COVID-19

Oregon’s COVID-19 Temporary Paid Leave program pays workers who have to quarantine due to COVID-19 and whose employers don’t offer paid sick leave. The state legislative Emergency Board set aside $30 million for the program, which is meant to bridge gaps in federal funding for paid COVID-19 sick relief.  University of Chicago assistant professor Austin Wright also joins us. He recently studied how stimulus funds impact whether people are more likely to comply with stay-at-home orders.

As case rates of COVID-19 reach new heights across the nation, many states and cities are tightening stay-at-home restrictions to stop the spread. New research suggests that that those suffering from economic hardships are less likely comply with new stay-at-home orders; however, these same U.S. residents would be more likely to adhere to the new public health guidelines if their households received stimulus funds.

With coronavirus rates surging, elected officials in both red and blue states are again considering new restrictions on households and businesses. Some governors and mayors have imposed new shelter-in-place orders as a last-ditch measure to avoid overloading hospitals beyond their capacity. But lockdowns remain controversial. New survey data suggests that just half of Americans would comply with a month-long stay-at-home order; a third would refuse, up from just 15 percent in April.