The battle against the Covid-19 virus continues to rage on, and health workers have been on the frontline of the fight against the deadly virus since early March of this year. As a result, countless doctors, nurses, and medical staff have been infected with the coronavirus, and recently, the International Council of Nurses said that it believes that more than 90,000 healthcare workers worldwide have been infected with Covid-19 due to the ongoing shortages of personal protective equipment. Since a cure has yet to be discovered to end the global pandemic, the ICN says that the lack of official data on the exact number of infections and deaths may lead to higher infection and death rates among healthcare staff. As a result, talks about healthcare workers’ compensation has begun around the world, and some countries are gearing up to hand out cash assistance to medical frontliners who have been severely impacted by the coronavirus.
US House passes bill to provide hazard pay for essential workers
Back in May, the US House of Representatives passed The Heroes Act bill which will provide $200 billion in hazard pay funding for healthcare and all other essential workers. The funds will be used to pay health workers who are at risk of losing their jobs due to budget deficiencies, as well as to cover six more months of Covid-19 assistance, among other things. Essential workers are said to get either $10,000 (about RUB 690,000) or $5,000 hazard pay depending on their current basic pay, and employers will be tasked to apply for hazard pay grants. According to JJS Justice, employers must ensure that their employees get properly compensated to lessen the economic impact of the pandemic during these trying times.
The UK to offer compensation to families of health staff who lost their lives
In the United Kingdom, families of health staff who lost their lives while helping in the fight against the coronavirus will be compensated. To ease their loss, these families will be given £60,000 or about RUB 5.2 million, and the amount will be paid as a lump sum. Families of doctors and nurses, as well as cleaners and hospital workers, will be receiving the payout.
The Philippines to give cash aid on or before June 9
The Philippines has also begun to take active steps to ensure that the families of infected or deceased healthcare workers will be compensated. President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered health authorities to release the payout of Php 100,000 (approximately RUB 138,000) to healthcare workers with severe Covid-19 infection, while families of those who perished from the illness are set to receive Php 1 million (about RUB 1.3M). Duterte is giving authorities until June 9 to release the payout.
Due to the nature of their job, it’s clear that healthcare workers are at the highest risk of getting infected by the virus, and some are perishing from it. As nations have started to take concrete steps to ensure that health workers get properly compensated, it’s interesting to see how the rest of the world will respond to financially assist the frontliners in the fight against the Covid-19 v
