How does the disinfection “special forces” work?
Как работает дезинфекционный «спецназ»? 14.04.2020

But there is a special service that, without exaggeration, is at the very forefront of the fight, a kind of “disinfection special forces” - the Almaty Disinfection Center.

As part of this, Almaty regularly undergoes total disinfection, which covers more than 5 million square meters. meters of urban area and thousands of objects.

Disinfectors subordinate to the Housing Policy Department of the Almaty Akimat, Almaty Tazalyk JSC, as well as the military unit of the Almaty garrison of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Kazakhstan treat streets and courtyards, schools and administrative buildings, entrances of multi-storey buildings and playgrounds. But there is a special service that, without exaggeration, is at the very forefront of the fight, a kind of “disinfection special forces” - the Almaty Disinfection Center. It is its employees who carry out disinfection in places of maximum danger—foci of infection where coronavirus patients have been identified.

A Komsomolskaya Pravda correspondent talked with the deputy director of the Almaty Disinfection Center, Vakhit Seidualiev, about the daily work of the unit, what specific substances are used in disinfection and how dangerous they are for people and animals.


Vakhit Seidualiev.

— Vahit Kalievich, please tell us more about the work of the Center.

— Our Disinfection Center of the National Center of Expertise of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Almaty is a specialized institution that carries out final disinfection in foci of infectious and parasitic diseases. That is, when patients with coronavirus infection are identified somewhere, we disinfect these places, first of all, these are apartments and private houses. We also carry out disinfection of all arriving international flights, air passenger luggage, as well as buses transporting air passengers to quarantine and provision centers. By the way, we also carry out the final disinfection in these centers after the discharge of recovered patients and contact people. 45 Center specialists directly involved in these activities allow disinfection of about 30 thousand square meters. meters of area per hour of work. Now we have additionally trained and hired 10 more people as disinfectants for three months. Disinfectors work in shifts, seven days a week, and in the event of an emergency, around the clock.

We work together with the KSK and military detachments of the Ministry of Defense. The operational headquarters of the Almaty akimat has developed an interaction algorithm, so we work as a single mechanism. Preventive disinfection in Almaty began on March 19, 2020 and will last until it is canceled by the Operational Headquarters. In addition to the fight against infectious contamination, for example, we also have anti-tick treatment. Over the past three years, the Almaty Disinfection Center annually conducts 2 rounds of disinsection anti-tick treatments of urban and forest parks on an area of ​​4,708 hectares.

— What substances do you use for your work and how dangerous are they for people and pets?

— All disinfectants that we use in Almaty belong to the 4th hazard class (that is, low-hazard) and are approved for use in the territory of Kazakhstan and the Customs Union. In general, we use drugs made in Kazakhstan, but there are Russian and Chinese manufacturers. I would like to emphasize once again that these drugs are of little danger to people and animals, but all the same, safety rules must be strictly observed, since these are chemical substances after all. Therefore, after disinfection treatment, you cannot enter these rooms for at least 5 hours.

— Do you need workers now?

— There are currently no vacancies. But those who want to help the city in carrying out disinfection can contact the akimat, where they can clarify all the information, including the conditions for payment and preparation. For candidates, the minimum requirements are: have a certificate of health, be over 18 years old and be able to work with simple disinfection equipment (backpack sprayers, hydraulic remote control).


— How do the population greet disinfectants?

— Now, in general, the population has a positive attitude. That is, Almaty residents have come to understand that it is necessary to carry out disinfection; this directly determines how quickly we cope with the epidemic. And if earlier many were opposed to disinfection, for example, they simply could not open the doors, but now, on the contrary, they are asked to disinfect it almost every day.

— Some townspeople have concerns that they will be forced to pay for disinfection later, adding the money spent by the akimat to their “payments” for utilities?

- No, nothing like that will happen. The complete disinfection carried out in Almaty is carried out at the expense of allocated funds from the city akimat and the state. When a coronavirus infection is registered among the population, disinfection is carried out at the place of residence (in a house, apartment, dormitory, in the entrance of an apartment building) and at the patient’s place of work, entirely at the expense of allocated funds from the state budget. Only if organizations and institutions themselves want to carry out preventive disinfection at their facilities, will the Disinfection Center carry out such work on a contractual basis.

MEANWHILE

Chemistry to help us

Disinfection of Almaty is also carried out by military detachments of the Almaty garrison and contracting organizations of the Housing Policy Department of the Almaty Akimat, which process the entrances of multi-storey buildings and adjacent areas, children's and sports grounds, schools, kindergartens and markets. Highways, streets, sidewalks are the area of ​​responsibility of Almaty Tazalyk JSC. In addition, Almaty Tazalyk treats trash bins, public transport stops, benches, entrance areas of grocery stores and pharmacies, using the drug Desitabs - one tablet is dissolved in 10 liters of water. When disinfecting courtyards and entrances, contractors of the Housing Policy Department use preparations that are safe for people and animals, such as Almaextra, Sunline, and Concept, produced in Almaty and the Almaty region. All drugs are certified and have appropriate permission for use in Kazakhstan. Military units of the Almaty garrison use sodium hydrochloride to disinfect public areas. According to the instructions, this product is used in a ratio of 10 liters of sodium per 1200 liters of water. But to mitigate the impact on the environment, it was decided to use it in a ratio of 1 liter of sodium per 1200 liters of water, or a 0.015 percent solution.

“For each disinfectant there are clear instructions in what ratio it should be used,” said Meirzhan Otynshiev, deputy head of the Almaty Housing Policy Department. — If these requirements are met, residents can even carry out disinfection themselves, if, of course, they wish. But twice a week our organizations will definitely carry out disinfection at each entrance.

According to Meirzhan Otynshiev, about 70 teams, more than 500 people, are involved in disinfecting the city every day, and all work performed in apartment buildings is accepted by representatives of the KSK or house elders under the supervision of representatives of the housing inspection and district akimats. Let us remind you that in total there are more than 23.5 thousand entrances and 4 thousand courtyards in Almaty, which serve over 800 government bodies.

https://www.kp.kz/daily/27116/4197602/