Workers at high risk of contracting coronavirus cope with caution, doing their jobs

Lt. George Lichman

Rocky River police Lt. George Lichman said said new procedures have been put in place to assure the safety of officers, including pump-bottles of hand sanitizer in cruisers. [Plain Dealer photo/Michael K. McIntyre]

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Lt. George Lichman of the Rocky River Police Department opened the driver’s side door of a police SUV in search of a piece of essential safety equipment: a pump bottle of Purell.

“We can’t get our paws on enough of these,” he said. “There are certain things in police work, it’s the nature of the business, where there is going to be some physical contact. We are encouraging officers to immediately get back, don’t touch their mouth and nose and wash their hands.”

The coronavirus pandemic has forced Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to close schools, restaurants and libraries. On Monday afternoon, he recommended canceling Tuesday’s primary election. The governor’s directives have forced most 9-to-5ers to barricade themselves in their homes, work from there and keep their distance from others.

Others’ jobs dictate they continue to interact with the public.

Police officers, firefighters, aides at nursing homes, dentists, flight attendants, cashiers and janitors, to name a few occupations, by necessity come into contact with so many people on a daily basis that they are at the greatest risk of becoming ill, according to a New York Times’ analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

And their anxiety is growing. A janitor at a downtown office building said cleaning a sink has become potentially hazardous.

“I hate to say it, but I’m becoming cautious to the point of paranoia,” said Leonard Thomas, who has worked there for 15 years cleaning tables and countertops.

Gwen Hinton, a nurse’s aide at a Northeast Ohio nursing home, has become fearful over the once-simple tasks of feeding and working with patients.

“Everyone is very, very cautious,” said Hinton, 62, who has worked 30 years in the industry and has never experienced anything as unsettling. “Anytime anybody coughs, everybody jumps back.”

She said each time she takes a resident’s temperature, as well as that of her colleagues, it becomes a personal struggle with unanswered questions: Will this be the first sign of infection? Will there be other signs? Will others be affected?

When the thermometer registers a normal reading, she begins to calm down. But it doesn’t last. She has to take another resident’s temperature soon.

Dr. Greg DeVor informed his patients Monday that he will close his Lakewood dental office except to treat patients with emergencies. His closing followed the recommendation of the Ohio State Dental Board on Monday.

He plans to re-open his office April 6, and he estimates that he could lose as much as $200,000 in business.

“This is an unprecedented issue we’re facing,” DeVor said. “Everyone is winging it.”

In Lakewood, firefighters who traditionally clean their equipment daily have increased their efforts.

“I will tell you the fire house smells very clean right now,” said Fire Chief Tim Dunphy. “The members are trying to do the best they can within the confines of the firehouse, which is like family, to maintain some distance from each other. In the past, people would congregate in a certain area. Now, they’re spread out a little bit.”

Marvella Sullivan and Patti Duncan can’t get away from people at work. They’re cashiers at Simon’s Supermarket on Euclid Avenue in Euclid.

“It’s really busy and crazy,” said Sullivan, in the midst of packing groceries. “But people need to do what they can to survive while this evolves. They’ve been told it’s gonna get worse before it gets better.

“I’m not really stressed about it. I’ve been doing my daily routine. It’s something we have to go through, and we will get through it."

They’ve also had to deal with fearful customers.

“When I’m here I just keep my mouth shut and count to three,” Duncan said. “When I leave, all I can do is go home, sit in front of the computer and veg out.”

Lichman, the Rocky River police lieutenant, said the department has instituted a number of measures aimed at helping officers maintain social distance and assure a clean working environment.

“We try to do as much work in the patrol cars as possible,” he said.

In the case of a fender bender, instead of bringing drivers into a patrol car and handling their licenses to gather information, officers are asking drivers to stay in their cars and show their IDs. That would enable officers to write down the information. And when the drivers sign reports, they’ll get a bonus.

“We’re gonna buy a bunch of pens and just let them keep them,” Lichman said. “Hey, don’t say the city never gave you anything.”

If a suspect must be placed in the backseat of the cruiser, the car will be taken to the fire department to be sanitized, he said.

Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association President Jeff Follmer said his members were readying Monday for a major change. Rather than being deployed in two-person cars, the plan is for each officer to be assigned to drive his or her own squad car. But the two cars would still make up one unit, responding in tandem to all calls.

A police spokeswoman said an announcement on the change had yet to be made.

Flight attendants have a different struggle.

“There are definitely people coughing on the airplane,” said a United Airlines employee, one of several hundred flight attendants based in Northeast Ohio. “I’ve seen people who looked a little sick.”

She declined to give her name because she is not authorized to speak to the media.

She said United has been flexible with flight attendants, allowing them to make individual adjustments in an effort to keep themselves healthy.

Attendants are now allowed to wear gloves during food and beverage service and are not refilling beverage cups or water bottles.

She said she has been through crises like this before: the SARS and Ebola epidemics, plus September 11 terrorist attacks. But she said this one feels different.

“There was no widespread pandemonium like there is now,” she said. “You could get toilet paper. You could get produce at the grocery story. The reaction of the public with this — there is no comparison.”

She faces something else: The prospect of a job loss. United CEO Oscar Munoz and President Scott Kirby told employees in a letter over the weekend that the carrier expected to cut flights by as much as 50% in the coming weeks. Job cuts are likely to follow.

As the issue deepens, people put their trust in places and jobs they had never considered before. They trust their lives to workers like Sandra Ellington, a janitor at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

“Some people take us for granted,” Ellington said. “Now, we’re the bottom holding up the top. We’re the most important thing ever. We’re the ones putting the work in making sure everybody is safe, and everything is disinfected.”

Plain Dealer reporters Gregory Burnett, Susan Glaser, Michael K. McIntyre, Olivera Perkins and Julie Washington contributed to this story.

Read more coronavirus coverage:

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Hudson mom shares ‘brutal’ encounter with coronavirus

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Ohioans adjust to coronavirus

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Coronavirus in Ohio nursing homes

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