A General Motors engineering building near Detroit will be closed for the rest of the week after two employees tested positive for Legionnaires' disease, and the company continues to try and rid the building of any illness, a GM spokesperson said.
The Cole Engineering building in Warren tested positive for the presence of the bacteria associated with the disease through a third-party lab in select samples.
Watch Ruta Ulcinaite's video report below:
"The building will remain closed through the remainder of the week as we work with our third-party experts and local health authorities to review the test data received from the lab," GM said in a statement on the matter. "We will develop and implement a detailed remediation plan for all affected systems before reopening."
One worker who designs automotive at the Cole Center did not want to be identified due to his job, but said that the move out from the building had to happen quickly a few weeks back. It made him think back to what happened during COVID-19.
“We were informed of the possibility that there would be some testing that would be done and informed that we’d be working from home that next day going forward until they have more answers," he said.
The employee says he appreciates how quickly the company acted on this, as do health experts like 7 News Detroit chief health editor Dr. Partha Nandi.
"In this case, General Motors acted quickly, which is great, to close the building, send the employees home to work remotely," Nandi said. "According to the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control, symptoms can take two to 14 days after exposure to really appear, sometimes even longer. Since it's been about two weeks since the building was closed, there is still a risk."
Hear more from Dr. Partha Nandi in the video player below:
GM has not said when the engineering building will reopen.
