SEARCH
Preparing for the Pandemic, Part 2: Practical Help Missing for Families, Communities
A deadly flu pandemic—avian or influenza—is “not a question of if, it’s a question of when,” says Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Yesterday, we examined the most recent voluntary workplace guidelines offered by OSHA in place of a thorough and enforceable workplace standard to protect workers, especially first responders and health care workers. Today, we look at the CDC’s community guidelines and what they mean to working families.
*********
About a week before OSHA’s workplace guidelines were announced, CDC unveiled its community guidelines to deal with a flu pandemic, along with a severity index—the more widespread the outbreak, the more drastic the measures.
Depending on the severity of the outbreak, the CDC guidelines range from voluntary in-home quarantines to shutting schools, day care centers and colleges for up to three months and urging people to work from home and avoid public transportation.
In a fairy tale version, one report on the guidelines described them this way:
Many adults would telecommute to work in a season of near-endless “snow days.” Children would probably turn in homework over the Internet. Prescription drugs would be prescribed liberally as preventive medicines. A government-woven safety net would probably provide food, personal care and financial assistance to people who couldn’t cope on their own.
But let’s get real. How does a hotel worker or bus driver telecommute? What about the millions of kids without Internet access? Who pays for the prescription drugs? What government safety net?Today nearly half of all workers don’t even have one day of sick leave. Even under the terms of legislation that a Senate hearing explored this week, workers would be guaranteed just seven sick days per year.Jeff Levi, PhD, executive director of the health advocacy group Trust for America’s Health, says:
The guidelines raise difficult practical and policy issues. For instance, if a sick individual is expected to stay home and a household member is expected to remain home to care for them, we must consider implications regarding sick leave and paid family leave that would encourage people to comply with such guidance. We also need to think about how vital medical and food supplies will reach those who are quarantined. If schools are expected to close for extended periods, we must address how children will be cared for and how kids who rely on school meal programs will be fed.
Writing on Slate.com, David Shenk asks:
What about the millions of kids who depend on schools for meals? What about the economic and infrastructure disruption from having adults having to stay home from work?
In an editorial, the The Washington Post notes:
The guidelines, which advise people to avoid crowded spaces such as trains, cars or offices, do not address the needs of poorer Americans (among others) who must take public transportation or who can’t telecommute.…The CDC must consider how state and local governments might deal with the potentially massive social costs of school closures and work stoppages.
A flu pandemic may inevitable, as the CDC predicts. But is a well-conceived, thorough and funded workplace and community protection strategy inevitable? Doesn’t look like it.
 |
Become a Fan on Facebook |  |
Follow Us on Twitter |  |
Subscribe to YouTube |  |
Subscribe to Blog RSS | ||||
No Comments
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
