Advice sought about my cleaning lady re COVID

In My Humble Opinion
1

I have a woman “Mary Lou” (not her name) who comes to clean every other Monday. I’m 71 and live alone in a pretty small house. She’s been coming for nine years. Her next day would be a Mar 30, week from today. Should I let her keep coming based on the following considerations?

Usually when she arrives, we greet each other, exchange some small talk, and then I leave. She’s not here all that long, maybe 3 hours max. In the past I left for my morning mall walk and visit to Starbucks; now I guess it will be just for a walk. It gives her the freedom to work, play the radio loudly, sing, whatever she wants. I trust her completely.

When she came last Monday (Mar 16), I told her that my synagogue and the Episcopal church where I sing in the choir, and indeed, most churches in town have stopped holding services because of the ease of transmission of COVID. The Archdiocese has canceled all masses-- during Lent, for (St.) Pete’s sake.

She told me that her devout, evangelical church was still holding Sunday services (that would have been Sunday, Mar 15). EEK! She said something like the pastor hired cleaning people and got gloves for everyone and they’re trusting God to take care of them (said with a glance heavenward). EEK, again!

I don’t know if they’ve canceled services yet, because I haven’t talked to her since last Monday, but I plan to call her and find out before this coming weekend. I want to have my speech ready for when I do ask her and she tells me, one way or the other. If she tells me they are still meeting and hugging and shaking hands, etc., I will not want to be in her presence at all.

I would not fire her and will keep paying her, as I know she depends on the income. This $$ would not be a problem for me. OTOH, we’re not in each other’s presence when she **does **come, and I could reduce that to ZERO by leaving before she gets here or waving to her from my car when she arrives. I’m sure she would understand, and that part doesn’t worry me. She’s all over the house, touching stuff, but she’s cleaning, and repeatedly washing her hands during the process.

I’m otherwise being very prudent and diligent in my self-isolation. Would canceling Mary Lou come under the heading of (1) prudence to the Nth degree, or (2) going too far unnecessarily? Part II, should my answer be different depending on whether she’s still attending these services (or others) or whether they’ve canceled?

How are others handling the issue of outside people who come to work in your home?

2

Absolutetly not. At this point, my own mother is forbidden from crossing my threshold. Please take this public health emergency a lot more seriously.

3

Step one is to communicate your concerns to “Mary Lou”. Share your concerns openly and see what workarounds may be available. With that being said, you’re the one who has to be happy here. This is your health, your home and your obligation to be a zealous advocate for both.

4

We cancelled our housecleaner, paid her for two sessions, and we’ll check back in a month. Not worth the risk.

5

Given your age and other things you’ve mentioned about your vulnerabilities, and how much she’s still circulating in the community, I wouldn’t risk it.

6

Thanks for the helpful replies.

Gratuitous snark uncalled for. :mad:

7

Pay her as much as you can anyway but don’t let her in your house. She needs the money.

8

Agreed. Regardless of the amount of cleaning she is doing, the virus can potentially survive for days on interior surfaces, and she could contaminate a newly cleaned surface with a single cough. Just pay her for the duration if you can and tell her that you are following medical guidance to limit your exposure because you are in a high risk category. If she takes offense, that his her problem, not yours.

Stranger

9

Add me to the chorus. It’s very kind and good of you to be so concerned over Mary Lou’s personal welfare and her need for the income, but now is the moment to follow good medical recommendations to the letter. There’s no point in being as diligent as you are being, only to risk it all due to a visit from someone who seems fairly oblivious to the serious nature of the crisis.

Plus we don’t want to risk losing you. :slight_smile:

Do what you can, but protect yourself first.

10

We have limited it as much as possible, then cleaned any surface they touched plus sprayed Lysol and taken showers after they left. Not super feasible if it’s your cleaning person. We paid our twice-a-month person and asked her not to come. That’s without anyone articulating trust in G-d as a disinfectant.

11

No snark was intended. It’s also not only your own personal risk. Suppose you’re already a carrier and infectious and it’s Mary Lou that brings it to her church and leads to 30 cases. This is why we’re getting stay-at-home orders and very serious cautions to avoid contact across the country and world.

12

That’s exactly what we did.

13

Point taken. Thanks, all.

14

I just called her and told her she can’t come any more. That I can’t have anyone in my house except me. She didn’t miss a beat and was fine with that. I have a feeling others are canceling her, but probably not paying her. I asked her to send me a photo of a check so I can electronically deposit money in her account. Her church is not holding in-person services any more, I guess God got the message through to the pastor.

15

It’s really good of you to keep paying her; I’m sure she needs it. I’m glad she’s taking it well. Good luck hunkering down!

16

The very first thing you should start off your convo with is that you’re committed to paying her her normal wages for as long as this situation goes on. You want her to know that she can have a dependable source of income so she’s not forced by her economic circumstance to engage in potentially risky behavior.

The second thing is you should be considering transmission from the other way as well. You don’t know if you have the virus at this point so you should be acting as if you do and you’re asymptomatically spreading it. You’re putting her at risk by having her touch surfaces you’ve previously touched and obviously vice versa as well.

Thirdly, you should be considering if there are ways you can keep your entire community safer. Do you know any of her other clients? Do you know if they’re also committed to paying her even for not coming? If they haven’t thought about it yet, is there any way you can call them and convince them this is the right thing to do? Do you have any friends you know who hire personal help? Can you call them and have them all agree to continue paying service workers not to come? If any of them are not financially comfortable enough that this would be a big imposition, can you organize other friends to chip in and cover the cost? (call it a “loan” if it would make them more comfortable).

These actions are outside of a lot of people’s comfort zones but it’s clear that support from official sources is going to be limited and variable in these times so we need to figure out how to protect ourselves with grassroots efforts like these and that requires us to stretch ourselves a bit whenever possible.

17

I’ve been wondering about this very same thing. I really could benefit from having the house cleaned but I don’t know if the risk is worth it.

18

A minister in Arkansas contracted the virus and he in turn infected his wife. 26 church members have tested positive. 14 outstanding tests yet to go.
No minister in their right mind should be holding services. Too dangerous.
Thelma, good on you for continuing to paying her.

19

We have two ladies that come every two weeks. They have children so are perhaps more likely to carry infection. They were scheduled for this Thursday, but I’ve delayed their next visit until further data is available.

I’ve sent them a check for the normal amount.

20

Lots of good advice already. To add to it, I saw advice elsewhere that you should not leave it up to them to return “when they feel comfortable.” They are probably not eligible for unemployment, so they will be under extreme pressure to come back as soon as possible if they aren’t being paid. And given their likely health insurance status, you are really putting them at risk.

And appealing to everyone’s best side: pay your cleaning person for as long as you can financially. For those who are putting a time limit on it, I totally understand if your finances are at risk with the current situation. But if you were planning on spending the money anyway and it’s only a matter of not wanting to pay someone for work they can’t do, then it’s a good time to look a little deeper in your heart. Cleaning people typically don’t have a big nest egg or safety net to fall back on.