Until now the US has opposed paid sick leave. This stance may be changing as the coronavirus takes a grip over the nation. Democrats are putting forward draft sick-leave legislation and the Republican President, Donald Trump appears willing to listen. According to Labor Ministry statistics, as things currently stand, one in four employees (32 million) have no access to paid sick leave and featuring among them are those in the most precarious forms of employment. All of which serves to direct a spotlight on the means used to stall the spread of the virus, as well as on inequalities operating within the nation’s population.
The most efficient way of stemming the spread of the coronavirus is to isolate the ill and quarantine those suspected of having caught the virus. Yet, in the USA, “the world’s richest country does not guarantee paid sick leave for all,” reminded the Democrat Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Although a dozen States and 30 towns and cities have instituted the principle of paid sick leave, the measure has never been voted upon in Washington.
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