For 10 days, 24-year-old Vinod*, a sanitation worker, finished his night shift at a COVID-19 treatment ward at Lok Nayak Hospital and returned home to his 12-member family — the youngest member being his elder brother’s two-year-old son, Harshu.
“I was scared that I would infect my family with the virus. So, I went straight to the terrace and bathed in hot water and washed my clothes and then only I met anyone in the house,” the sanitation worker said.
The government did not provide him with any accommodation, he said. The Delhi government has provided accommodation for doctors and nurses who are on COVID-19 duty, but he said that there were no such facilities for sanitation workers.
“About 15 people who were working with me left the job after we were given duty in COVID-19 wards. Sabko apni jaan pyaari hai na?” said Vinod.
“In between, I was unwell and took medicines. I got really scared and spoke to my parents. They advised me not to work for a while,” he said, who earns ₹13,000 a month.
The sanitation worker said he was given PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) to clean the wards, rooms, toilets used by COVID-19 patients, but not while washing bedsheets used by patients.
“After the COVID-19 patients started coming, they asked us to wash their bedsheets and also the pink gown worn by doctors and nurses. Many times, the bedsheets were dirty,” said Vinod, who works at the hospital through a private company.
“We were not given protective kits (PPE) for washing and were only given the OT (operation theatre) gowns. I had to dip about 15 bedsheets in a big plastic drum and then add bleach and a chemical to it. Many a times, my clothes got wet as it did not cover the whole body,” he said.
He said that the PPE given to them was very thin and sometimes would tear or the zip won’t work. “When it tears, we do not realise it at that time and later only we notice it. Then we go to the nurse and get a white tape and fix the kit with it. We clean their rooms and toilets. We should also be given better facilities,” Vinod, hailing from Uttar Pradesh, said.
On March 30, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced that the government had arranged 100 individual rooms in The Lalit, a five-star hotel, for the doctors who are treating in COVID-19 wards.
Following multiple complaints by nurses, the government announced better accommodation for nurses on Thursday. The worker, said, “We do not get any facilities and no one complains, because if we complain, the company will sack us.”
Also, though Delhi has a 14-day work and 14-day quarantine plan for health workers and medical professionals who are on COVID-19 duty, Vinod said that there were no such facility for sanitation workers.
No response
When reached out for a comment, J.C. Passey , medical director of Lok Nayak Hospital, said, “I am at a meeting”.
He did not respond to multiple calls and messages following it. The Delhi government spokesperson also did not offer a response on the issue.
“Our union is for government workers and not contractual workers, but currently we are looking into contract workers also. Now giving stay for sanitation workers also, but they are not very educated and many of them are not aware about it. We are trying to reach out to contract workers too,” said, Balwant Singh, general secretary of Lok Nayak Hospital Svasthy Karamchari Union.
(* name has been changed to protect identity)
