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and this was done in the two cases mentioned above, Both the
old ladies settled down well and agreed voluntarily to remain in
the homes and no extensions of the Orders were required.
PUBLIC HEALTH LAUNDRY
The number of persons requiring the assistance of the
Public Health Laundry has remained fairly constant over the last
two years and has varied between 27 and 34. At the 31st December
1961 , two of the patients had been having the laundry service for
more than three years, three for more than two years and four for
more than one year,
The value of this service over a long period of time is
immense. The difficulty of coping with soiled laundry in a one
room home or by relatives who are out at work during the day or
are themselves perhaps becoming aged or infirm, is a very real
one and the laundry service is of considerable help in relieving
one burden of the aged person who is not ill enough to be removed
to a hospital or a home.
The Public Health Laundry which operates from the Public
Health Station in Lithos Road is kept very fully occupied and it is
perhaps fortunate that the number of patients requiring the use
of the laundry has become fairly stabilised at around 30. Any
increase in this number would probably require additional staff
and equipment and the present building could not readily be enlarged
to meet an extra demand,
The soiled articles are collected, laundered and delivered
twice a week, "and the total number of articles dealt with during the
year was 14,803.
DISINFECTION AND PIS INFESTATION
In recent years it has been recognised that steam disin—
fection is necessary on somewhat different grounds from those
which were previously considered valid. In the ordinary house
smallpox and possibly tuberculosis are the main illnesses following
which steam disinfection of bedding8 articles of clothing and disin—
fection of the room itself is necessary, Following other illnesses
the ordinary washing and laundering of clothes and the cleansing of