling that tested positive. All except one have already undergone a correction and the last one will suffer from the sanitation by tomorrow, have indicated city officials.
The number of new cases of legionaries reported has started to decrease, suggesting that the bacteria source was contained, said the acting of the interim city on Thursday, Dr. Michelle Morse, at a press conference on the epidemic of Harlem hospital.
“I want to assure everyone that the air is sure to breathe,” said Mayor Eric Adams at the press conference, hours before the announcement of the fourth death. “I know that the central community of Harlem and so many New Yorkers are anxious.”
In recent weeks, the city has advised people who live and work in the postal codes affected by the epidemic (10027, 10030, 10035, 10037 and 10039) to immediately consult medical care if they experience symptoms associated with legionaries, including coughing, difficulty, fever, chills or muscle pain. Legionaries can be treated effectively with antibiotics if they are taken early, according to city health officials.
Morse said that she and other city health workers were busy publicizing the legionaries to ensure people’s safety.
But some Harlem residents criticized the city for not having previously published the addresses of the water cooling towers which initially detected positive for Legionella.
Morse defended WNYC’s decision earlier this week, saying: “The reason why we have not yet disclosed the locations of the building, once again, it is because of this concern that we would give people a false feeling of security before our investigation is really complete.”
At the time, Morse said that because Legionella can travel in the air, everyone in the five affected postal codes should be vigilant on the symptoms of the legionaries, that they live near the buildings that have tested positive.
The Senator of the Cordell Cleee State, Democrat of Harlem, said that she was planning to put pressure for new state legislation to improve the regulations of the cooling tower.
“As much as we answered, three lives are too numerous,” said Cleee. “Our communities cannot continue to serve as a canary in the coal mine.”
A Gothamist analysis of public data has revealed that city inspections have decreased considerably since their start in 2017. But the responsibility of keeping clean towers also lies in builders of buildings. About 75% of all the cooling laps of the postal codes affected by the current epidemic have up -to -date reports on their Legionella tests at the beginning of August, against 73% throughout the city, revealed Gothamist.
Arya Sunday contributed to his article.
This is a news and will be updated.
