Health scare hits Gorgie Road retailers

Senior News Reporter

Friday 8 June 2012

TRADERS on the normally bustling Gorgie Road looked out on to an all but deserted parade yesterday after business had plummeted by more than half since the Legionnaires' outbreak.

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Brian Donnelly

The shock fall came after the Scottish Government confirmed the disease's deadly droplets had been released into the atmosphere above the streets surrounding the building site where labourer Robert Air, its first victim, had worked.

Ashley McGregor, 21, manager of The Wee Shop in Gorgie Road, which is directly across from the building site, said: "I've never seen Gorgie so quiet in my life."I knew him but not by name, they all come in here. I would say my business was down by more than half. "There was nobody on the street."The paper said he had underlying health problems, but when I was speaking to the workmen they were saying he was a really healthy guy."They said he hadn't been well for a few days and some of them were tested for signs yesterday."They all had masks over their faces yesterday but none of them were wearing them today."He was only in his 50s, he was not old. It's a shame."A worker at a nearby site, who asked not to be named, said: "I had no idea it [Legionella bacteria] had been pouring into the air."I thought it was in the coolers in the buildings."One man who fits the high risk category said yesterday he believed more information should have been made available to the public sooner.William Annandale, 58, of Dalry, who has a lung condition, said it was also concerning more new cases may emerge.He said: "It's a worry. I've got chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and use an inhaler."A nearby resident added: "It's what they're not telling us, that's the thing."

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Health scare hits Gorgie Road retailers

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