COVID-19 -- Why all the self-quarantines are the wrong approach
First off, COVID-19 is a serious virus and has caused death. I am not discounting this.
And I am not opposed to social distancing on a reasonable scale. Some stores and places are taking it a little extreme. Being an introvert, social distancing isn't disagreeable.
I think it's great we are getting massive, national attention to improving personal hygiene, namely thoroughly washing hands. I've told my wife and others that if this continues we will probably have a decline in flus and colds over the next couple years, until people start getting lax again.
The problem in our country is we are not allowed to be sick, ill, or in any way feel under the weather. Work is all about work. Far too many people feel that they have to work or they may lose their job. Far too many people go to work when they aren't feeling well, because they feel like they have to work or they don't have much, if any, sick leave to take.
And almost every company, business, organization, or other entity in the nation does not provide adequate sick leave compensation.
I earn one sick leave day per month, in addition to vacation time. That's better than a lot of places. I can use my sick leave to be home when my wife or kids aren't well, or to take someone (including myself) to a medical appointment.
However, unless I'm not feeling well enough to get up out of bed, I don't usually stay home. If needed I'll take something to help relieve the symptoms and at work I'll be extra mindful to avoid others whenever possible. But when I stay home ill it's because I don't feel like doing anything. Our culture has been that we work whenever possible.
For my kids at school, they are allowed only 5 parent-excused absences per quarter. Doctor-excused absences aren't limited. Five tardies equal an unexcused absence and, I think, the student can only have 10 of those for the whole school year. I know we get mailed warnings when 3 and 5 are reached.
Anyway, most parents know when a child is sick. And most of the time the kid needs to stay home, and there is no reasonable reason to spend $30 or more on a co-pay for a doctor visit just so the doctor can say the kid is sick and should stay home.
There have been times when we've had to take the kids out of school, such as for a funeral out-of-state. That eats into the parent-excused absences.
Sometimes we just keep a child home if he/she will be late because a parent-excused absence can be better than a tardy that contributes to an unexcused absence.
The extreme response to COVID-19 is extremely irresponsible and unneeded.
If people would wash their hands thoroughly, not touch their faces, limit the amount of touching others and things, and keep a respectable distance from others then the risk of getting sick, whether from COVID-19 or any other illness, isn't any greater now than it was a year ago.
Instead, and this is scary, we bow to the authorities and their orders to quarantine ourselves and our families, just because we "might" be carriers or have the virus. We allow the government to close down all "non-essential" businesses.
What kind of business is "non-essential" anyway?
If someone relies on their work in the business to provide for themselves and others then that business is essential to them.
Instead the government locks down businesses and forces people to turn to the government for assistance. It's forced welfare and the government is teaching people to become reliant and dependent on the government for help and even to survive.
What should have happened is if anyone is feeling even a little under the weather they should be told to stay home. Any illness lasting more than 5 days should probably require a doctor's note to verify the illness, but people shouldn't feel like they can't be sick.
Instead, because our nation won't let people be sick and stay home when they are, when something like COVID-19 happens and freaks everyone out then as a country we go to the extreme and force an extended sick leave on as many non-essential citizens as we can. And the economy tanks.
Wouldn't it cost a lot less if businesses could stay open and people could feel free to take sick time when they aren't feeling well? Maybe the economy wouldn't practically collapse if people could freely take time off to be sick.
Which is better: pay employees a few days of sick leave every month (and not everyone will need to take it) and be a little short-handed at times during the year, or pay everyone for reduced work when people are forced to work remotely, or lay off employees because the business is forced to close (due to lack of customers or locked down for quarantine measures). While the answer is "it depends" my guess is it would be far less expensive for a company to offer more paid sick leave than either of the other options. And for society closing a business and/or laying off employees, who then file for unemployment resources, is by far the more expensive option.
If I had at least 3 days of sick leave per month, I would feel like I could actually take time off when I do get a little under the weather. And maybe I might actually get well sooner if I stayed home to rest. I'd certainly not be a risk of infecting others.
And schools need to seriously reform their attendance policies. But, the better option is probably to reduce exposure to other kids through home schooling. I'm not saying kids shouldn't play with other kids. They can play with others, but being at school exposes kids to hundreds more kids (and other viruses) than they would get by just playing with their own friends.
It will be interesting to see how the attitude towards illness changes over the next year, as we work through this pandemic. What changes will come? Will companies offer more sick leave? Will we be able to be sick at home instead of at work? Will there be a 4-6 month work remotely shift to reduce infections in the workplace? How will conventions and other face-to-face seminars or large gatherings change and adapt?
And I am not opposed to social distancing on a reasonable scale. Some stores and places are taking it a little extreme. Being an introvert, social distancing isn't disagreeable.
I think it's great we are getting massive, national attention to improving personal hygiene, namely thoroughly washing hands. I've told my wife and others that if this continues we will probably have a decline in flus and colds over the next couple years, until people start getting lax again.
The problem in our country is we are not allowed to be sick, ill, or in any way feel under the weather. Work is all about work. Far too many people feel that they have to work or they may lose their job. Far too many people go to work when they aren't feeling well, because they feel like they have to work or they don't have much, if any, sick leave to take.
And almost every company, business, organization, or other entity in the nation does not provide adequate sick leave compensation.
I earn one sick leave day per month, in addition to vacation time. That's better than a lot of places. I can use my sick leave to be home when my wife or kids aren't well, or to take someone (including myself) to a medical appointment.
However, unless I'm not feeling well enough to get up out of bed, I don't usually stay home. If needed I'll take something to help relieve the symptoms and at work I'll be extra mindful to avoid others whenever possible. But when I stay home ill it's because I don't feel like doing anything. Our culture has been that we work whenever possible.
For my kids at school, they are allowed only 5 parent-excused absences per quarter. Doctor-excused absences aren't limited. Five tardies equal an unexcused absence and, I think, the student can only have 10 of those for the whole school year. I know we get mailed warnings when 3 and 5 are reached.
Anyway, most parents know when a child is sick. And most of the time the kid needs to stay home, and there is no reasonable reason to spend $30 or more on a co-pay for a doctor visit just so the doctor can say the kid is sick and should stay home.
There have been times when we've had to take the kids out of school, such as for a funeral out-of-state. That eats into the parent-excused absences.
Sometimes we just keep a child home if he/she will be late because a parent-excused absence can be better than a tardy that contributes to an unexcused absence.
The extreme response to COVID-19 is extremely irresponsible and unneeded.
If people would wash their hands thoroughly, not touch their faces, limit the amount of touching others and things, and keep a respectable distance from others then the risk of getting sick, whether from COVID-19 or any other illness, isn't any greater now than it was a year ago.
Instead, and this is scary, we bow to the authorities and their orders to quarantine ourselves and our families, just because we "might" be carriers or have the virus. We allow the government to close down all "non-essential" businesses.
What kind of business is "non-essential" anyway?
If someone relies on their work in the business to provide for themselves and others then that business is essential to them.
Instead the government locks down businesses and forces people to turn to the government for assistance. It's forced welfare and the government is teaching people to become reliant and dependent on the government for help and even to survive.
What should have happened is if anyone is feeling even a little under the weather they should be told to stay home. Any illness lasting more than 5 days should probably require a doctor's note to verify the illness, but people shouldn't feel like they can't be sick.
Instead, because our nation won't let people be sick and stay home when they are, when something like COVID-19 happens and freaks everyone out then as a country we go to the extreme and force an extended sick leave on as many non-essential citizens as we can. And the economy tanks.
Wouldn't it cost a lot less if businesses could stay open and people could feel free to take sick time when they aren't feeling well? Maybe the economy wouldn't practically collapse if people could freely take time off to be sick.
Which is better: pay employees a few days of sick leave every month (and not everyone will need to take it) and be a little short-handed at times during the year, or pay everyone for reduced work when people are forced to work remotely, or lay off employees because the business is forced to close (due to lack of customers or locked down for quarantine measures). While the answer is "it depends" my guess is it would be far less expensive for a company to offer more paid sick leave than either of the other options. And for society closing a business and/or laying off employees, who then file for unemployment resources, is by far the more expensive option.
If I had at least 3 days of sick leave per month, I would feel like I could actually take time off when I do get a little under the weather. And maybe I might actually get well sooner if I stayed home to rest. I'd certainly not be a risk of infecting others.
And schools need to seriously reform their attendance policies. But, the better option is probably to reduce exposure to other kids through home schooling. I'm not saying kids shouldn't play with other kids. They can play with others, but being at school exposes kids to hundreds more kids (and other viruses) than they would get by just playing with their own friends.
It will be interesting to see how the attitude towards illness changes over the next year, as we work through this pandemic. What changes will come? Will companies offer more sick leave? Will we be able to be sick at home instead of at work? Will there be a 4-6 month work remotely shift to reduce infections in the workplace? How will conventions and other face-to-face seminars or large gatherings change and adapt?
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