As the coronavirus continues to spread throughout the D.C. region, many people have begun working from home, ordering takeout, and skipping social events to minimize their chances of being exposed to the contagious bug. But social distancing isn’t an option for everyone.

Cleaning crews have been on the front lines of helping contain the virus—disinfecting homes, schools, and businesses—and many are receiving even more calls for service than usual. While some crews are highly trained to respond to an outbreak, not all are.

At last count, D.C. had 10 confirmed cases of coronavirus, and Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a state of emergency to respond to the virus on Wednesday.

Because of the nature of their work, cleaning professionals can be exposed to many biological hazards, including bacteria, mold, and viruses even without the existence of a global pandemic, according to research. Now, those workers are the ones tasked with making public spaces safe for others.

Several D.C. public schools temporarily closed this week for deep cleanings over fears that students or staff members had been exposed to coronavirus. Likewise, on Tuesday, the private Georgetown Day School was closed for a deep cleaning. Officials at the school didn’t respond to DCist’s questions about which company was hired to disinfect the campus.

Earlier this week, the D.C. Health Department asked hundreds of members of Christ Church Georgetown to self-quarantine after two parishioners tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus. Rob Volmer, a spokesperson for the church, says he immediately notified health officials about the results. “Unfortunately, it took them 24 hours to get back to us,” Volmer tells DCist. “Considering this was the first case in D.C.—not good.”

The church is scheduled to be sanitized next week, according to Volmer. But he wasn’t immediately able to identify which company was hired to conduct the cleaning, which he says was set up by city health officials.

D.C. Health didn’t answer several calls and emails from DCist requesting information about its protocol for coronavirus clean-ups.

At Aftermath, a company that specializes in biohazard clean-up and operates in the D.C. area, the phones apparently have been ringing nonstop.

“We have been quite overwhelmed with the coronavirus calls,” Tina Bao, the company’s chief revenue officer, tells DCist. “We’re getting phone calls from all sorts of small business owners all the way up to multi-billion dollar companies.” Bao says business inquiries have more than doubled in the last few weeks, with Aftermath now receiving over 100 calls daily for possible coronavirus cases, both in and outside the region.

Aftermath workers are armed with fully encapsulated hazmat suits, full-face respirators, and an arsenal of powerful chemicals approved by the Center for Disease Control. The company, which is headquartered in Chicago and has 41 U.S. locations, also trains its employees on safety issues, following a 28-point checklist to ensure compliance with state and federal regulations.

Once Aftermath crews disinfect a location, the company tracks and incinerates any waste, such as towels and respirator cartridges. “We are packaging it, handling it, and disposing of it as if it was medical waste,” Bao says. “We can’t just dump it in a landfill. We can’t dump it in the dumpster.”

With coronavirus in particular, the company treats disinfection jobs as if the disease were actually present, “even if it’s not a confirmed case,” she adds.

While companies that offer less-intensive cleaning services don’t usually provide workers with as much protection as biohazard experts, they, too, are getting called to disinfect homes and businesses.

Maria Serrano, 39, cleans homes in Northern Virginia with a small crew of five women called Yesenia’s Cleaning Services. She said that the outbreak hasn’t affected her work much yet, but that she’s preparing for every scenario. “For the moment––thank god––everything is fine,” she tells DCist in Spanish. “The virus hasn’t affected me at all.”

With two children and a homeowner’s loan, Serrano is bracing for tough times. “We have to prepare economically, because if work cancels, we won’t be able to do anything about it,” she says. “We need to prepare so we can have money to buy food, and everything else we’ll need––like paying our mortgage. It’s important.”

Serrano says one client recently canceled because of the flu, so she’s being cautious and following best practices, like washing her hands regularly and disinfecting surfaces. “The truth is no one knows for sure who may have the virus and who may simply have the flu,” she says.

Though her clients feel like “family,” she doesn’t think she could clean for someone that may have been exposed to coronavirus.

At IQ Cleaning, a D.C.-based company with more than 50 employees in the area, workers typically clean individual homes. But in light of coronavirus concerns, there’s been a recent uptick in requests from business entities, according to Nicole Jones, a manager at the company.

“We’re getting more commercial calls right now to come into businesses that have chosen to shut down their offices in order to have it sanitized,” she says.

As a precaution, the company has been asking customers—especially those who request a deep cleaning—if they’ve been exposed. “We are asking directly if they’ve come into contact with the virus or if there are any confirmed cases, just to make sure that we can do our due diligence,” says Jones.

Should a customer say yes, IQ Cleaning won’t provide them service, Jones explains. Taking clients at their word offers no guarantees, she says, but the company wants to do everything possible to keep its workers and others safe. Still, clients have been “very cautious not to use the C-word,” Jones says. For peace of mind, workers at IQ Cleaning are offered facemasks, along with standard cleaning gear like gloves and booties.

Meanwhile, Maico Kasmirski, the owner of a small D.C. business called MK Cleaning Services, tells DCist he’s providing his employees with extra disposable rags, gloves, and booties, asking them to wash their hands often. “I’m worried, yes I am,” he says. “But, you know, we have to work, right? I cannot be sitting like CNN, just talking about [the outbreak].”

“Who’s gonna pay our bills?” Kasmirski says. “How are people going to survive?”