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Heroes of Groote Schuur
“We have been much much busier since Covid hit. It’s a lot more work. The guys are all under pressure. I even moved into the hostel next to the hospital so I could be available all the time, overnight etc. I would rather be here and keep my family at home safe, so I go home and see them on the weekends.
With Covid we have to speedily change the wards – first of all we inspect and see what plumbing and building needs to be done such as painting, dry walling between beds to create shields, rails installed for curtains to create privacy.
Carpets have to be pulled out because the virus can live in the carpets so we install vinyl rather which is easier to clean.
Taps have to be changed from normal taps to elbow action for the virus.
All the air conditioning had to be reconstructed from inflow to outflow – so that was a big deal.
And then we still have to deal with our daily challenges such as blockages, pinholes in pipings, and theft of pipes is an ongoing issue.
We’re a team of three plumbers and three admins. We used to have 8 students helping us but they got sent home due to Covid.” – Martin Ronne, Head of Plumbing and Acting Chief of Building