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NEWSJOURNAL:
Small Businesses Prepare for Flu Season

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"One of the employees said that a lot of people just wash the palm of their hands not thinking that a lot of bacteria can be on the back of your hands and on your fingertips," he said. "That's one of the things we came up with, that we're all going to do that because of the flu and because it's good hygiene in general."

Ioannoni encourages his staff to get flu shots. He is also ordering hand sanitizer and sanitation wipes in bulk from Action Unlimited Resources of New Castle. The cleaning supply company in New Castle has seen a 400 percent uptick in product orders related to the prevention of swine flu.

The orders have "come in two waves, just like the virus," said spokesman Bill Dougherty. "When it first hit, we got a huge run on Purell because no one really knew what was going to happen. Obviously, now with the threat being higher and everyone being made more aware about it, we've seen another increase."

Many small businesses are telling employees that coming in when they're sick will do more harm than good. Ioannoni has instructed employees not to return until at least 24 hours after the symptoms have passed.

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