Listen: What it's like to clean complexes amid COVID-19

Episode 24 of "Life Under Coronavirus" features members of the cleaning staff at the Cohalan Court Complex in Suffolk County. (click/tap to listen)

Come inside this courthouse amid coronavirus to see the cleaners in action, hitting every bench, chair, bannister, edge, and desk, from judges’ chambers to open courtrooms. 

Cleaners are battling the pandemic with paper towels and heavy-duty disinfectant. It’s hard work--and prevailing wage for cleaners at the complex is $13 an hour--but the cleaners are working overtime and, sometimes, getting some compliments about their newly-visible occupation. 

“If we get sick, who's going to clean this place?” asks project manager Ana Santiago-Akyurek of The Corporate Source.

Nurses, truck drivers, food donors and more share their experiences in other episodes of "Life Under Coronavirus" available at newsday.com/lifeundercoronavirus or wherever you listen to podcasts.

By Mark Chiusano

mark.chiusano@newsday.commjchiusano

Mark Chiusano is a member of the Newsday editorial board.