CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Bedbugs are back at McAlpine Terrace Apartments in east Charlotte.
"It's upsetting because family members, we can't go in to see her and we have to take extra precautions to take her to the doctor’s office and take groceries to her. She's like a prisoner in her own home,” a woman named Sandy told Channel 9.
Sandy said her 90-year-old mother-in-law has bedbugs inside her unit at the senior living complex.
Sandy said her mother-in-law first noticed the bugs on Saturday, and an exterminator came by Monday.
"When (the) company came in Monday, he told her the chair that she sits in was completely infested and the best thing she could do is throw it out," Sandy said.
Sandy even asked Channel 9’s crew not to go inside the unit to talk to her mother-in-law because she didn't want us to risk picking up the bedbugs, too. She has been in touch with the Charlotte Housing Authority and said her mother-in-law's unit was sprayed and is set to get a fog treatment. Her items are also supposed to be put in a heat chamber.
It's the same system the city brought in after bedbugs surfaced there last October.
The Housing Authority confirmed two bouts with bed bugs last year and now, they are working to kill the bugs inside her mother-in-law's unit.
With the cases last year and the recent case, Channel 9 asked the Housing Authority if it planned to take more drastic measures like relocating residents or checking inside the walls. A spokesperson said those options haven't been mentioned yet, but if they were she would let us know immediately.
The Housing Authority spokesperson said it works continuously to educate residents on how bedbugs are transmitted, does routine inspections and plans to chemically treat the entire building next week.
Sandy just wants the bugs gone for good.
"This building, every apartment needs to be done and the company doesn't need to leave until every unit is taken care of,” she said.