April 2021
High-rise communities are adapting as rodents and bedbugs adapt to COVID.
Bedbugs are not spreading as rapidly and there are fewer sightings. Lockdowns have reduced the number and frequency of people leaving their home. Bedbugs rely on individuals, their clothing and belongings to travel and spread. Yet bedbug preventative programs continue to address infestations at home. They can live for up to a year without eating so a resurgence is likely once these hungry critters are able to travel for their next meal.
More rats, mice and other vermin are making their way to high-rise communities since COVID-19-imposed closures which have closed most restaurants and limited others to take-out and delivery. When restaurants closed to eat-in traffic due to COVID, pest control procedures were discontinued and trash bags of food left for waste collection disappeared. They went looking elsewhere for food and found it on residential properties failing to maintain effective pest control and waste management procedures. With many restaurants not planning to reopen, residential communities will remain a more important food source for rodents. Pest problems are likely to worsen as more people at home generate more waste improperly disposed of and found by these hungry vermin.
Much of the waste generated by high-rise communities is not properly bagged or stored prior to collection. Effective pest control and waste management systems minimize risk of infestation and disease by deterring vermin.
