A FRANKSTON gym director said the Health Department had confirmed that it “appears unlikely” that a gymnasium’s spa was the source of a legionella outbreak reported last week.
Core24’s Joe Russo said Friday he was disappointed that the health department had “implicated the good name of Core24 when at this point there is no direct evidence that any disease has been found in the club”.
Mr Russo said that “at no stage was the spa in a state where a disease could have developed. All evidence is circumstantial and has no basis on fact.”
He said the club’s first priority was to comply with the [Department of Health’s] process. “However, we would like to assure our members that we have the very best equipment and monitoring systems which comply with world’s best practice in our spa area.”
The department had reported that two people who had attended the gym contracted Legionnaires Disease. Deputy chief health officer – communicable diseases, Dr Brett Sutton, advised “anyone who may have used the spa to be on the lookout for possible symptoms, which could develop over the next 10 days”.
“Legionnaires disease causes flu-like symptoms, such as headache, fever, chills, muscle aches and pains, followed by respiratory problems and pneumonia often developing over three or four days,” she said.
Mr Russo said the spa had been closed until test results were released this week.
“The health department have now inspected the facility, plant room, pool testing records and have taken water samples,” he said.
“The inspector was impressed with the advanced sanitation system we have in place.
“We have super chlorinated the spa in line with the health departments request to disinfect the whole system.”