The working class and coronavirus (Part IV): The pressure to go to work when sick

Here's a report by Holly Bailey, out of Lone Tree, in southeast Iowa, for the Washington Post.  The story centers on a 64-year-old woman with COPD, who was working in a convenience store when the coronavirus news caused her to seek an unpaid leave in early March, before there were many cases in Iowa.  Her doctor didn't provide a note excusing her from work, so her request was denied.  Not long afterwards, though, she was furloughed, as coronavirus moved to center stage in mid March.  The question now is whether vulnerable workers like her will be required to return to work or lose their unemployment benefits, as Iowa seeks to reopen. 

Last week, Iowa joined a growing number of states that have started to reopen amid the pandemic. Although there was never an official statewide stay-at-home order, Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) eased restrictions in 77 of the state’s 99 counties, allowing restaurants, gyms, churches and other businesses to open at limited capacity, even as coronavirus cases in the state continue to rise.

On Wednesday, Reynolds signed a public health order allowing the partial reopening of businesses beginning Friday in the state’s 22 remaining counties, including retail stores and enclosed shopping malls, as long as they operate at 50 percent capacity

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Iowa Workforce Development, which oversees the state’s unemployment system, has announced some exceptions to the policy, including for those who have been sickened by the coronavirus or have been advised by a doctor to self-quarantine because they face a higher risk of becoming ill.

But in a news conference last week, Beth Townsend, the department’s executive director, said the onus would be on workers to prove that their employment situation would put them at risk of getting sick. “It takes more than a mere assertion by the employee to establish this to be true,” she said.