Overview
- The New York City Department of Health published a list of 31 Upper East Side buildings whose rooftop cooling towers tested positive for Legionella and ordered them to clean and disinfect the systems.
- By July 12, 19 buildings reported completing the required sanitation, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, which said it stayed open and uses monthly outside testing and treatment of its cooling tower.
- Health officials report more than 50 confirmed Legionnaires' cases tied to the cluster, with fewer than 20 people hospitalized and no deaths recorded so far.
- Authorities emphasized that standard tests detect bacterial DNA and cannot tell whether Legionella detected is alive, so positive results do not by themselves prove a given building caused the illnesses.
- The swift city orders reflect lessons from last year’s Harlem outbreak that was traced to cooling towers, and officials urge residents who develop fever, cough, or shortness of breath to seek medical care, especially older adults and people with lung disease.