The Boston Globe - 11.03.2020

A8 Nation/Region The Boston Globe WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020

A SPREADING THREAT

By Marina Villeneuve

and Olga R. Rodriguez

ASSOCIATED PRESS

New York’s governor an-

nounced Tuesday he is sending

the National Guard into a New

York City suburb to help fight

what is believed to be the na-

tion’s biggest cluster of corona-

virus cases — one of the most

dramatic actions yet to control

the outbreak in the United

States.

The move came as health au-

thorities contended with alarm-

ing bunches of infections on

both sides of the country and

scattered cases in between.

Schools,housesofworship,

and large gathering places will

be closed for two weeks in a

“containment area” centered in

New Rochelle, and the troops

will scrub surfaces and deliver

food to the zone, which extends

a mile in all directions from a

point near a synagogue con-

nected to some of the cases,

Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

“It is a dramatic action, but

it is the largest cluster of cases

in the country,” he said. “The

numbers are going up unabat-

ed, and we do need a special

public health strategy.’’

New Rochelle and surround-

ing Westchester County ac-

count for at least 108 cases out

of 173 statewide. New York

City, with 100 times the popula-

tion of New Rochelle, has 36

known infections.

In Oakland, Calif., mean-

while, thousands of increasing-

ly bored and restless passengers

aboard a cruise ship struck by

the coronavirus waited their

turn to get off the vessel and go

to US military bases or back to

their home countries for two

weeks of quarantine. In Wash-

ington state, where at least 19

deaths have been connected to

a Seattle-area nursing home,

Governor Jay Inslee announced

new rules for screening health

care workers and limiting visi-

tors.

“If we assume there are

1,000 or more people who have

the virus today... the number

of people who are infected will

double in five to eight days,” he

warned.

On Wall Street, stocks

climbed higher during the day,

recouping some of their stag-

gering losses from the day be-

fore. The United Nations closed

its headquarters in New York to

the public and suspended all

guided tours.

The virus has infected nearly

1,000 people in the United

States and killed at least 27,

with one state after another re-

cording its first infections in

quick succession. New Jersey

reported ts first coronavirus

death Tuesday. Worldwide,

nearly 120,000 have been in-

fected and over 4,200 have

died.

In California, passengers

from the coronavirus-stricken

Grand Princess were allowed

off the vessel and walked to the

bottom of a ramp, where

masked officials in yellow pro-

tective gear and blue plastic

gloves took their temperature

and led them to a tent for more

screening before they lined up

to board a bus.

Authoritiessaidforeignpas-

sengers would be flown home,

while Americans would be

flown or bused to military bases

in California, Texas, and Geor-

gia for testing and 14-day quar-

antines.

The evacuation of the 951-

foot ship began Monday with

several hundred people let off

the ship, including more than

200 Canadians who were flown

to a military base in their coun-

try, authorities said. About

2,000 passengers, including

hundreds of Californians, were

still aboard Tuesday morning.

About 1,100 crew members,

19 of whom tested positive for

the virus, will be quarantined

and treated aboard the ship,

which will dock elsewhere after

passengers are unloaded, Gov-

ernor Gavin Newsom said.

comes slowing the outbreak’s
progress so the health care sys-
tem does not become over-
whelmed with too many pa-
tients at once, Baker said. “It’s
only possible if everybody does
their part.”
Baker said the emergency
declaration will “give our ad-
ministration more flexibility to
respond to the developing out-
break,” including in quickly
finding space to stockpile sup-
plies or, if need be, empowering
the governor to cancel large-
scale events to help contain the
spread of the virus.
He noted that people with
chronic health conditions and
adults over 60 are at greatest
risk of severe illness and death
from Covid-19, and urged them
to avoid large gatherings — but
assured them that MBTA sta-
tions, trains, and buses are be-
ing regularly cleaned.
Baker noted that he expect-
ed to see less of his own 91-
year-old father, to protect him.
“He and I are probably going to
have a lot of conversations over
the phone over the course of the
next few weeks,” Baker said.
Meanwhile, the state will
provide new guidance to long-
term-care facilities, in keeping
with plans by nursing homes
and assisted living facilities
across the nation to begin
screening all visitors and re-
stricting entry to all but essen-
tial health care workers.
Baker also said he was eas-
ing state rules on school atten-
dance so that officials would
feel free to close down schools if
need be. He also urged “all dis-
tricts to cancel out-of-state trav-
el.” The state won’t require any
to extend their school year past
June 30, and the state Depart-
ment of Early and Secondary
Education would disregard any
attendance data after March 2.
For now, Baker said, officials
are still discussing whether to
hold the Boston Marathon on
April 20. But he praised the deci-
sion to cancel the Boston St. Pat-
rick’s Day parade and said “large
gatherings are probably not a

uMASSACHUSETTS
Continued from Page A

great idea.” Lawrence has also

canceled its St. Patrick’s parade.

“We believe it’s important to

start taking more aggressive ac-

tion now,” Baker said. Officials

expect “this disruption to con-

tinue for the foreseeable fu-

ture,” he added.

Earlier Tuesday, legislative

leaders said they intend to allo-

cate $15 million to Covid-19 re-

sponse efforts, although they

didn’t specify where the money

would go. Scheduled for a vote

next week, the spending pack-

age would be the first major in-

fusion of state cash to address

the virus.

Baker said he expects the

funds to help both the state De-

partment of Public Health and

local health boards.

Across the border in Rhode

Island, the Department of

Health reported Tuesday that a

woman in her 50s who traveled

to Egypt and a Rhode Island

Hospital health care worker in

her 30s have tested positive, the

state’s fourth and fifth cases.

Of the 92 Covid-19 cases de-

tected in Massachusetts so far,

four involve foreign travel, 70

were connected to the Biogen

meeting, and 18 are still under

investigation. Six people have

been hospitalized.

The unknown cases include

at least some of the patients in

Berkshire County, whose illness-

es have already had far-reaching

effects. Berkshire Medical Cen-

ter in Pittsfield is facing staffing

shortages after it furloughed

dozens of staff members who

came in contact with five Covid-

19 patients before the sick peo-

ple could be tested.

According to a hospital

spokesman, starting March 1,

the patients separately came to

the Berkshire Medical Center

emergency department with se-

vere flu-like symptoms and

were admitted. In each case,

the state Department of Public

Health did not agree to test the

patients for about five days.

During that time, nurses

and other employees who were

exposed to the patients were

placed on a 14-day quarantine

as soon as the test results came

back. (The nurses had worn

masks but not the eye shield

andgownsneeded to protect

against the coronavirus.)

The Massachusetts Nurses

Association, a union represent-

ing workers at Berkshire Medical

Center, said that 70 employees

were on furlough, including 54

nurses. The hospital, which has

about 800 nurses, remains open.

The hospital acknowledged

that staff members had been

asked to self-quarantine for 14

days but declined to specify

how many or to confirm the

union’s numbers.

The union said it has not re-

ceived any reports of nurses or

other health care workers who

have been infected with the vi-

rus.

Testing capacity in the state

is expected to increase rapidly,

however, making delays like

those experienced in Berkshire

County less likely.

The state public health labo-

ratory, currently the only place

in the state equipped to test for

the coronavirus, is automating

an aspect of the testing and ex-

pects to increase its capacity

from 40 to 50 tests a day to 200

a day, Public Health Commis-

sioner Bharel said at the press

conference. The lab has also re-

ceived an additional 2,000 test

kits, she said.

Additionally, private labora-

tories are working on getting

federal approval to start doing

the tests.

So far, the state’s lab has

completed tests for roughly 400

people and can complete them

in 24 to 48 hours, Bharel said.

To meet hospital needs, the

state is also expecting to receive

supplies through the federal

emergency medical equipment

stockpile, but did not have specif-

ics of how many gowns, face

masks, and other items it will get.

Political officials are also

taking precautions. The Massa-

chusetts Democratic Party is

temporarily suspending all of

its remaining caucuses, the

weekend gatherings at which

Democrats elect delegates for

the state party convention,

where they will endorse a can-

didate in the Senate primary

between Senator Edward Mar-

key and Representative Joseph

P. Kennedy III, according to

chair Gus Bickford.

“In the event that this tem-

porary suspension must contin-

ue for an extended period of

time, the party will develop a

replacement to the caucus pro-

cess,” Bickford said Tuesday.

“The party has informed Sena-

tor Markey and Congressman

Kennedy of this decision, and

each supported the necessary

decision by the state party to

postpone the caucuses.”

Meanwhile, as calls to avoid

needless travel increased, pas-

senger traffic through Logan

Airport dropped considerably

last week. About 351,000 pas-

sengers passed through securi-

ty checkpoints between March

2 and March 8 — down about

53,000, or 13.2 percent, from

the same week a year ago.

Liz Kowalczyk, Danny

McDonald,Adam Vaccaro,

Robert Weisman, and Edward

Fitzpatrick of the Globe staff

contributed to this report. Felice

J. Freyer can be reached at

[email protected]. Follow

her on Twitter @felicejfreyer.

Matt Stout can be reached at

[email protected]. Follow

him on Twitter @mattpstout

Martin Finucane can be

reached at martin.finucane@

globe.com

Mass.

cases

have

doubled

JOHN TLUMACKI/GLOBE STAFF

Governor Charlie Baker said he would ease rules on school attendance so officials would feel free to close them if need be.

Jobs that can’t be done re-
motely are often the lower-pay-
ing service jobs in restaurants
and hotels. And more than half
of workers in food services and
related jobs don’t get paid sick
time, according to the Econom-
ic Policy Institute, a left-leaning
think tank.
Restaurant workers who re-
ly on tips for the majority of
their incomes may be reluctant
to call in sick, said Sarumathi
Jayaraman, cofounder of the
advocacy group Restaurant Op-
portunities Centers United.
“The only way to get tips, if
you’re a tipped worker, is to go
to work,” she said.
Many restaurant owners
don’t comply with the require-
ment that they pay the differ-
ence if employees’ tips don’t
bring them up to the state mini-
mum wage — 84 percent of res-
taurants violate wage and hour
laws, according to a 2013 Uni-
versity of California Berkeley
study — and there’s little
chance those employers would
pay employees the full mini-
mum wage if they’re out sick,
she said.
Nearly 60 percent of food
workers reported working
while ill, according to a 2013
study by the Environmental
Health Specialists Network at
the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention. Those with a
cough were much more likely
to report to work than those
who were vomiting, the study
found.
“Their vulnerability, I think,
will expand the crisis if we
don’t do anything about it,” Ja-
yaraman said. “And the crisis

uSICKTIME
Continued from Page A

expands their vulnerability.”

Among those who can’t

work at home are people who

clean airplanes and provide

wheelchair assistance and oth-

er passenger services at Logan

Airport.

Nonunion workers there are

at risk of losing pay if they stay

out sick, said Roxana Rivera,

vice president of local 32BJ of

the SEIU, which represents

hundreds of airport workers

and is trying to organize 1,

more. “Workers shouldn’t have

to burn through their sick days

and be forced to go without pay

if they catch the coronavirus,

particularly when the cause is

their own workplace,” Rivera

said.

For airport workers who

have a union contract, the SEIU

is negotiating alternative ar-

rangements to cope with the vi-

rus, Rivera said.

Among all workers, more

than three-quarters have nine

or fewer days of paid sick time,

which would not cover the rec-

ommended quarantine period

of 14 days, according to the

Economic Policy Institute.

Massachusetts law requires

40 hours of paid sick time per

year. But the law leaves some

gaps:

ªPeople must accrue the

time, earning no less than one

hour of sick time for 30 hours

of work. New employees may

not be eligible for sick pay.

ªThe sick-leave require-

ment doesn’t apply to compa-

nies with fewer than 11 em-

ployees or to contractors.

ªEven for those who have

earned it, 40 hours won’t cover

a two-week quarantine.

ªAnd, even when sick leave

is paid for, many employers tal-

ly “points” for each sick day tak-

en; employees who accrue too

many points fear getting disci-

plined or fired, even though

this type of retaliation is

against state law.

“Even with the paid sick

leave we have, this is going to

leave a lot of people in a diffi-

cult situation,” said Nancy Les-

sin, a retired AFL-CIO health

and safety coordinator. People

tend to save their sick days for

when their children are ill, she

said, soldiering through their

own ailments. “So many people

go to work feeling ill, even with

fevers.”

Lawmakers from Washing-

ton state and Connecticut last

week introduced a bill in Con-

gress that would require all em-

ployers to let workers accrue

seven days of paid sick time a

year and give them 14 paid sick

days in the event of a public

health emergency.

But there already is guid-

ance on the books, Lessin not-

ed. During the 2009 swine flu

pandemic, Lessin and others

persuaded the CDC to recom-

mend that employers have

“flexible” sick leave policies

“consistent with public health

guidance”; allow employees to

care for a sick family member;

and refrain from requiring a

doctor’s note as proof of sick-

ness to avoid overwhelming

medical offices.

That advice remains in

place, Lessin said, although it’s

not binding. “It’s in there. But

there’s no one really publicizing

this issue,” she said.

Some companies are step-

ping up on their own.

Amanda Rositano, presi-

dent of NETA, a cannabis re-

tailer with 800 employees, said

the company is updating its

policy to waive the points that

accrue for absences. “The poli-

cy will be updated so that dur-

ing a time of crisis such as this

one, employees won’t need to

be concerned as to whether or

not they’re being tracked,” she

said.

Amazon has also said ware-

house workers and other em-

ployees won’t accrue points for

absences and unpaid time off

won’t be counted during the

month of March.

Ride-hailing companies

Uber and Lyft said they would

compensate drivers diagnosed

with the coronavirus or affected

by quarantines, according to

news reports; Uber is offering

up to 14 days of sick time, al-

though it’s unclear how much

money drivers will get. Delivery

companies DoorDash and In-

stacart are also reportedly in

talks about compensating their

workers.

Darden Restaurants, the

parent company of Olive Gar-

den and the Capital Grille,

among other chains, is now of-

fering paid sick leave for all

hourly workers.

After a Walmart worker in

Kentucky tested positive for the

virus, the company waived its

attendance policy through the

end of April, allowing people

who are unable to work or un-

comfortable at work to stay

home, using their regular paid

time off benefits. Workers un-

der quarantine will get up to

two weeks of pay, and those

with confirmed cases will get

an additional two weeks of pay.

Felice J. Freyer can be reached

at [email protected].

Follow her on Twitter

@felicejfreyer. Katie Johnston

can be reached at

[email protected].

Follow her on Twitter

@ktkjohnston.

Lackingsicktime,somecan’taffordtostayhome

FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Caregivers and nurses in California protested changes to

their sick leave benefits last month.

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