The Challenge

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cleanliness and hygiene has never seemed more important than it is now. So people be sure to get to hospitals, germ-free more than a voice should be?

On the 26. March, Chicago, held for a moment of gratitude in the midst of the growing coronavirus crisis. People on their balconies, terraces and roofs, cheering and bell-ringing night in The Dark of winter.

The applause was for the health care workers, first responders, and service-industry workers on the front lines of the pandemic, were risking their lives Every Day to save people from The Virus rages across The World .

But for The Hospital -cleaner Candice Martinez, 39, the recognition of the nurses and the doctors feel your left empty. "It is disappointing for me is that us" Lower Level of employees, we do not always, any kind of recognition for what they are. "

As an Environmental Services worker (EVS) at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Ms Martinez is responsible for the cleaning of The Rooms while patients are in hospital, or after they are discharged or moved. And in The Middle of a pandemic, defined by The Need for cleanliness - it makes sense that The People , the cleaning of the very hospitals in which the coronavirus-victims fight For Life is of the utmost importance.

Ms Martinez is one of the thousands of the essential employees in The City who still go to work, in spite of The Crisis . And One of the 12,571 cases of Covid-19 identified in Chicago.

"When I was sick I was really scared. I have asthma, so I have Compromised breathing problems and my lungs are already. "

She is one of around 33,000 hospital service workers in Chicago, according to a University of Illinois 2018, the study says, you make on average between $26,000-31,000 a year.

"the whole building of The Hospital system is on The People who clean, wash, and provide cafeteria services", Dr. Robert Bruno, who has said 2018, the study, to The Bbc .

However, despite their importance, Ms Martinez said that the service employees are often The Last to learn about new protocols and procedures in The Hospital - as was the case with the coronavirus.

At the Front in the USA

"At the beginning of the pandemic, we began to strike bells in alarm, because the hospitals were working in the location, plans, our employees were not trained on it," says Anne Igoe, VP of hospitals for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

workers like Ms Martinez are "last on The List ," She says. "People look at you. If coronavirus began in Chicago, the nurses and doctors were invited in The Morning , puts on new protocols, and that information is not always to EVS workers," Ms Igoe says.

Ms Martinez's primary task is the cleaning of rooms according to women, the birth, the work rewards you with $14. 58 (£11. 71) per hour.

"We clean and disinfect The Room ," She says. "We pull the trash, and clean high-touch spots, such as light switches and doorknobs. "

It is risky during this pandemic, The Virus seems to survive on hard surfaces like doorknobs for days, and some suggest it is possible, it can even survive on clothes or in bedding.

Ms Martinez, the pay, like so many other EVS workers, relies on overtime your bills, which can mean, beginning at 07:00 and ends at almost midnight. On these marathon shifts She works on a variety of stations, and you suspected you contracted The Virus , if a patient room was not properly marked, or A Sign warning that the employee was wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) down to early.

"When I started to feel bad a few weeks ago, I recently had overtime work done in the part of The Hospital where coronavirus. I know that people who are on the shift at the same time on the same floor is now sick. "

She started up feverishly in The Middle of a 12-hour Sunday shift, And Then She did something She rarely does, you will have to leave work early.

First the headache, then The Fever came, so She called the Covid hotline and got an appointment for a test the next day. With a High Fever and cough, Ms Martinez, a bus And Then train for the hour-long trip from your Brighton Park boarded-quarter, to the Test Center in the downtown area.

Two Days later, they received the news that She had tested positive Covid-19.

Ms Martinez is white, but two-thirds of The Hospital 's service employees. The fight to these low-wage-provides a cleaner a wider problem, because The Virus has disproportionately, The City of the minorities suggested.

"Chicago, ill kept homes, and supported by our most vulnerable, low-wage, low-skilled, the most congested workers, the disproportionately of people of color," says Dr. Bruno.

The Challenge for workers like Ms Martinez, he adds, is the lack of flexibility that comes with a low-wage-workers, which means they have no other choice than to return to The Place you contracted The Virus .

Northwestern Memorial Hospital spokesman Christopher king said to The Bbc : "The health and safety of our employees, physicians and patients is our highest priority. Since the outbreak of the Covid-19, we have gone to extraordinary lengths to maintain an environment that protects them all. "

Although it is impossible to know exactly where or how Ms Martinez coronavirus commissioned, The Hospital has agreed to pay your workers compensation.

Ms-Igoe, The Union described The Situation for risk-The Hospital service-employees as a chaotic and inconsistent.

"Some EVS workers are immediately called and said, you clean a room that had a Covid-positive patients, and in some they are only an E-Mail sent, which can be problematic if you don't read it for days because you have a computer At Home . "

Many hospitals try to limit the exposure of infected patients, says Ms Igoe. "Nurses education are more food trays and linen change. Budget, the main task is to leave the cleaning of The Room after the patient. "

But these efforts could be Too Late for workers like Ms Martinez, who says The Hospital has asked you Back To work Three Days after their symptoms subside.

After about a week of work, She Said , She feels much better and is grateful for the sick leave provided by your employer, but it is not quite ready to go Back To work.

"It's about my approach, when I go back. I probably won't do the work overtime, for a long time, because I want to be in different parts of The Hospital . "

And not the overtime, which means that you can expect to receive a lower paycheque.

days later, Ms Martinez had to go Back To work, but you fear, you can catch him again.

healthcare, coronavirus pandemic, chicago

Source of news: bbc.com