Lower-profile hospital workers — from skilled therapists and translators for non-English speakers to room cleaners and meal servers — are worried about their risk for coronavirus exposure, according to an article on the Public Integrity website.
Workers in California, Illinois and Washington state told the Center for Public Integrity they fear inadequate access to personal protective equipment. Many hospitals are struggling to obtain the equipment and rationing what they do have.
There’s also less support for low-paid hospital workers who are least able to afford to self-quarantine if exposed to the virus, according tod Catherine Murrell, deputy communications director for Healthcare Illinois and Indiana, a healthcare workers’ union affiliated with the Service Employees International Union.
Federal legislation doesn’t guarantee that all healthcare workers, and workers at companies with more than 500 and fewer than 50 employees, have to be paid if put on two-weeks quarantine.
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