Avoiding Coronavirus May Be a Luxury Some Workers Can’t Afford

March 01, 2020
Business

Unequal access to precautionary measures cuts along the same lines that divide the United States in other ways: income, education and race.

Answers to your most common questions:

Updated Feb. 26, 2020
- What is a coronavirus?
  It is a novel virus named for the crownlike spikes that protrude from its surface. The coronavirus can infect both animals and people and can cause a range of respiratory illnesses from the common cold to more dangerous conditions like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS.
- How worried should I be?
  New outbreaks in Asia, Europe and the Middle East are renewing fears of a global pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned this week that Americans should brace for the likelihood that the virus will spread to the United States.
- How do I keep myself and others safe?
  Washing your hands frequently is the most important thing you can do, along with staying at home when you’re sick.
- What if I’m traveling?
  The C.D.C. has warned older and at-risk travelers to avoid Japan, Italy and Iran. The agency also has advised against all nonessential travel to South Korea and China.
- How can I prepare for a possible outbreak?
  Keep a 30-day supply of essential medicines. Get a flu shot. Have essential household items on hand. Have a support system in place for elderly family members.
- Where has the virus spread?
  The virus, which originated in Wuhan, China, has sickened more than 80,000 people in at least 33 countries, including Italy, Iran and South Korea.
- How contagious is the virus?
  According to preliminary research, it seems moderately infectious, similar to SARS, and is probably transmitted through sneezes, coughs and contaminated surfaces. Scientists have estimated that each infected person could spread it to somewhere between 1.5 and 3.5 people without effective containment measures.
- Who is working to contain the virus?
  World Health Organization officials have been working with officials in China, where growth has slowed. But this week, as confirmed cases spiked on two continents, experts warned that the world was not ready for a major outbreak.

“It’s definitely an equity issue,” said Alex Baptiste, policy counsel for workplace programs at the National Partnership for Women Families, a nonprofit advocacy group. “You have not just an economic disparity but also a racial disparity between who has that access and can take care of themselves and their families.”

Portia Green, 33, is a restaurant worker in New York. She has no paid sick leave or health insurance. If schools closed, as a single mother she’d have no child care. A day off work means losing around $100 in pay, she said, and if she had to take more than a few days off, losing her job. The restaurants where she’s worked are too understaffed to call in backup workers easily, she said, and the expectation is that you show up unless you’re “green.”

“They’re going to push you to do it anyway,” said Ms. Green, who is a member of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United in New York, an advocacy group. “You go to work, pop a vitamin C and if you can do it, you do it.”

The biggest disparity for workers is access to health care: In the United States, some 27.5 million people lack any form of health insurance. That makes them less likely to seek medical care when they get sick or to have access to preventive health benefits that can help them stave off illness. The uninsured are disproportionately low income.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/01/upshot/coronavirus-sick-days-service-workers.html