Proof Once Again That Cleaning Is an Investment

While hospitals around the country are nearing or have surpassed critical capacity due to COVID-19, one traditional winter virus is making less headway this year than ever before. We are talking about the flu. Just a few months ago, with COVID patients filling hospitals and flu season approaching, public health and hospital administrators were expecting the worst and were at a loss as to how to prepare for it.

However, at least as of January 2021, this potential health disaster has been averted.

By November 2020, the incidence of flu cases in the U.S. was a whopping 90 percent lower than in November 2019.

Further, Walgreens pharmacy, which tracks flu-related medicines using what it calls the Walgreens Flu Index, says the number of medicines sold to treat influenza has also declined. 

The index tracks how many antiviral prescriptions Walgreens receives from physicians as well as the sale of other medications—prescribed and over the counter—generally used by people suffering from influenza. While Walgreens has not released its final numbers for the season, it is reporting that this year’s flu activity “has been significantly lower” than in previous years.

One key reason for this is the simple fact that more people are getting vaccinated against the flu. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during the 2018–2019 flu season, about 174 million people were vaccinated. This season, nearly 190 million people have been vaccinated. And although it’s a bit late into the season, medical professionals say people are still asking to be vaccinated, which means that number is likely to go up.

But this is not the only reason the number of flu cases is down. According to Dr. Simone Wildes, an infectious disease specialist at South Shore Health in Massachusetts, other factors are at play:

·   The wearing of masks is a crucial reason for the decreased number of flu cases.

·   Social distancing has also had a significant impact.

·   Handwashing frequencies have increased. At least one study reports that people are washing their hands as much as 16 times per day, far more than ever before.

But there is one more reason for the significant reduction in flu cases in the U.S., and that is that we are cleaning and disinfecting more thoroughly, more effectively, and with more advanced disinfecting technologies than ever before. 

This should not come as a surprise. The southern hemisphere, which has its winter when we have our summer, reported a big drop in flu cases last season. 

Was this due to increased mask-wearing?

No. Although some people were starting to wear masks at that time, most people in this part of the world, including Chile, New Zealand, and Australia, still had not taken up the practice.

Was it due to increased social distancing or handwashing?

Social distancing did not come into vogue during the southern hemisphere flu season.  Further, there are no reports that indicate handwashing increased significantly.

So, what explains this decline?

During this early stage of what soon became a pandemic, building owners and managers were already implementing much more thorough and effective cleaning and disinfecting strategies. This includes both traditional cleaning and disinfecting programs as well as the use of new, more advanced technologies such as electrostatic sprayers.

“We reported what was happening in the southern hemisphere in a news story distributed last summer,” says Rick Vanderkoy, CEO of Secure Cleaning Building Services, a leading Illinois contract cleaning company.

“Not only were fewer people getting the flu in this area of the world, but private companies started saving billions of dollars [because there was] less absenteeism and enhanced worker productivity.

What happened in the southern hemisphere—and what is happening now in the northern hemisphere—proves once again that cleaning is a good investment. It protects health and saves money.”

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