Precautions are entering into many things we do every day

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With vaccination against the H1N1 virus being touted as an effective way to combat the disease, scores of people spent hours waiting at the Grundy County Administration Center Thursday to receive their shots. Other methods of combating the flu are also being undertaken everywhere from the grocery store to your place of worship. (Herald Photo by Adam Nekola)

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Preventing the spread of H1N1 has become such a part of people’s daily routine that local grocery stores struggle to keep up with the demand for disinfectant products and cleaning supplies.

Pumps of hand sanitizer seem to be staples at almost any place the public congregates, from the library to the condiments counter at fastfood restaurants.

Between businesses providing it and people carrying miniature bottles of disinfectant gel, some local grocery stores are running out of these high-demand items.

“We’ve been going though hand sanitizer so much our warehouse is on back order,” said Chris Zabinski, assistant store director for Osco at the Morris Jewel-Osco.

Whether its the little bottles of hand sanitizer available in the checkout line or down the cough and cold aisle, Zabinski said its all selling out.

“Even baby wipes are selling,” he said. “People are using (wipes) more often than normal, especially for little kids.”

Cleaning supplies sales have also increased by 10 to 15 percent, he said. People are washing their hands more and wiping down their homes and work places.

The Morris Area Public Library employees are using cleaning supplies daily to disinfect computer keyboards and mice daily. The library also has hand sanitizer pumps at the book check out points available for employees and the public.

“We’ve had several people thank us for it,” said Kyla Waltermire, library director.

Since summer, the library has had a volunteer wiping down all of the library’s book covers and she is still going, Waltermire said. This was being done before the H1N1 issue, she said, but is even more important now.

Because the library is a public institution, it has posted advisory notices stating that, for the safety of patrons and staff, if you are visibly ill, you may be asked to leave the library.

The notices were posted after some of the staff expressed concern.

“People are pretty understanding. We’re not trying to alarm anyone, but we are taking precautions,” Waltermire said. “Everyone wants a healthy environment to enjoy.”

She could not confirm if anyone has been asked to leave the library since the posting of the advisories.

DISPLAYING CAUTION

People are being cautious with everyday activities, at social gatherings, school and work in order to protect themselves from catching a cold or flu.

Although the Morris Jewel-Osco has offered for quite some time disinfectant wipes at entrances to wipe down shopping carts and hands, Zabinski said he now rarely sees anyone skip the opportunity to clean their cart.

“Now they’re all grabbing them and wiping down their cart and hands before evening pushing the cart into the store,” Zabinski said.

It seems rather than just washing hands or using hand sanitizer after touching something of public use, cleaning the object before hand is becoming more popular.

As Morris Community High School’s Apple Tree Playschool program gets ready to begin next week, teacher Tammy Fritchtnitch is preparing her students for the extra precautions they will be taking.

“You’ll be helping the kids with washing their hands more often. This is super important because of H1N1 being more prominent,” Fritchtnitch told her students during class last week.

The students were told they would be cleaning the playschool students’ toys for every playschool day, along with the tabletops and chairs.

“We will need to frequently wipe down to keep you healthy and them healthy,” Fritchtnitch said.

Even during weekly activities such as Catholic Mass, people are becoming more cautious.

Deacon Robert Stansberry of Immaculate Conception Parish in Morris said the church has not taken any drastic measures, but has had parishioners ask questions.

“We’ve had some parishioners with concerns about shaking hands during our sign of peace, but we always tell people if they’re not comfortable, don’t do it,” Stansberry said.

He said no one is forced to take part in the hand shaking nor to share wine during communion.

“We understand if people don’t want to,” Stansberry said.

“Our belief is we’re receiving the body and blood of Jesus and that is likely not to make us sick, but the germs attached to (the glass) certainly could.”

For some jobs, such as being a police officer, interacting with the public is a must.

With the nature of the job, the Morris Police Department always has to be health conscious, despite the higher risk of H1N1. Dite said it hasn’t made any major changes, but has tried to encourage its officers to always watch out for their health.

“We have disinfecting wipes around the police department and people are encouraged to use them around their workstations, especially dispatch since the phones, radios and other equipment are used by numerous individuals 24 hours a day,” Dite said.

Officers also have face masks available and have always used protective gloves when booking prisoners.

The department has recently purchased – and is waiting to receive – wall mounted hand sanitizers for employees to use. Because of the high demand for the sanitizers, Dite said, it has taken extra time for the items to be shipped, but he’s expecting them this week.

“As we have told everyone, nothing beats hand washing, but these hand sanitizers can be used if officers have to leave the station quickly,” Dite said.

For more information on the H1N1 Flu, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site at www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu.

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