SB 410 Public school buildings: School board shall maintain water management program to prevent Legionnaires’ disease.
On March 7, 2020, Virginia’s State Governor signed into law the Public School Buildings; Water Management Program; Prevention of Legionnaires’ Disease Bill. It requires each school board to maintain a water management program for the prevention of Legionnaires’ disease at each public school building in the local school division and to conduct testing for the Legionella in each public school. This bill was initiated by the finding of Legionella in cooling towers throughout several public schools in the Chesterfield district.
Like much of the country, Virginia was hit hard by the Coronavirus pandemic, with more than 1,500 deaths across the state. As they now move towards reopening the schools in the fall, this Legionella prevention bill will be an important safeguard against Legionnaires’ disease, a respiratory illness with symptoms much like COVID-19.