The Real Reason Americans Aren’t Isolating
Many workers with COVID-19 still—still!—can’t afford to isolate, because they don’t have paid sick leave.
The life of a hotel front-desk clerk in a red state can tell you a lot about America’s COVID-19 failures. He doesn’t want to be identified, because he is worried about being fired, but I can tell you this: He doesn’t have paid sick days or health insurance. About a month ago, he got COVID and took four days off, using three of his seven vacation days and going a day without pay. Last week, one of his kids tested positive for COVID, and he thinks he has it again. But when he tried to get tested, the earliest appointment was in a few days. So with a headache, a sore throat, and a runny nose, he went into work anyway. “If I need to pay rent and buy food, I gotta go to work,”
