Angelika Fortunately, the hysteria surrounding the so-called swine flu has subsided somewhat, and we didn't all have to go into quarantine. In San Francisco, I occasionally saw people wearing masks when I rode the BART (subway), and at the Cinco de Mayo festival in Dolores Park, there was a tent where people could get examined. Desperate employees of the San Francisco Health Department also appealed for people with flu symptoms not to show up at hospital emergency rooms, as they were temporarily overwhelmed by the influx.
Our president also did not hold back with simple advice: Stay at home if you are sick, and do not send sick children to school. That sounds reasonable, but it is easier said than done in a country where almost 50% of full-time employees in the private sector do not receive paid sick leave or cannot stay at home to care for their sick children (Rundbrief 06/2007).
With part-time workers, the rate quickly jumps to almost 80%. And only 14% of employees who handle food receive pay when they call in sick. They also earn so little that they cannot afford to lose paid workdays. It's quite unsettling to imagine that the cook stands feverishly at the stove and the waiter heartily coughs over the plates of food. I also rolled my eyes when it was somewhat arrogantly stated that there are more deaths in Mexico because healthcare is worse, and Mexicans generally only go to the doctor when it's absolutely necessary, and many cannot afford the necessary medications. Hmm, in the USA, there are now 50 million citizens without health insurance, who have no choice but to go to the emergency rooms of hospitals when they are seriously ill. The hospital will subsequently try to collect the money owed, but if someone has nothing, there's nothing to collect.
But Obama is already working on his healthcare plan, and perhaps we will soon also receive legally mandated paid sick days. The "Healthy Families Act," which is already circulating in the House of Representatives, would grant up to seven paid sick days. It was previously rejected under Bush, but now there is hope that it will find approval in the House and Senate, especially since the swine flu is still on the minds of politicians. If paid sick days were to become law in the USA, we would finally be among the at least 145 countries that guarantee some form of paid sick leave.