COVINGTON - Penzato Insurance is finally back to normal operations after getting hit hard recently by illness.
"It has been absolutely dreadful with the kids having the flu. We had sick parents, they were out," said owner Melissa Penzato, "We shutdown. We had one person in our office working out of five."
It's the same story throughout the West St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce membership.
"It's just been a continual topic about how many people they have out with the flu, how much it's affecting productivity," said Chamber executive director Lacey Toledano.
That's why Covington-based Natural Disinfection Solutions has been in high demand with families and businesses over the past few weeks. Their services include measuring the level of germs in a home or business, then cleaning, but also using their own EPA-certified products to disinfect.
"It's safe on all surfaces, but it's stronger than bleach," said co-owner Nick Licata about the spray BN 200, "So what we're able to do is put it in an electro-static sprayer and kind of spray an entire room. So not only are we getting the air, we're also getting surfaces on top and underneath because it has a 360-degree wrap around effect."
Licata says that access is important because the most critical places to clean don't usually cross our minds like door knobs, light switches, handles and cell phones.
"The flu virus can live on a surface for up to 48 hours, so if you're not properly disinfecting it, it can keep getting passed back and forth," said Licata.
That's why the team has boosted many of their weekly cleaning clients to daily disinfecting and they recommend you do the same.
And whether you hire a company like Natural Disinfection Solutions, or you want to do it on your own, Licata says another key to disinfecting correctly is to use products that outline what they kill on the label and how long it needs to sit to be effective.