scholarly journals Awareness and use of (emergency) sick leave: US employees’ unaddressed sick leave needs in a global pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (29) ◽  
pp. e2107670118
Author(s):  
Emma Jelliffe ◽  
Paul Pangburn ◽  
Stefan Pichler ◽  
Nicolas R. Ziebarth

We study US sick leave use and unaddressed sick leave needs in the midst of the global severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS COV 2) pandemic based on a representative survey. More than half of all US employees are unaware of the new emergency sick leave options provided by the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). Awareness and take-up rates are significantly higher among Asian Americans and lower among the foreign-born. About 8 million employees used emergency sick leave in the first 6 to 8 mo. Nevertheless, the share of employees who needed but could not take paid sick leave tripled in the pandemic; unaddressed sick leave needs total 15 million employees per month and are 69% higher among women. Our findings show that access to paid sick leave significantly reduces unaddressed sick leave needs. We conclude that given the fragmented US sick leave landscape, to address the strong increase in unaddressed sick leave needs during the pandemic, federal FFCRA response was not adequate.

Author(s):  
Diego Centonze ◽  
Maria A. Rocca ◽  
Claudio Gasperini ◽  
Ludwig Kappos ◽  
Hans-Peter Hartung ◽  
...  

AbstractCoronavirus disease (COVID-19) appeared in December 2019 in the Chinese city of Wuhan and has quickly become a global pandemic. The disease is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type-2 (SARS-CoV-2), an RNA beta coronavirus phylogenetically similar to SARS coronavirus. To date, more than 132 million cases of COVID19 have been recorded in the world, of which over 2.8 million were fatal (https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html). A huge vaccination campaign has started around the world since the end of 2020. The availability of vaccines has raised some concerns among neurologists regarding the safety and efficacy of vaccination in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) taking immunomodulatory or immunosuppressive therapies.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Paul C. Schriefer ◽  
Patricia H. Born

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a profound effect on the U.S. workforce. Employers are struggling to make workforce decisions with the added constraint of preventing further spread of the virus, including the number of employees needed to operate at less-than-capacity and the number of employees that can work from home. Existing company policies and employment contracts may not effectively address employees’ personal experience with a situation like COVID-19, which may include a medical diagnosis of the virus, the need to quarantine due to exposure to another infected person, or the need to care for a child whose school or daycare is shut down due to the pandemic. In this paper, we explore the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for employers providing paid sick leave and paid family medical leave. Employers are facing a growing number of lawsuits alleging noncompliance with the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). Paid sick leave mandates may be increasing employers’ exposure to employment practices liability insurance (EPLI), thus further complicating the legal considerations for employers as they navigate evolving guidelines for employee safety in the midst of a pandemic.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL1) ◽  
pp. 748-752
Author(s):  
Swapnali Khabade ◽  
Bharat Rathi ◽  
Renu Rathi

A novel, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), causes severe acute respiratory syndrome and spread globally from Wuhan, China. In March 2020 the World Health Organization declared the SARS-Cov-2 virus as a COVID- 19, a global pandemic. This pandemic happened to be followed by some restrictions, and specially lockdown playing the leading role for the people to get disassociated with their personal and social schedules. And now the food is the most necessary thing to take care of. It seems the new challenge for the individual is self-isolation to maintain themselves on the health basis and fight against the pandemic situation by boosting their immunity. Food organised by proper diet may maintain the physical and mental health of the individual. Ayurveda aims to promote and preserve the health, strength and the longevity of the healthy person and to cure the disease by properly channelling with and without Ahara. In Ayurveda, diet (Ahara) is considered as one of the critical pillars of life, and Langhana plays an important role too. This article will review the relevance of dietetic approach described in Ayurveda with and without food (Asthavidhi visheshaytana & Lanhgan) during COVID-19 like a pandemic.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jisook Ko ◽  
Yan Du ◽  
Rozmin Jiwani ◽  
Chengdong Li ◽  
Jing Wang

BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the in-person-based self-management approach (i.e., face-to-face or group approach) of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Older adults with T2D, including Asian Americans (AAs), have experienced worsening of diabetes control due to various reasons, including uncertainty of continuous access to essential diabetes medications, devices, education, limited health literacy, as well as constant anxiety and stress. Hybrid clinical trials that incorporate virtual elements into the in-person-based study could provide these vulnerable populations with accessible and timely interventions OBJECTIVE The primary aims of this pilot study are to determine (1) the effect of personalized behavioral nutrition (PBN) intervention on glycemic control, weight control, and metabolites profiles; and (2) the acceptability of PBN. to enhance glycemic control using personalized behavioral nutrition. METHODS Participants will be recruited with a web-based registry, advertisements in ethnic newspapers, and social network services popular among AAs. A total of 60 AAs, aged 65 years or older, who are descendants of Chinese, Korean, or South Asian, and have a diagnosis of T2D will be randomized into two groups: a PBN group (n=30) and a control group (n=30). A 4-week PBN intervention comprises three components: 1) digital self-monitoring; 2) personal nutrition change goals and recommendations; and 3) diabetes nutrition educations. All participants will complete digital self-monitoring on diet, physical activity, and blood glucose. In addition, all participants will access an interactive digital platform to track their self-monitoring data and communicate with the research team. The effectiveness and acceptability of implementing the intervention will be assessed. RESULTS Funding support and institutional review board approval for this study have been secured. Data collection started in August 2020 and is ongoing. CONCLUSIONS To our knowledge, this is the first study to determine the effectiveness and acceptability of PBN utilizing a metabolomics approach and digital-assisted intervention with hybrid RCT among older AAs. The findings of this pilot study will inform the development of a full-scale PBN protocol and hybrid clinical trials that can be adapted for people with T2D in the ongoing pandemic.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Fontelo ◽  
Mrigendra Bastola ◽  
Craig Locatis ◽  
Fang Liu

UNSTRUCTURED The global pandemic of COVID-19 has generated an unprecedented number of research papers from clinicians and scientists worldwide. We searched PubMed for articles on coronaviruses from 1970 to June 2020. Surges of publications occurred in 2003 from SARS and, again in 2012 from MERS. Although the name COVID-19, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was only announced by WHO in February 2020, the number of publications has already exceeded 16000 by June this year. China and the US lead in publications, but a significant number also come from countries hardest hit by the illness. International collaborative publishing is significant. Since these publications are generally free to access worldwide, it provides a rich evidence base for clinicians and scientists combatting the COVID-19 pandemic.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 1259
Author(s):  
Carla Prezioso ◽  
Ugo Moens ◽  
Giuseppe Oliveto ◽  
Gabriele Brazzini ◽  
Francesca Piacentini ◽  
...  

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been declared a global pandemic. Our goal was to determine whether co-infections with respiratory polyomaviruses, such as Karolinska Institutet polyomavirus (KIPyV) and Washington University polyomavirus (WUPyV) occur in SARS-CoV-2 infected patients. Oropharyngeal swabs from 150 individuals, 112 symptomatic COVID-19 patients and 38 healthcare workers not infected by SARS-CoV-2, were collected from March 2020 through May 2020 and tested for KIPyV and WUPyV DNA presence. Of the 112 SARS-CoV-2 positive patients, 27 (24.1%) were co-infected with KIPyV, 5 (4.5%) were positive for WUPyV, and 3 (2.7%) were infected simultaneously by KIPyV and WUPyV. Neither KIPyV nor WUPyV DNA was detected in samples of healthcare workers. Significant correlations were found in patients co-infected with SARS-CoV-2 and KIPyV (p < 0.05) and between SARS-CoV-2 cycle threshold values and KIPyV, WUPyV and KIPyV and WUPyV concurrently detected (p < 0.05). These results suggest that KIPyV and WUPyV may behave as opportunistic respiratory pathogens. Additional investigations are needed to understand the epidemiology and the prevalence of respiratory polyomavirus in COVID-19 patients and whether KIPyV and WUPyV could potentially drive viral interference or influence disease outcomes by upregulating SARS-CoV-2 replicative potential.


Author(s):  
T. Grübl ◽  
B. Plöger ◽  
M. C. Sassen ◽  
A. Jerrentrup ◽  
B. Schieffer ◽  
...  

Zusammenfassung Hintergrund Das SARS-CoV‑2 (Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2) hat sich weltweit ausgebreitet. Folgen von Infektionspräventionsmaßnahmen im Rahmen solcher Ansteckungsereignisse können speziell für Patienten mit außerklinischem Kreislaufstillstand (OHCA) Nachteile ergeben. Methodik Retrospektive Analyse von OHCA eines Landkreises in den Monaten Januar bis einschließlich Mai von 2018 bis 2020, wobei in 2020 die erste Welle der SARS-CoV-2-Pandemie und in 2018 eine Hochinzidenzphase des Influenzavirus vorlag. Ergebnisse N = 497 OHCA wurden untersucht (2018 n = 173, 2019 n = 149, 2020 n = 175). Es zeigte sich eine gleichbleibende Reanimationsinzidenz (85–99 Reanimationen/100.000 Einwohner/Jahr) und eine lokal typische Klientel („mean“ 70 Jahre, 66 % männlich; Median PES 3). Es ergaben sich keine statistisch signifikanten Unterschiede bei der Ausgangslage der Patienten (Anzahl beobachteter OHCA, Häufigkeit an Laienreanimationen, vermutete Ursachen des OHCA, initialer EKG-Rhythmus) und dem Behandlungsverlauf (Häufigkeit an ROSC/Krankenhausaufnahme/Überleben bis Krankenhausentlassung, neurologisches Outcome). Keiner der OHCA-Patienten in 2020 bot ein positives SARS-CoV-2- und drei Patienten in 2018 ein positives Influenzatestergebnis. Diskussion Die Lockdown-Maßnahmen während der ersten SARS-CoV-2-Welle scheinen das Outcome von OHCA-Patienten ohne COVID-19 insgesamt nicht beeinflusst zu haben.


Public Health ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 195 ◽  
pp. 142-144
Author(s):  
N. Kerman ◽  
J. Ecker ◽  
E. Tiderington ◽  
S. Gaetz ◽  
S.A. Kidd

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