After the outbreak, many hospitals in Wuhan generated more garbage and medical waste than usual, and the cleaning requirements were more stringent. Outside the public eye, there is a group of people who silently fight in the "high-risk zone". They clean up garbage, disinfect toilets, and deal with medical waste... Using their own hands to protect the cleanliness of the hospital. In the face of the epidemic, there are always people who are carrying heavy loads.

Squadron of Cabin Cleaning"

"Everyone take a break, and then go to each cabin later. If you see that the garbage container is full, empty it quickly. Come on!" Zhang Denghan encouraged his colleagues in the Jiangan Cabin Hospital in Wuhan.

Zhang Denghan is a sanitation worker and the leader of this cleaning team. Since the Jiangan Cabin Hospital received patients, the cleaning team has undertaken all the cleaning work of the hospital. Cleaning garbage cans, disinfecting toilets, and cleaning the floor, there are a lot of work to be done inside and outside every day. The Jiangan Cabin, which has 1,000 beds, has 200 large garbage cans that need to be cleaned.

"You have to walk at least two or three times in a shift, and one shift is four hours. Basically, you have to walk nearly 10,000 steps in a shift."

Cleaning in the square cabin is not only physically demanding, but also very risky because you need to come into contact with patients' daily life and medical waste. Although wearing a full set of protective clothing, everyone was still a little nervous at the beginning.

Zhang Denghan, 32 years old this year, was once a soldier in the armed police force. After retiring, he has been engaged in sanitation work for 11 years. On February 7, when he learned that a commando team was to be formed for the construction and cleaning of the Jiangan square cabin, he signed up immediately.

"When we were called out to gather, we felt like we were preparing to go to the battlefield."

After fighting for 5 days and 5 nights, Zhang Denghan and his colleagues laid out 1,000 beds and the Jiangan square cabin was officially put into use. However, on February 15, Zhang Denghan encountered an accident during the high-intensity cleaning work.

"I was in there for four hours, and then I felt like I couldn't do it anymore. I felt dizzy, and the mask stuck to my mouth, so basically no air came in. Then I ran outside, and maybe I lifted the mask a little bit, and I breathed the air in the cabin."

Because he was directly exposed in the cabin, Zhang Denghan was transferred to the quarantine point for observation, but his heart was always concerned about the work in the cabin. On the one hand, he helped coordinate the work arrangements in the cabin remotely, and on the other hand, he took the initiative to ask the leader to go back to the front.

"If we don't get sick, we will continue to work here and keep the cabin closed; if we get this disease, I hope the leader will arrange us in the Jiangan Cabin Hospital, where we will help our colleagues complete their work."

Fortunately, Zhang Denghan was not infected and returned to his post immediately after 14 days of quarantine. There are a total of 8 veterans in this 50-person cleaning commando team. At the temporary rest point outside the cabin, they sometimes chat about work and life in the army while changing shifts. Some people are still used to wearing their former military uniforms.

When they met in the quarantine center, they always encouraged each other. Chen Song, a member of the cleaning team, said: "Sometimes when we meet during the shift change, you pat me on the shoulder, and I gesture to you to cheer you up, and we must win this battle."

At dinner time, Zhang Denghan, who had already finished get off work, did not return to the hotel with his colleagues, but continued to arrange the handover work for the night shift staff until he saw them go in. He said that he was a party member and a team leader, and he must take good care of everyone.

"There are a total of 50 people in the team, and our biggest responsibility is to bring these 50 people back safely."

Medical waste "Terminator"

After the outbreak, the treatment of medical waste in Wuhan was overloaded. The local Environmental Protection Bureau found the largest industrial waste treatment plant in the city and asked them to help deal with medical waste. However, medical waste treatment is different from industrial waste treatment, and both personnel protection and equipment transformation face great challenges.

During this special period, a treatment plant was ordered to complete the transformation of the medical waste treatment area in 48 hours. In the short period of time afterwards, the treatment plant played a significant role from treating ordinary medical waste to treating medical waste caused by COVID-19, from treating medical waste in the district to treating medical waste in five districts.

When Mei Gang, the person in charge of the treatment plant, first learned that he needed to take over the medical waste treatment work, he quickly mobilized. "I didn't blame anyone at the time because I could understand. I just knew that I had to make it clear to my brothers as soon as possible."

Mei Gang knew very well that if the treatment plant did not help, Wuhan would be under greater pressure, and some hospitals might not even be able to operate. "I told my colleagues in the meeting that we can have a hundred reasons not to do it, but as citizens of Wuhan, we have only one reason, and you have to do it."

The medical waste transported mainly includes protective clothing, masks, and goggles. The factory's production line is usually operated by machines, and medical waste is packed in bags of plastic. Plastic bags can easily be broken by the factory's machinery, increasing the risk of infection, so medical waste can only be poured into the incinerator manually.

There are 15 people in a team who directly handle medical waste, plus more than 30 auxiliary staff. Each shift is 6 hours, with almost no rest time in between, and they have to keep in close contact with medical waste.

It's not that they don't know how dangerous these medical wastes are, but their strong sense of responsibility makes them unable to care so much. An old master who has been working for more than a month said: "I know it's dangerous, but someone has to do it. If we don't do it ourselves, what should we do?" For fear that his family would worry, he did not tell his family about handling medical waste, and he has been eating and living in the factory for more than a month.

Wang Yangbo, another person in charge of the treatment plant, said: "Deep down, we are ordinary people. The virus is so powerful that we are still a little scared. The employees in our factory are mostly from Hubei Province, and there are also many from Wuhan City. We are also part of this city. If we don't save this city, who will do it?" (Text/Chen Siyuan)

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