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OPINION Coughing. Sniffl ing. Sneezing. Every winter, it seems, the incidences of fl u and colds increase, especially in the workplace. That's why Ontario's doctors are ramping up a special campaign to keep these easily contracted illnesses from spreading like wildfi re. Snot's Not Hot encourages anyone who has the fl u to take a sick day and stay home from work if they can. Staying home and limiting contact with others prevents the spread of the fl u virus to people, who in turn, could pass it along to their friends and family. Cold and fl u viruses are highly contagious and are spread because people touch surfaces and then touch their faces, objects or individuals. It can easily spread for fi ve to seven days after symp- toms start. Some of the most contaminated sourc- es are the surfaces people touch travelling to and from work. According to the Ontario Medical Association, more than 60 per cent of gas pumps and more than 40 per cent of escalator rails and ATM ma- chine buttons are highly contaminated with ill- ness causing viruses. That's why it's so important to wash your hands frequently throughout the day to help prevent you from getting sick or spreading the illness to your family and co-workers. Should you start feeling sick, please keep your germs to yourself and work from home or take a sick day. "You don't need to prove anything by going into work when you are sick. In fact, going to work with the fl u only proves that you are willing to make others sick," said Dr. Doug Weir, presi- dent of the Ontario Medical Association. "Staying home to rest will prevent the spread of the fl u to other employees and will keep you on the road to recovery." If staying home isn't an option for you, try re- ducing the risk of spreading the virus by always coughing and sneezing into your elbow, using hand sanitizer and washing your hands frequently. Like the campaign says, Snot's Not Hot. So please, if you are coughing, sniffl ing or sneezing, stay home and focus on getting better instead of putting the health of your co-workers at risk. We'll all be thankful for it. The Independent & Free Press is published Tuesday and Thursday and is one of several Metroland Media Group Ltd. community newspapers. Edi- torial and advertising content of The Independent & Free Press is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. The Independent & Free Press Battling the bug Steve Nease Letters to the editor (This letter was originally sent to Councillor Bryan Lewis. A copy was made available for publica- tion). Hi Bryan, I was very interested in your comments in today's (Jan. 10) Independent & Free Press (Lewis wants the status quo for library hours of operation.) I was recently asked to donate some money to the library (they are looking for something like $1 million in donations), and after spending approx $14 million of taxpayers' money, I was somewhat shocked and annoyed. I was never against a modest improvement to the library, but when the Town is seeking funds for an addition to the hospital (the fi rst addition in over 30 years that I have lived here) and extra ice facilities, (because of the huge increase in population), I feel that the library price tag was way more than we needed to spend. Ms. (Jane) Diamanti (Director of Library Services) is a superb saleswoman but needs to be chal- lenged on every one of her re- quests for more town money! Bill Shuttleworth, Glen Williams Letters policy 905-873-0301 Publisher: Dana Robbins General manager: Steve Foreman (sforeman@theifp.ca) Retail advertising manager: Cindi Campbell (ccampbell@theifp.ca) Managing editor: John McGhie (jmcghie@theifp.ca) Distribution manager: Nancy Geissler (ngeissler@theifp.ca) Classifi eds Kristie Pells (classifi ed@theifp.ca) Accounting Rose Marie Gauthier Editorial Cynthia Gamble: News editor (cgamble@theifp.ca) Ted Brown: Photography (tbrown@theifp.ca) Lisa Tallyn: Staff writer (ltallyn@theifp.ca) Eamonn Maher: Staff writer/sports (emaher@theifp.ca) If Ontario public school teachers stage one-day 'protests', how would you view their actions? • They would be staging an illegal strike and should bear the consequences (73%) • It would be their legal, democratic right to do so (27%) WEB POLL RESULTS (Go to www.theifp.ca) Library pricetag annoys resident Library board at mercy of council Money for rinks but not library? Letters must include an address and daytime phone number. Anonymous letters will not be published. Letters should not exceed 150 words and may be edited for content and/or length. Publication is not guaranteed. Email: jmcghie@theifp.ca Mail or drop off: Independent & Free Press, 280 Guelph St., Unit 29, Georgetown, ON., L7G 4B1. The Independent & Free Press wel- comes your letters. Letters must include an address and daytime phone number. Anonymous letters will not be pub- lished and letters should not exceed 150 words and may be edited for con- tent and/or length. Please email your letter to: jmcghie@theifp.ca Send a letter Dear editor, I am writing in response to the article about Councillor Bryan Lewis informing the Halton Hills Library Board he is not in favour of expanding the hours for the Georgetown Branch as will be tabled at upcoming budget discus- sions (last night). The library board has surveyed its users multiple times over many years and overwhelmingly they have heard from library users that they would like to have expanded hours. For library users, please under- stand that the library board shares requests for expanded hours with Town council but the board and library staff are at the mercy of Town councillors to approve an increase to the library operating budget. If you feel strongly that you would like an increase in hours at the Georgetown branch library, continue to communicate this to the library board, but to truly make your voice heard you need to go one step further and inform your Town councillors and mayor. Colleen Johnson, Georgetown Dear editor, So, Councillor Bryan Lewis op- poses the provision of improved li- brary services at a cost of a few tens of thousands of dollars a year (The Independent & Free Press, January 10), but had no problem with spend- ing tens of millions of homeowners' dollars on more ice pads! Apparently, what's sauce for the goose is not sauce for the gander in Halton Hills. Shame! K.R. 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