As coronavirus hits the KC area, workers must have the option of calling in sick

We don’t know yet how the coronavirus epidemic will play out in the Kansas City area. To date, we’ve had a small smattering of cases and no known deaths.

The Big 12 basketball tournament goes on. Kansas City’s St. Patrick’s Day parade is still a thing. Schools and churches are open. Primary ballots were cast on semi-Super Tuesday.

There’s a small chance the virus, known as COVID-19, will end up being less damaging than some expect. Let’s hope so because the alternative is pretty terrifying.

Lethal pandemics are a nightmare to understand, to manage, to treat, to contain. They disrupt everything. And whatever happens with coronavirus locally, there’s no reason to think Kansas City will be immune from community spread of illness forever.

That’s why the region must reexamine its assumptions about behavior in public places. No discussion will be more critical than reforming our relationship with work, and the workplace, and what happens when illness strikes.

We’ve got to make it easier to be sick.

I have some experience with this. I worked in local television news in 1996, when Kansas Sen. Bob Dole ran for president. I was pretty busy.

I developed a nasty cough that spring. I thought about seeing the doctor but didn’t. I was indispensable, I thought. Calling in sick did not seem like an option, not in a TV newsroom.

Eventually, the cough became unbearable. The diagnosis: strep throat. I was prescribed a course of antibiotics, and the illness went away.

Several months later, though, patches of scaly, flaky skin started popping up on my knees, elbows and scalp. Even worse, my shoulders ached so badly I couldn’t put on a tie or play catch with my daughters. Something else was wrong.

I had developed psoriasis, a disease caused by an overactive immune system. Apparently, I waited too long for antibiotics, and my body still thought I had strep throat. It was busy attacking my joints and skin to deal with an illness I no longer had.

I take psoriasis treatments to this day. They have worked. They also disguise one of the worst decisions I ever made.

That’s obvious in economic terms alone. Had I simply gone to the doctor in 1996, $35 in antibiotics would have cured my illness. Instead, I have faced a lifetime of very expensive psoriasis medicines and treatment.

I haven’t paid that cost. My health insurance has, which means my colleagues and employers have helped cover my poor judgment. If you wonder why America spends more than $3.6 trillion on health care each year, decision-making like mine is a good place to start.

My mistakes are my own. Yet it’s undeniable that workplace culture still rewards the “sacrifice” of working while sick. In many places, eyebrows are still raised when an employee goes to the doctor during work hours. Students win prizes for never missing a day of school.

In 2017, nearly half of all American workers over the age of 61 took no sick days at all. None. Trust me: We’re not that healthy.

As bad as it is for some workers, it’s far worse for employees who don’t have paid sick leave. And what happens in America when a spouse is sick, or a child, or a parent? What happens when caregivers are sick? Or coworkers?

More times than not, workers go to work. Is it any wonder illnesses spread like crabgrass?

Widespread communicable illnesses must prompt fundamental changes in sick policies for workplaces. That includes paid, long-term sick leave, expanded family care options, the ability to work from home and insisting that sick workers stay away from the office or job site. The alternative will be more fatal pandemics.

Washington is taking some steps to address these problems, and our local representatives should be at the front of the parade. Kansas City politicians and businesses should talk about these issues, too.

The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce is holding a coronavirus discussion session Wednesday. In that group setting, permanent workforce changes should be on the table.

Business owners will howl, complaining new requirements would be too expensive. Really? My experience shows the opposite: Not going to the doctor costs far more than seeking treatment. Smart employers understand that.

I was foolish. You may have a similar story. The novel coronavirus is a likely disaster, but some good may result if it helps us see this truth: If you’re sick, you should be able to stay home, without cost or guilt. Today, no fact is more important than that.