Delhi civic body’s new weapon in fight against coronavirus — sodium hypochlorite

NEW DELHI : The North Delhi Municipal Corporation, for the first time, has started making bulk purchase of disinfectant liquid — sodium hypochlorite — for ‘non-hospital usage’ in the wake of the novel coronavirus threat that has gripped the city.

The corporation has placed an order for 6,000 litres of sodium hypochlorite, a sterilizing agent, to fumigate all its public toilets, community halls and even zonal offices where a large number of people visit.

Sanitation workers, employed with the civic body, will soon be provided protective gear and fumigation tanks full of sodium hypochlorite with spray pumps to clean these facilities.

So far, the civic body had been using sodium hypochlorite for cleaning only its six hospitals — Hindu Rao, Balak Ram, Kasturba Maternity Centre, Girdhar Lal Maternity Centre, Rajan Babu Institute of Tuberculosis and the Maharishi Valmiki Hospital for Infectious Diseases — senior officials said. The chemical is used here to mop down and clean floors, surgical tables and dustbins.

“Toilets are a major place for spread of such viruses. This is because many viruses show a tendency for fecal-oral transmission. This means germs don’t just travel through coughssneezes, but through human waste as well. Basins, toilet doors and handles can be teeming with the virus that can spread if touched with unwashed hands. Hence, their fumigation is necessary,” said Dr Ashok Rawat, medical health officer, north corporation.

“Besides, our zonal offices are buildings where thousands of people visit daily. The Citizen Services Bureau (CSB) points, where birth and death certificates are made or counters where enquiries for various licenses are entertained, witness the maximum rush. We are going to spray clean these points as well,” he said. The corporation has 450 public toilets and six zonal offices.

The civic body’s community halls, which are booked by the public for weddings, death rites and other such functions, are also a “risk point” and will be fumigated before and after every event, said officials.