I'M CLEANING UP COVID

SANDRA PANKHURST IS AT THE FOREFRONT OF THE GLOBAL PANDEMIC

Spraying, wiping and sanitising have been a way of life for Sandra Pankhurst for the last three decades, but she never expected it to become an obsession for the rest of the nation.

The 68-year-old from Frankston, Victoria owns the trauma cleaning business, Specialised Trauma Cleaning Services, set up to deal with crime scenes and other extreme cleaning jobs. During the last eight months while other companies have floundered due to the effects of the global pandemic, her business has thrived.

Sandra and her staff have transformed their focus and found themselves on the frontline, cleaning up Covid-19.

“This week, my staff were called to Covid-clean a nursing home with 92 rooms, each room taking anywhere between 45 minutes to one hour for a crew of two or more,” Sandra tells New Idea exclusively. “You can imagine the all resources involved.”

The cleaning process involves fogging machines, industrial steamers and wiping down twice before washing with detergents and applying disinfectants.

Crews dress head to toe in hazmat suits and scour every nook and cranny for the virus, steaming carpets, wiping down blinds, scrubbing back drain scum and then leaving a protective seal of disinfectant behind.