While the city has made the use of face masks mandatory, in several hospitals, where the fiercest battle against the coronavirus is being waged, workers have to buy their own protection at hardware stores.
Every day Maria cleans the facilities that COVID-19 patients have just vacated at a Los Angeles County hospital.
"We do not have the necessary equipment to work properly," says María in a telephone interview, "when I go to work, I arrive with fear, anxiety and too much stress, because I do not know what I have to face with this coronavirus."
They give you a mask per week to come into each room to clean thoroughly to ensure that you get rid of all traces of coronavirus.
"I see that the doctors and nurses have all the necessary equipment to do their job, but we don't," he explains with a tone of concern.
He even wonders if "my life is less valuable than that of doctors and nurses", because the lack of protection is obvious, "because I work in the cleaning department, do I not deserve the same treatment?"
María and Juan, a cleaning partner of his, describe that the doctors and nurses work with special helmets to enter to see patients, they have lenses similar to those of motorcyclists, on these lenses another protection, N95 masks.
Doctors and nurses have "their bodies are covered with special gowns and wear gloves and cover their shoes," among other equipment.
In contrast, cleaning staff are given the mask that they have to store and reuse during the week, a cap and regular glasses.
"We have to find equipment that works for us, we go for example to the Home Depot to find what can help us," says María.
With this adapted equipment, but without guarantees of adequate protection, the cleaning workers of Los Angeles County hospitals have to guarantee that they completely disinfect the areas that patients and Health personnel who face the pandemic are temporarily leaving free, until the next patient arrives.
"I would like them to understand that we need a better team to do our job," says María, "I am afraid for my health and for my family."
Cleaning workers at Los Angeles County hospitals, where California's biggest battle against COVID-19 is facing, don't have health insurance.
In an interview with La Opinion, they questioned who would take care of them if they got sick from doing their job.
Juan, for his part, is one of those in charge of picking up everything that has just been used when a bed or room is cleared where a patient with the disease that causes the coronavirus is treated.
"We have to change everything, even the curtains, and if due to work we lose the mask they give us every week, we have to work without a mask: it is a problem because they don't give us another one," explains Juan.
Remember that when the presence of the coronavirus was only registered in the Los Angeles area, “they gave us more equipment; they gave us hair covers, they gave us shoe protectors, for example. ”
But the employee reveals that as the presence of the coronavirus in Los Angeles has been increasing, “all that has been taken from us; they tell us that it is no longer necessary ”.
The question Juan asks is how the situation becomes more risky and the company they work for removes protection from them, arguing that it is no longer needed.
"Over time we have become friends with nurses, and when we go into a room where there is danger, they themselves tell us, 'do not enter that room if you do not have the necessary protection', because it is a place where there is someone positive ”in the COVID-19 test, explains the worker.
The company that hires both workers, among many others, Morrison Heathcare, did not respond to requests from the press. The company has as spokesperson or public relations officer a specialized firm that ignored requests.
However, another employee gave La Opinion a copy of a communication in which the management of the cleaning and waste removal departments, among others, do not require masks.
“There is NO NEED to wear a mask at this time, available masks will be provided. It is important to remember that the masks are not intended to protect you from others, they are intended to contain diseases if you are sick / ill yourself, ”according to the company.
Raúl, a cafeteria employee at the Los Angeles General Hospital, told La Opinion that two of his colleagues have fallen ill with CIVUD-19 and he fears it was precisely due to a lack of adequate equipment.
He claims that both employees became ill from bringing food to people who fed coronavirus patients.
"What I ask is that, if all the county employees have good protection, why not us," Raúl questioned.
As La Opinion wrote this article, the city of Los Angeles tightens its measures in its fight against the spread of the coronavirus and since this Friday, April 10, forces its residents to use a mask or bandana to cover their mouth and nose while are in essential business.
All the names of the employees were changed for fear of retaliation.
