With thousands of deaths and millions of infected people, the Coronavirus has caused havoc worldwide in a few short months. 2020, predicted to be a year of growth, and economic prosperity has turned into a complete financial disaster. Whether we talk about small scale industries or big multi-nationals, every business has faced immense setbacks.
However, if we cast a look on the other side, we can see some businesses are still blossoming in this dire time. Among the e-commerce business, medical products, digital learning service, and many others, the cleaning business tops the list. It is because the demand for cleaning and sanitization products has skyrocketed.
It cannot be denied that cleaners suffered a lot when the pandemic started to grow. Since the contagion seems to have no end in sight, many countries are practicing lockdown, with few businesses still operating. These businesses, like grocery stores, hospitality, praying areas, medical stores, etc. are essential to operate as they are crucial at this time.
These places, therefore, require thorough and frequent cleaning and disinfecting services giving a boost to the cleaning services. In this article, we will take a look at how the cleaning service has been servicing us during the pandemic.
Cleaning Industry Rises To the Challenge
The employees working for businesses that are still open required their employers to provide a clean and virus-free working environment. Employees were concerned about their health and safety as the virus is easier to catch.
To ensure a safe working environment, these businesses then knocked on the doors of professional disinfecting and cleaning companies. The companies that were called once a month now became a daily requirement for the commercial sector.
Although the government has mandated a lot of SOPs for the commercial sector, routine cleaning by professional workers is a dire need. Thus, cleaning businesses are experiencing a tremendous boom at a time when others are struggling hard to survive.
These are the places where professional cleaners are high in demand:
1. Grocery Stores
Humans cannot survive without food and basic necessities of life, and therefore, it’s no surprise that grocery stores were allowed to remain open. Many people have stocked up, but most don’t have the money to stock up more than two-weeks of food.
Therefore, they visit the grocery stores once every two weeks for their daily bread and butter. Thus, the traffic on the grocery stores is still higher, though many well-heeled families have stocked up things.
This poses a severe risk of catching the infection. Thus, several cleaning companies are providing services at grocery stores. Since the percentage of grocery stores is higher, the overall demand for cleaning professionals is doubled.
2. Hospitals
Hundreds of patients are being diagnosed at hospitals daily. This makes it the most vulnerable place to catch the virus. The waiting areas, bathrooms, doorknobs, elevators, cafeteria, and parking lots of a hospital may transmit the germs even to the doctors, visitors, nurses, and others.
The demand for cleaning business services by hospitals and quarantine areas is hiking as the number of cases is increasing. Though the hospital staff is taking acute measures for health protection, this does not remove the demand for disinfection and sanitization.
Professional cleaning and disinfecting services are, therefore, of the most priority in hospitals worldwide.
3. Nursing Homes
Old people are at high risk of being fatally affected by Coronavirus because of a weakened immune system and various underlying health conditions. Though the residents of the nursing homes are practicing social distancing, the staff is still going outside to purchase and perform regular chose.
Apart from it, new people are also being registered in nursing homes, raising questions about the health safety of the present ones. This creates a demand for professional cleaners.
4. Common Praying Areas
To make the praying areas safe and secure, authorities of different areas are calling the cleaning workers for disinfection. Since it is a commonplace where people come every day, safety measures should be ensured.
Governments have asked practitioners to pray while standing 6 feet apart, bring their own prayer mats, and refrain from intermingling with each other. Alongside these precautions, governments have also mandated the regulators of religious places to ensure the cleaning and disinfection of the praying areas daily.
5. Common Areas
Though social distancing is maintained, common areas like elevators, corridors, and passages need to be disinfected. The need gets intensified if there is some patient in the apartment. Thus, the cleaning business is also serving many apartment complexes at the moment.
The Cleaning Industry Working at High Risk
Just like doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff, cleaners also deserve a salute. Undoubtedly, they are putting their lives at risk to disinfect the places. If not all, few of their areas are highly suspected of having COVID-19 infections. This doubles the risk for them to catch the infection.
Some threats being faced by cleaners are:
· Chemical Reactions
Apart from it, the hard chemicals they use to disinfect surfaces may be harmful to their health. These chemicals can sometimes cause several problems like:
– Eye allergies and eye irritations
– Skin allergies and rash (particularly on sensitive skins)
– Nasal irritation
One of the harmful chemicals is Virex, which is widely being used at this time. This chemical has caused burns and rashes to some workers.
· Shortage of Protective Products
The protective equipment is short in the market. N95 masks, which are essential for workers who are working at high-risk, are short in supply. Though the workers are using regular gloves, masks, and face protectors, they are dismayed with a lack of training and unavailability of products.
Some cleaning companies like Carpet Cleaning Chislehurst have made adequate measures for the employees, while others have forgone employee safety completely. In the lust of making high revenues, the companies have even hired new workers with sick leaves and vacations, but are unable to provide protective measures for their health safety.
The war of corona is still going, and cleaning companies are fighting every day. At present, the companies are enjoying this burgeoning demand that has doubled their forecasted sales so far. When the pandemic will get over, and things get normalized, the demand will not decrease much. This is what the cleaning businesses are optimistic about.
We hope that the virus goes away soon, but one thing is for sure, despite the risks, commercial cleaners are not going anywhere!
