Frederica Freyberg:

Even as the president declared a national emergency, there were congressional bipartisan negotiations over an economic relief package to help further offset the disruptions of the coronavirus pandemic. Both sides working to reach accord on items like paid sick time. We caught up with Senator Tammy Baldwin in Washington this week just before coronavirus closed the capitol and congressional offices to visitors. She told us why she’s in favor of paid sick leave.

Tammy Baldwin:

The outbreak of COVID-19 has shown us how important self-quarantine or self-isolation is to fighting a pandemic and addressing a public health emergency. And if you can’t afford to do it, it is creating a more dangerous situation for our public health. There’s going to be some people who are ordered by public health officials to stay home. There’s going to be others whose children are sent home from school and the school is closed. And to have to choose between putting food on the table, paying rent or heat and staying home with a young child who needs supervision, that’s an untenable position. And so this is an emergency step that I am strongly supportive of.

Frederica Freyberg:

For his part, Republican U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, Ron Johnson himself has consulted with doctors about the need to self-quarantine. Former Governor Scott Walker has also isolated himself after attending the CPAC conference where someone tested positive for coronavirus.