We're told to stay home. But these workers keep making house calls amid COVID-19

Typically, customers are pretty happy to get their busted TV fixed. But this pandemic has gained technician Terry Zehr a whole new level of popularity.

"I had a guy the other day told me that he's going to put me in his will after I fixed his TV," said Zehr, who works for Hay Communications, an independent TV, phone and internet provider in Zurich, Ont., northwest of London.

"I've never been offered to be put in a will before. Maybe a cookie or a Coke but that's about it."

He's among the essential workers still making house calls, heading to houses of potentially sick strangers to fix crucial problems that can't wait for the pandemic to end.

Zehr worries about getting COVID-19 on the job — and workers like him are at an elevated risk. A Bell technician in Ottawa had to self-isolate for 14 days after working at a customer's home who called afterwards to say they tested positive. The technician didn't develop symptoms and is now back at work, said spokesperson Jacqueline Michelis.

But Zehr's not taking chances, only going into houses if absolutely necessary, the same as Bell's policy (Rogers isn't letting its technicians inside at all).

He'll drop off equipment outside a customer's home and walk them through installations or fixes over the phone while sitting in his van outside. It takes longer but customers have been patient and understanding. He hasn't had to enter a home since the pandemic started.

"You have to take a few deep breaths," he said of the patience needed to walk customers through repairs. "It's been a bit of a challenge."

'One more germ to deal with'

Other workers don't have that option — and always have to go inside.

That's why Guy Windover is acting like a border agent, screening each call for his plumbing business, asking clients about their health and where they've travelled. He and his wife Cindy run Windover Plumbing, north of Peterborough, Ont.

He deals daily with lots of germs: on toilets, sewage pumps and sinks where people have been spitting.

"You're handling all the same stuff that they've possibly handled," he said. "There's always been germs. Now we've just got one more germ to deal with."

His wife has been making homemade sanitizer and they've secured a large supply of gloves. They haven't been able to track down masks and would rather leave them for healthcare workers.

The couple realize there's a risk of getting sick and have started giving their other employees "hero pay" as a result, taking example from grocery stores and giving them more money. They feel a responsibility to keep working.

"We're telling people to wash your hands all the time and stay at home, they have to have water," said Cindy Windover.

"It's just part of life that you've got to what you've got to do," her husband added.

'Treat everybody like they have cooties'

With so many additional people at home, many of these jobs have been even more required.

Sean Robertson keeps getting calls to his pest control business, Get 'Em Out Wildlife in Stittsville, Ont., near Ottawa. In self-isolation, do-it-yourself style, people have been trying to solve their own pest problems, which he then has to go and fix. It's also the start of baby season for squirrels and raccoons.

He can do most of his work from outside. But for raccoons, he has to go into attics, which he typically treats as contamination zones. Now he's consider the whole house one.

"I have to treat everybody like they have cooties," he said, describing his appearance like a scene out of ET. "It feels almost insulting to people by going into their home and treating them like they have some sort of virus."

He's not sure what it will mean for his business. Robertson relies on word of mouth and referrals but said the personal touch is gone — he too is consulting with clients from outside in his van instead of sitting with them at the kitchen table. 

But with so many people out of a job, he knows it could be worse. "I tell my son every day how happy I am that I get to go to work."

He's not too worried about getting sick either. "I crawl around in raccoon poop. That stuff is pretty gross."

This is part of a series looking into the unexpected front-line workers of this pandemic, the people in every day jobs (like grocery store workers and couriers) keeping things running while many stay home. If you have a job you think should be profiled, email [email protected].