Kerala: Disinfection services mushroom as people rush to make their homes ‘COVID-19-free’

People recovering from COVID-19 look toward sanitisation of their homes to feel safe, despite doubts on efficacy of spraying disinfectants and fumigation in stopping the spread of the infection

When Anju Kushan’s husband, Kushan Prakashan, VFX and animation expert, recovered from COVID-19 in October 2020, she remembered something she had heard in the film Virus. “Fumigation — they mention how it works against the virus. It stuck in my mind. When both Kushan, and his brother Lavan, recovered we got it done at our homes and office,” says the Kochi-based film subtitler. At the time there were few agencies in Kochi offering the service; they turned to Peepal Oxycare, a Kochi-based company that supplies oxygen concentrators, nebulisers, ventilators and similar equipment. “Sanitisation and disinfection are not our core area. We have a small hand-held machine, with a capacity of 300 ml used for fumigation, which we rent out to people we know personally. We recently acquired a larger machine — 200-litre capacity — to fumigate larger spaces such as malls and schools. There has been a surge in enquiries for and companies offering fumigation and sanitisation services,” says Peepal manager, Manoj R.