Quarantining at Work

By Alex Tabarrok.

"The Washington Post has good piece on one factory practicing an idea I mentioned a few weeks ago in my post on safety protocols, quarantining at work:

For 28 days, they did not leave — sleeping and working all in one place.

In what they called a “live-in” at the factory, the undertaking was just one example of the endless ways that Americans in every industry have uniquely contributed to fighting coronavirus. The 43 men went home Sunday after each working 12-hour shifts all day and night for a month straight, producing tens of millions of pounds of the raw materials that will end up in face masks and surgical gowns worn on the front lines of the pandemic.

…Nikolich said the plants decided to launch the live-ins so employees could avoid having to worry about catching the virus while constantly traveling to and from work, and so the staff at the factory could be closed off to nonessential personnel.

The article also indicates why price increases are critical to increase supply:

They were paid for all 24 hours each day, with a built-in wage increase for both working hours and off time, the company said. It did not disclose the specific percentages."