Cory Chalmers: It's scary for us.
You know, we don't know if
there's truly COVID-19 in there yet,
so we have to act like there is
on almost every case we go into right now.
Narrator: In the wake of the pandemic,
companies that cleaned everything
from crime scenes to chemical spills to radioactive waste
are being called in to disinfect hot-spot areas
from the coronavirus.
These workers go to businesses and homes
where confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been documented,
in some cases leading to death,
putting themselves at risk of being infected with the virus.
They are an often-unseen group of essential workers
on the front lines of the outbreak.
To see what it takes to be on the front lines,
we followed Cory Chalmers,
the CEO of Steri-Clean, a company that specializes in
biohazard and crime-scene cleanup.
For a day, he showed us what it looks like
to be a professional cleaner during the outbreak.
Chalmers: We were called out to a home
where a lady had passed away.
The last time the son talked to her
she had had a terrible cough and the symptoms of COVID-19,
and then he didn't talk to her for a period of a week,
so he went over there to check on her
and found her deceased, unfortunately.
She unfortunately laid on the ground
for at least a few days,
which results in early-stage decomposition,
which can result in bacteria
even if there's not a virus present,
so we were then contacted to come in
and help him clean up the biohazards
and just make the home safe.
Narrator: Sanitizing services like Steri-Clean
are scrubbing down places suspected of being
contaminated by the novel coronavirus.
That includes cruise ships, offices,
warehouses, factories, coffee shops,
and the homes of the deceased,
like this one woman, who may have had COVID-19.
Chalmers: I've spent a lot of my days cleaning houses
and businesses, police cars.
There's just not a lot of resources here.
My day in the life has definitely changed
in the last month or so.
Narrator: Before entering a potentially contaminated space,
Chalmers and his team suit up,
wearing personal protective equipment
similar to healthcare workers on the front lines.
While the CDC hasn't confirmed any cases
of someone getting infected from the novel coronavirus
living on a surface, it still recommends
disinfecting surfaces regularly.
And researchers have found that the virus
can live on certain surfaces for hours and even days.
Chalmers: We wear full coveralls, which are disposable.
They're also splash resistant.
We wear N95 masks, respirators, so we're fully encapsulated.
We can't breathe in any of the particulates
that are out there floating around.
We wear shoe covers. We wear double gloves.
We're taped at the seam.
So we're really not allowing anything
to get inside of that suit or under our mask,
because we've got to take this off
and go home at the end of the day.
So we don't want to bring anything home with us.
Narrator: With his respirator mask on,
Chalmers enters the contaminated space
and first begins to remove any soiled clothes
or materials from all surfaces.
Chalmers: There was a lot of blood, which is uncommon,
but she did have a pretty bad cough,
so we ended up cutting out a lot of the carpeting
where there was blood and bodily fluids,
the chair that she was sitting in, part of the bed,
making it safe for the family to go in there.
Narrator: After disposing of the biohazard waste,
Chalmers' team scrubs contaminated surfaces
with an alcohol- or bleach-based product.
This step removes biofilms.
Chalmers: It's basically the invisible matter that,
just from our hands touching repeatedly,
build up on surfaces, and it's full of germs
and bacteria that cluster together.
And so those clusters are competing
with our disinfectant spray that we put on a surface.
Narrator: The work that Steri-Clean does
has to be thorough.
So, to confirm surfaces are properly cleaned,
Chalmers uses ATP monitors to test for cellular activity,
since as of now there's no test
that detects the COVID-19 virus on surfaces.
Chalmers: So, when we measure ATP on surfaces,
it's stored energy.
Every cell has it.
So if we know that we have reduced
the cellular activity on that surface,
we've done a good cleaning job.
Narrator: Once a surface has passed
the ATP monitor's test,
Chalmers can move on to the next step, disinfection,
which will penetrate any present viruses, not only COVID-19.
Chalmers So, we're worried about not only cleaning up
something visible for the family to not have to see,
but we want to make it safe for them to go in there
if there are viruses, pathogens,
and things that are invisible on the surfaces as well.
Narrator: Chalmers' team follows a strict
CDC-approved process for applying hospital-grade,
EPA-registered disinfectants
that claim to kill emerging pathogens.
Chalmers sprays disinfectant on all surfaces
and touch points, letting it sit
for the proper dwell time before wiping the surface.
That includes door handles, light switches,
keyboards, the backs and arms of chairs,
plus all horizontal surfaces, like tables,
countertops, and desks.
If it dries before the mandatory dwell time,
then the disinfectant is ineffective.
And they do this with electrostatic guns,
mechanical spraying systems, and handheld foggers.
Whole-room misting systems are used in larger spaces
to fill rooms with invisible disinfection mist.
In smaller cases like this one,
Chalmers' team uses electrostatic guns
to put an electric charge on the mist
so it wraps on the backside of surfaces
and coats them evenly throughout.
Narrator: Since their first COVID-19-related call
in early March,
the company has worked on dozens of cases.
Chalmers: Over that time, we've got to the point
where 99% of our calls were all COVID-19-related.
Just every call coming in.
I don't think COVID-19 is going away.
So I really think it's going to change our industry,
because I think this could be something
we see ongoing for years.