Hundreds of first responders a d health care workers are filing for workers' compensation in Washington. | Facebook
Hundreds of first responders a d health care workers are filing for workers' compensation in Washington. | Facebook
Washington state’s health care workers and first responders were among 806 people recently filing COVID-19-related workers’ compensation claims in light of Gov. Jay Inslee’s extended assurance of their monetary protection from the coronavirus.
The Associated Press (AP) cited Tim Church on May 4, a spokesman for the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, who said, “As of one week ago, 806 people in Washington had filed workers’ compensation claims related to COVID-19.”
Health care workers accounted for 636 of those claims and first responders accounted for 37, AP said.
Inslee announced in a press release on March 5 that workers’ compensation coverage would include front-line health workers and first responders who are quarantined because of the coronavirus.
Health care providers and first responders whose jobs caused them to become ill with coronavirus were already protected under workers’ compensation coverage, according to the press release.
“L&I is immediately changing its policy around workers’ compensation coverage for health care workers and first responders who are quarantined by a physician or public health officer,” the press release said. “Under the clarified policy, L&I will provide benefits to these workers during the time they’re quarantined after being exposed to COVID-19 on the job."
The press release also said what compensation covers.
“Workers’ compensation coverage can include medical testing, cover treatment expenses if a worker becomes ill or injured and provide time-loss payments for those who cannot work if they are sick or quarantined," the press release said.
As of May 10, Washington state had a total 17,122 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with 945 deaths, according to the COVID-19 Data Dashboard. Total tests were 252,108, with 6.8% being positive.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed on Jan. 20 that a 35-year-old man who went to a clinic in Snohomish County was the first case of coronavirus in the United States, according to The New England Journal of Medicine.
The man had returned on Jan. 15 to Washington state after visiting family in Wuhan, China, the journal said.
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