The halls of South Knoxville Elementary were quiet Thursday expect for one man and the sound of a spray bottle full of disinfectant.
"The flu is going around, so hopefully the kids won’t catch the flu," said Alan Garner, the custodian at South Knoxville Elementary School. "I’m cleaning the tables trying to kill the germs."
With school canceled a third day in a row for weather, custodians took advantage of the empty halls to fight the flu. Only principals and custodians came to work Thursday to get the building ready for the children to return.
"We are trying to make sure the school is ready for our kids tomorrow and doing a little bit of extra cleaning for that flu problem," Principal Tanna Nicely said. "We’re wiping down doors, door handles, places of high traffic, cleaning the floors, just giving our school a good once over."
Cases of the flu are up in Knoxville and around the nation. Nurses say both children and adults can benefit from keeping their hands to themselves and disinfecting often.
"We've already seen more flu cases this flu season than we did in all of last flu season," said Jennifer Radtke, manager of infection prevention at UT Medical Center. "Using hand sanitizer that has alcohol in it will definitely help to keep your hands clean. Using soap and water to wash your hands is good as well."
Knox County Schools is running on a two-hour delay Friday. South Knoxville Elementary students will return to find their school even cleaner than when they left.
"We're trying to keep the kids here so they won’t be absent," Garner said. "So they can make it to school."