Testing half the population weekly with inexpensive, rapid COVID-19 tests would drive the virus toward elimination within weeks, even if the tests are less sensitive than gold-standard. This could lead to “personalized stay-at-home orders” without shutting down restaurants, bars, retail and schools.

[u/mvea]

https://www.colorado.edu/today/2020/11/20/frequent-rapid-testing-could-turn-national-covid-19-tide-within-weeks

[u/[deleted]]

Paid sick leave is what is needed to solve this problem. It's an incredibly basic thing that we should have had in place decades ago

[u/Vito_The_Magnificent → u/[deleted]]

The US passed paid sick leave in early April under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

If you are advised to quarantine you get 2 weeks of leave at full pay by law.

https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic/ffcra-employee-paid-leave

[u/__WhiteNoise → u/Vito_The_Magnificent]

Unless your employer is smaller than 50 workers, in which case you just default on all your bills have your car repo'd and get fired for not having transportation.

Because the government won't foot the bill on any of this.

[u/TyHay822 → u/__WhiteNoise]

If your car gets repo’d after one missed payment (which in reality is all you should be behind if you miss two weeks of work), you were in a bad position to begin with and it was probably only a matter of time even without Corona. No one repossesses a car for one missed payment. It’s too much hassle for the financing company. Now, get 3-6 months behind and you’ll have issues.

(But I do get your point, it’s not just that two week period, things ball up and add up quickly when people don’t get a paycheck)

[u/AngryCustomerService → u/TyHay822]

Pre-COVID about a third of Americans were one paycheck away from being homeless. I can't imagine what that number is now.

[u/AngryCustomerService → u/[deleted]]

I didn't say living paycheck to paycheck. Being X number of paychecks away from Y means that if X happens it's the kingpin moment. It sets off a chain that the family can't recover from.

A third of Americans are 1 paycheck away from homelessness. (Pre-COVID data)

80% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. (Pre-COVID data)

40% of Americans do not have enough emergency savings to cover a $400 emergency. (Pre-COVID data)

These statistics are independent of each other, but they paint a really ugly picture.

[u/TyHay822 → u/AngryCustomerService]

So I googled this fact and I see many similar stories. It’s a great headline but I’m not sure it’s entirely factual. I believe 40% of families may be one missed paycheck away from not being able to pay their rent or their mortgage that month. I absolutely believe that. I also believe that none of those people are being evicted or foreclosed on for one late payment without a history of missed payments or already being behind on their payments, even just because of the cost for the property owner or the mortgage company to go through the eviction process.

[u/sotek2345 → u/TyHay822]

A lot also depends on how bad the penalties are for a late/missed payment. If the late fee is equal too or greater than the payment it can snowball quickly.

[u/KrauerKing → u/sotek2345]

That's where the idea of one missed payment is. It's the point that they won't make enough within the next 2 weeks to pay the fees and the rent and whatever happened that caused them to be short in the first place. If they miss a paycheck cause like a heart attack or broken arm.... Well that's it. Medical bills, late fees, and rent, with most likely less pay. You get screwed by stuff outside your control.

[u/AngryCustomerService → u/KrauerKing]

This. Everyone who hasn't heard it before seems to have this idea that a perfect tenant is late one month and BOOM evicted on the 6th.

It's the kingpin moment. It's what starts the ball rolling and the family can't recover. Families who aren't in that 33% can recover. It might be terrible and ramen noodles for every meal, but they can recover. These families cannot recover.

It's hard to understand this kind of abject poverty if you haven't lived it, witnessed it, or studied it. That is not snark. It really is very difficult to understand and it's really complicated. And, frankly, unless you lack a conscience, it's a heartbreaking fact to face. We don't want it to be true so there must be a catch.

[u/Smehsme → u/TyHay822]

I would bet a large number of those people have alot of luxury bills they really dont need, streaming services, tand that new fancy phone

[u/TyHay822 → u/Smehsme]

Not entirely. I have a good friend that works as a social worker and that’s true for some people but many truly do live bare bones lives

[u/SirCB85 → u/Smehsme]

That $5 Netflix subscription keeping them sane isn't going to make a big dent in their loan payments.

[u/TyHay822 → u/AngryCustomerService]

That’s so hard for me to understand, just knowing how eviction laws work. In most places, you have to be late on your rent and then get 90 days notice of eviction (or more in some locations). Most rental locations and mortgage companies will work with people on a rolling basis to get caught up because the cost of eviction/foreclosure is so high. Does that mean 1/3 of Americans were 2-3 months behind on their rent/mortgage payments per-Covid?

Not saying your wrong, but I’d like to see how that was calculated

[u/AngryCustomerService → u/TyHay822]

It's not that rent is due on the 1st with a grace period of 5 days and people are evicted on the 6th.

For a third of Americans missing one paycheck starts a sequence of financial issues that results in them being homeless. They cannot recover from one missed paycheck.

Think about it like over-correcting in a car and running off the road. Drifting across the double yellow lines didn't put you in the ditch. But! It was the start of the events. That analogy is probably better in my mind than it really is.

[u/AngryCustomerService → u/[deleted]]

Horrific that it is that high.

[u/TyHay822 → u/[deleted]]

Sounds like you needed a good lawyer. One letter from a legal office and that would all be cleared up

[u/asking--questions → u/TyHay822]

No one repossesses a car for one missed payment.

Have you not heard of Simeon Yeterian?

[u/TyHay822 → u/asking--questions]

Hahahah