Businesses Are Working To Fight The Flu

GOLDEN TRIANGLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Officials are saying this flu season could be the worst one in history.

That’s why businesses are taking extra measures to fight the flu.

The flu is still wide-spread in every state, except Hawaii and Oregon, and it’s not going away anytime soon.

Public places like gyms and stores are doubling up on safety measures to keep their members and customers from becoming victims of the flu.

Wipes filling corners and germ-X lining tables.

That’s what you’ll find when you walk into the gym and grocery store.

They greet customers as they walk into Vowell’s Market Place to grab and use on their buggies and hands.

“We come in contact with a lot of people, encounter a lot of people, exchanging money, helping them out, so what we like to do, we have our wipes everywhere. We have wipes on the registers, all over the place, by the meat department. So, we just try to delete that, or whatever, do whatever we can to keep it away,” says Vowell’s Market Place Assistant Manager, Kendra Grant.

Keeping “it” away, is the ultimate goal for businesses during this flu outbreak.

Especially at gyms, where sweat and hand after hand touches workout gear.

Fitness Factor owner, Beth Jeffers, says the gym is just like any other public place.

“Yes, you are handling weights and that type of thing, but I really feel like if you do the proper precautions of wiping your equipment down, washing your hands when you get done, it’s just like going to a store, or just being at your job. We’re around people and it’s kind of the risk that we take.”

Workers wipe down equipment several times a time day and are doing so even more right now.

“We do see sometimes, people get off of the equipment and a lot of times, people are in a hurry, they’re not even thinking, and like we don’t have signs up around the gym, telling you to wipe your equipment down, so I don’t think people feel like they have to wipe their equipment down, and we want to be a full service gym, and we do a lot of wiping ourselves,” says Jeffers.

Although wiping down machines might not be a part of every member’s workout, it is for most members, like Robert White and Wink Wright.

“People are sneezing, they’ve got germs on their hands, they come in here, they get on equipment, and most will clean the equipment, wipe down when they finish, so to eradicate as many germs as possible for the next one coming in to work out,” says White.

“I’m sure there’s a lot of people that don’t think about it. They just go on, but talk to somebody who has had the flu, and maybe if they had wiped down before they had exercised, they may not have gotten the flu,” says Wright.

Fitness Factor has a cleaning system that’s in place year round, but have been doing extra cleanings because of the flu and cold season.

Doctors are also still recommending everyone to get the flu shot this season.

It’s also important to avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth to prevent germs from spreading.