Legionella Feature


Legionella concerns post-lockdown


Legionnaires’ disease could be on the rise in post-lockdown properties, according to a recent report by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH). HMM Features Editor Jack Wooler investigates why this is, and the actions required under law for landlords


Safety & Regulation


risks of Legionnaires’ disease. In a report from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH), it


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has warned that as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic there is potential for an increase in susceptibility of Legionnaires’ disease. The Legionnaires’ Disease: lockdown risks and reopening safely report advises


that there are multiple reasons for an increased likelihood of the waterborne pathogens responsible for Legionella being present in the conditions that lockdown has created. Such reasons include the fact that there will be more compromised respiratory systems during or after infection with the virus, and that (though


s tenant activity increases and landlords begin moving residents into homes that have remained empty throughout lockdown, it is essential that water systems are not put back into use without considering the


Ideally, changes in Legionella risk will have been considered at an early point in planning lockdown arrangements


housing has perhaps suffered less than other property types) the increase in empty buildings that Covid has produced provides the perfect breeding ground for Legionella. With Legionella bacteria - the root of Legionnaires’ disease - being caused by


water system stagnation, landlords should be more careful than ever with unoccupied premises.


www.housingmmonline.co.uk | HMM October/November 2020 | 37


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