Commissioner Martin on remediation strategy and biocide risks
Martin explains the aggressive strategy of ordering cleaning for all PCR-positive towers, and why blanket biocide was not recommended due to corrosion risks. He says the bacterial source was likely eliminated within a week of launching the investigation.
That is a more aggressive strategy than our city has ever taken.
We were overwhelmed with inquiries about whether people should be able to go to the Upper East Side.
Cooling tower cleaning and disinfecting effectively eliminates Legionella bacteria, but cleaning without testing first poses its own set of risks.
We were overwhelmed with inquiries about whether people should be able to go to the Upper East Side.
We were overwhelmed with inquiries about whether people should be able to go to the Upper East Side.
We were overwhelmed with inquiries about whether people should be able to go to the Upper East Side.
That's why we did not recommend blanket biocide for every cooling tower in the investigation area.
We were overwhelmed with inquiries about whether people should be able to go to the Upper East Side.
We were overwhelmed with inquiries about whether people should be able to go to the Upper East Side.
The frequent and aggressive
abuse of biocide can corrode the internal cooling tower system and strip the protective materials, ultimately making way for more Legionella growth in the future.
We were overwhelmed with inquiries about whether people should be able to go to the Upper East Side.
We were overwhelmed with inquiries about whether people should be able to go to the Upper East Side.
We were overwhelmed with inquiries about whether people should be able to go to the Upper East Side.
We were overwhelmed with inquiries about whether people should be able to go to the Upper East Side.
The CDC recommends a balance of strategic testing and remediation rather than blanket treatments.
We were overwhelmed with inquiries about whether people should be able to go to the Upper East Side.
This summer, we struck that balance.
We were overwhelmed with inquiries about whether people should be able to go to the Upper East Side.
The data indicates that any source of bacteria causing this cluster was likely eliminated within a week of launching the investigation.
We were overwhelmed with inquiries about whether people should be able to go to the Upper East Side.
We were overwhelmed with inquiries about whether people should be able to go to the Upper East Side.
We were overwhelmed with inquiries about whether people should be able to go to the Upper East Side.
Over 90 people, 90% of the people in the cluster developed symptoms before July 7th.
We were overwhelmed with inquiries about whether people should be able to go to the Upper East Side.
Remember, we called this cluster into order on July 2nd, just five days.
We were overwhelmed with inquiries about whether people should be able to go to the Upper East Side.
We were overwhelmed with inquiries about whether people should be able to go to the Upper East Side.
After the health department launched its investigation, 90% of those who were sickened by this already had developed their symptoms.
We were overwhelmed with inquiries about whether people should be able to go to the Upper East Side.
We were overwhelmed with inquiries about whether people should be able to go to the Upper East Side.
We were overwhelmed with inquiries about whether people should be able to go to the Upper East Side.
Symptoms typically appear two to ten days after exposure and can take up to two weeks.
We were overwhelmed with inquiries about whether people should be able to go to the Upper East Side.
That means the majority of people who got sick were likely exposed in the week or two before we discovered the cluster.
We were overwhelmed with inquiries about whether people should be able to go to the Upper East Side.
We were overwhelmed with inquiries about whether people should be able to go to the Upper East Side.
As soon as we learned about a possible cluster, we took action.
We were overwhelmed with inquiries about whether people should be able to go to the Upper East Side.
While our team of epidemiologists, microbiologists, and water ecologists worked long hours to pinpoint and contain this cluster,
We were overwhelmed with inquiries about whether people should be able to go to the Upper East Side.
We were overwhelmed with inquiries about whether people should be able to go to the Upper East Side.