Lysol® Partners with Kinsa's FLUency™ School Health Program to Help Canadian Schools Reopen
Lysol funds distribution of 25,000 Kinsa Smart Thermometers to families in 250 elementary schools in an effort to curb illness spread as part of its HERE for Healthy Schools initiative
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 5, 2020 /CNW/ -- With the launch of HERE for Healthy Schools - a new initiative dedicated to curbing the spread of illness in classrooms - Lysol® Canada will fund the entry of Kinsa's FLUency™ school health program into 250 schools in Canada to protect against COVID-19. Now in its fifth year in the U.S., the FLUency program helps keep schools healthier through early detection and early response to spreading contagious illness. Administrators, teachers and parents receive access to Kinsa's early detection system, which includes the Kinsa app, real-time email alerts, and award-winning Kinsa smart thermometers to detect and respond to illness. Used with a mobile application, Kinsa smart thermometers guide users to appropriate care and treatment to get better faster, while aggregating indicators of spreading illness. As part of the HERE for Healthy Schools initiative, schools participating in FLUency will also receive Lysol disinfectant products & educational materials to help stop the spread and reinforce healthy habits.
"As countries reopen amidst the coronavirus pandemic, the safety of schools is critical. We're proud to partner with Lysol on a joint mission to keep Canadian schools healthy and protected against COVID-19 and other contagious illnesses," explains Kinsa founder and CEO Inder Singh. "With fever often the first sign of a contagious illness, this early detection and response system enables school administrators to know where and when illness is spiking and take immediate actions to stop the spread, such as disinfecting or social distancing measures. Early action is key to keeping our schools safe, and minimizing transmission to the broader community. Implementing this program in schools lays the foundation of an early warning system for the entire country. This partnership will help not only 250 schools and thousands of families, but also the entire country be at the forefront of curbing COVID-19 spread."
With Lysol's support, Canadian schools accepted into the FLUency program will receive free Kinsa smart thermometers for families and staff, Lysol disinfectants to curb the spread, and educational materials to reinforce healthy habits such as hand washing and surface hygiene. Over the past three years, Kinsa and Lysol have expanded FLUency's footprint to 1,750 U.S. elementary schools, supplying 130,000 families with health alerts, medical guidance, preventative tips and innovative tools for earlier detection and response to illnesses. Results show that the program works, with participating schools experiencing a 27% decrease in illness-based absences during the peak of flu season. By bringing the FLUency program to Canada at this critical time, Lysol Canada will be at the forefront of the COVID-19 response.
"We are proud to bring Kinsa's capabilities and their proven school health program to Canada," said Timo Oluschinsky, Vice President, Marketing RB Canada (makers of Lysol). "Lysol's mission is to help keep your loved ones illness free, and this mission is more important than ever as our society reopens amidst COVID-19. The FLUency program has shown that empowering schools and families with early warning of spreading illness results in timelier interventions, and increases preventative behaviors like disinfecting and handwashing in classrooms and at home. And Kinsa has shown that their system can help track COVID-19 and flu spread weeks earlier than any other system. The integration of Kinsa's early detection technology with our HERE for Healthy Schools initiative can further help reduce the burden of illness on families and help students thrive in healthy classrooms and safe communities. We look forward to giving Canadian families the tools they need to stay healthy."
FLUency is free to accepted schools. Interested elementary schools can apply here. To learn more about the program, see this video.
About Kinsa
Kinsa's mission is to help individuals and communities stop the spread of infectious illness through early detection and early response. To achieve this mission, Kinsa has built a communication network that connects more than two million users with a free app, email alerts, and the first device used when illness is suspected -- a thermometer. Kinsa studies the unique features of an illness and incorporates what's circulating nearby to offer personalized guidance from symptom onset through recovery. By analyzing geographic illness trends, Kinsa quickly identifies at-risk areas and mobilizes the organizations that can help stop the spread. Kinsa's real-time illness data, available at healthweather.us, has been shown to be an early indicator of COVID-19 spread. www.kinsahealth.com.
About HERE for Healthy Schools
As part of Lysol's commitment to helping keep loved ones illness free, Lysol expanded its HERE for Healthy Schools initiative into the Canadian market in January 2020. HERE for Healthy Schools is dedicated to curbing the spread of illness in classrooms by teaching healthy habits to young students. A variety of lessons and activities are available to parents and teachers for at-home and in-school learning as just three in ten parents say that their child aged 5-10 practices healthy habits regularly at school*. This mission aims to reduce absenteeism related to preventable illness and keep kids learning and thriving. In Canada alone, 20 million school days are missed each year due to preventable illness like cold and flu. For more information, visit https://www.lysol.ca/en/healthy-schools/
*Findings of a quantitative survey conducted by Ipsos on behalf of Lysol, March 2020
SOURCE Kinsa
Kim Angell, Wish PR, [email protected], 415-471-7272, http://www.kinsahealth.com
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