Dear Friend,

The coronavirus pandemic is spreading fast, and it’s absolutely critical
that people stay home when sick.

But when the Senate brought up paid sick time legislation for workers with
coronavirus so they can stay home like they’re supposed to?

Senate Republicans killed it.^1

Without paid sick leave, food service workers, preschool teachers, and
other people we encounter every day will risk their lives by coming to
work ill—and they will spread the virus to others.

[ [link removed] ]Demand Progress is rallying grassroots pressure on Congress to pass an
emergency paid sick leave measure right away. Will you rush a donation
today?

The CDC recommends that anyone infected with or exposed to COVID-19
isolate themselves at home. But more than a quarter of American jobs
provide no paid sick leave, and 1.5 million people go to work while sick
every week.^2,3

In fact, the US is one of only three wealthy countries that does not
require any paid sick days for its workers.^4 Businesses are allowed to
exploit employees that live paycheck to paycheck and can’t afford to miss
a few days’ pay, forcing them to come in to work sick.

Not only is this policy inhumane to the workers, it's a public health
hazard.

75% of food service workers—people who prepare and serve what we eat—have
no paid sick leave, and the vast majority say that they’ve been to work
while sick.^5 People with no paid sick leave also can’t stay home to care
for sick children, who end up in schools and daycares infecting other
children. That’s why studies show that flu epidemics spread at a 40%
slower rate in cities that have paid sick leave mandates than those that
don’t.^6

The coronavirus has a mortality rate thought to be ten times that of the
flu, and is especially deadly for the elderly and immunocompromised. It is
also more contagious than the flu. There is no cure, and no vaccine.^7

There’s no way around it: the only way to slow the spread of COVID-19 is
to have those who are exposed stay home. We need emergency paid sick leave
funding now.

[ [link removed] ]Will you donate to help convince Congress to pass emergency paid sick
leave for coronavirus patients?

Thanks for standing with us.

Robert Cruickshank,
Demand Progress

[ [link removed] ]DONATE

Sources:

1. HuffPost, "Senate GOP Blocks Emergency Paid Sick Leave Bill From Moving
Forward," [ [link removed] ]March 11, 2020
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Interim US Guidance for
Risk Assessment and Public Health Management of Persons with Potential
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Exposures: Geographic Risk and
Contacts of Laboratory-confirmed Cases," [ [link removed] ]March 7, 2020
3. The Washington Post, "Our lack of paid sick leave will make the
coronavirus worse," [ [link removed] ]March 3, 2020
4. Center for Economic and Policy Research, "United States Lags World in
Paid Sick Days for Workers and Families," [ [link removed] ]accessed on March 12, 2020
5. The Washington Post, "As coronavirus spreads, the people who prepare
your food probably don’t have paid sick leave," [ [link removed] ]March 4, 2020
6. The Washington Post, "Our lack of paid sick leave will make the
coronavirus worse," [ [link removed] ]March 3, 2020
7. LiveScience, "How does the new coronavirus compare with the flu?"
[ [link removed] ]March 6, 2020
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