I realize this is an unpopular opinion, but it's an unfortunate side effect of the dystopia we live in.
We are a family of 5. One of our 5 just tested positive for COVID.
We are lucky enough to be in a position where:
A) everyone who works can do so from home
B) our still school-aged child is homeschooled and doesn't need to attend school
However, I was thinking of what this would mean for our family if we weren't in this position. My husband works as a penetration tester, I have recently left the work force to homeschool our school-ager. We have a 19 year old daughter who has the ability to work from home, as well as an infant foster daughter, and I'm pregnant with another daughter.
If my husband (who supports us) didn't already work from home full time (or have the ability to work from home if needed) we would potentially be fucked. (As it stands, we are lucky that the only thing this fucks up is our son's ability to participate in homeschool co-ops and other extra curricular activities.)
We all got covid (one after the other) in 2020, as a result, we were quarentined for 6 weeks. Thanks to covid protections, I didn't lose my job, and even wound up receiving some pay.
But for so many people I know, who work in trades (welding, electricians, plumbers) and even just jobs that can't be done from home like daycare workers, cashiers or other retail work, they'd be fucked if they had to take off for 6 weeks (or even 2 weeks). Most Americans can't afford that, especially when you take into account the mountain of medical bills they'd no doubt be accumulating.
Most Americans can't afford to even take two weeks off.
We as a country have had such a pathetic response to covid that our only two options are:
A) reinstall some sort of covid protection – including a certain amount of guaranteed pay
B) accept that no one who is living paycheck to paycheck can afford to miss entire paychecks, and this will continue to spread like wildfire.