Overview
- City officials announced on Tuesday that 90 people tested positive in the Upper East Side cluster and a sixth person has died, with six patients currently hospitalized and 65 discharged.
- Health Department testing screened roughly 160–190 cooling towers and found 77 PCR-positive towers and 59 culture-positive towers, and all PCR-positive systems were ordered drained, cleaned and disinfected.
- No new Legionnaires’ diagnoses or reported symptoms have been recorded since July 17, and city leaders say they believe the source of exposure has been eliminated.
- Lab culture confirmations and whole-genome sequencing are ongoing to link environmental samples to patient strains, and the City Council has scheduled oversight to review the department’s response and enforcement of testing rules.
- Survivors and clinicians warn recovery can be slow and severe, the outbreak underscores year-to-year risks from cooling towers, and officials note the episode follows stricter testing rules enacted after last summer’s Harlem outbreak.