Photos: Battling COVID-19 in the laundry of a Paris hospital

Photos

Login / Sign Up

Wednesday, December 25, 2024

Gold / Forex

Photos News

Photos: Battling COVID-19 in the laundry of a Paris hospital

Hundreds of huge bags filled with laundry from 38 different hospitals wait their turn

Published: January 30, 2021 16:02 AFP and Compiled by Nathaniel Lacsina, Senior Web Editor

1 of 12

COVID laundry gallery — Paris: An army of laundry workers tirelessly sorts, washes and dries a colossal wave of brightly coloured linen at Paris's Pitie-Salpetriere hospital every day, in a endless battle to wash away COVID-19. "We consider all laundry potentially contaminated," says Cedric Martin, the head of the hospital's laundry section. Image Credit: AFP

2 of 12

COVID laundry gallery — France is currently recording an average of more than 20,000 new coronavirus infections a day, piling pressure onto not only hospital workers, but also the people who wash their clothes. "We handle 33 tonnes of dirty laundry every day: 23,000 sheets, 10,000 mattress protectors, 10,000 pillowcases, 18,000 work clothes, 8,000 patient gowns," says Jean-Charles Grupeli, head of logistics at the Paris public hospital group, AP-HP. Image Credit: AFP

3 of 12

COVID laundry gallery — Hundreds of huge orange, blue and red bags filled with laundry from 38 different hospitals wait their turn at the entrance to Pitie-Salpetriere's "dirty zone". Image Credit: AFP

4 of 12

COVID laundry gallery — The laundry room first opened in 1898, with the nuns and convalescents giving way to industrial machinery and treatments. Nearly 120 people - and as many machines - now work there from 6.30am to 7.00pm, five days a week. Image Credit: AFP

5 of 12

COVID laundry gallery — Grupeli says that in mid-March, during the first wave of the pandemic, "we had to fill a third of the positions with volunteers, many of whom came from the cinema, financial administration or catering". Image Credit: AFP

6 of 12

COVID laundry gallery — He recalls the "good atmosphere" during that time, while lamenting that they could not enjoy conviviality such as "having a drink or eating together" due to health safety measures. Image Credit: AFP

7 of 12

COVID laundry gallery — At the height of France's outbreak, demand for bedlinen plummeted as non-coronavirus patients avoided the hospital, while the volume of clothes for health workers rose by 25 percent. Image Credit: AFP

8 of 12

COVID laundry gallery — The first stop for the dirty laundry is the sorting workshop, where around 10 workers listen to music as they separate the blue scrubs, green mattress covers and the occasional pink maternity gown. "We do not work by dirtiness, but by item," says a laundry worker wearing protective glasses. Image Credit: AFP

9 of 12

COVID laundry gallery — The items next head to four giant "washing tunnels", where everything is laundered at 60 degrees Celsius (140 Fahrenheit). The temperature has been cranked up from 40 degrees C since the pandemic began. Then, it's the "clean zone". Image Credit: AFP

10 of 12

COVID laundry gallery — "I put the sheets in and the machine sucks them up to hang them up, and directs them to machines that dry and fold," says Angela Couchy, who has been a laundry worker for 15 years. Image Credit: AFP

11 of 12

COVID laundry gallery — Suspended in the air, sheets and mattress covers move past each other on rails before entering another machine that folds them perfectly. Yet another machine then wraps everything in plastic, ready to be sent back to the hospital wards. Image Credit: AFP

12 of 12

COVID laundry gallery — All this machinery produces a deafening roar throughout the workday. "When that stops, we're happy," says Couchy. Image Credit: AFP

Latest In

This website stores cookies on your computer. These cookies are used to improve your experience and provide more personalized service to you. Both on your website and other media. To find out more about the cookies and data we use, please check out our Privacy Policy.