(BIVN) – From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to the current rise in cases being reported in the Hilo-area, the County of Hawai‘i says its “Bug Busters” have been on a mission to keep the virus at bay.

On Thursday, the County shared a media release touting the work of the County of Hawai‘i’s Cleaning and Disinfecting Task Force, saying teams are “travelling in County of Hawaii vehicles and wearing bright-yellow ‘Bug Busters’ shirts, as they apply disinfecting products via sprayers, specialized fogging devices and other methods.”

The County says:

Teams of Bug Busters have been hard at work at your County facilities, focused on sanitizing high-traffic areas and high-touch surfaces seven days a week since early March. These teams, comprised of specially-trained employees, also sanitize public facilities such as shelters, post offices and County water spigots. Additionally, the Bug Busters have taken on special assignments to sanitize facilities where known positive cases were identified, such as at schools, medical facilities, and private businesses.

section of the interactive “Bug Busters” location map from the County of Hawaiʻi

The County is also providing an interactive map that tracks the Bug Busters spraying locations. The map marks “essential businesses”, water spigots, bus shelters, and disinfection areas. The map shows a large area of Downtown Hilo as a “disinfection area”.

The map key also lists the following things as Bug Busters public disinfection areas:

• Benches
• Bus Shelters
• County Park Restrooms and Exterior Contact Surfaces
• Crosswalk Flags
• Delineators
• Newspaper Cases
• Pay Phones
• Parking Meters
• Street Signal Buttons
• Railings
• Sidewalks
• Sign Posts
• Trash Bins
• Water Spigots

“The Bug Busters are one part of our commitment to keeping our community safe from COVID-19,” said Civil Defense Administrator Talmadge Magno. “These County workers get up early every morning to get the job done.”