Good afternoon,
You may have read, seen or heard in the media or on social media about service users on the Bibby Stockholm being evacuated after environmental samples from the barge’s water system showed levels of Legionella bacteria which require further investigation.
For your reassurance, tests of the water at point of entry to the vessel have shown no indication of Legionella.
The Home Office has issued this statement we wish to share with you:
“The health and welfare of individuals on the vessel is our utmost priority. Environmental samples from the water system on the Bibby Stockholm have shown levels of Legionella bacteria which require further investigation.
“Following these results, the Home Office has been working closely with UKHSA and following its advice in line with long established public health processes, and ensuring all protocol from Dorset Council’s Environmental Health team and Dorset NHS is adhered to.
“As a precautionary measure, all 39 asylum seekers who arrived on the vessel this week are being disembarked while further assessments are undertaken.
“No individuals on board have presented with symptoms of Legionnaires’, and asylum seekers are being provided with appropriate advice and support.
“The samples taken relate only to the water system on the vessel itself and therefore carry no direct risk indication for the wider community of Portland nor do they relate to fresh water entering the vessel. Legionnaires’ disease does not spread from person to person.”
Kind regards,
Bill Reeves
Chief Executive Officer
Portland Port Group
Admin: 11th Aug 2023 17:15:00
Admin: 26th Jul 2024 16:54:00