Rams beat Buccaneers, now face 49ers in the playoffs B1
How to cook broccoli and cauliflower to perfection B5
MONDAY | January 24, 2022 | $1.00
DAILYREPUBLIC.COM | Well said. Well read.
Blinken: Too early to step up sanctions on Russia Tribune Content Agency
Martin do Nascimento/CalMatters
Roxanna Torres prepares some to-go meals at Baker & Commons in Berkeley, Monday.
Six things to know about omicron’s risks on the job By Ana B. Ibarra CALMATTERS
SACRAMENTO — Look no further than your favorite restaurant, your kid’s school or your local hospital to see the effect of California’s latest bout of Covid infections. Cases have skyrocketed since the holidays, reaching nearly 7 million people infected since the pandemic began. That means so many workers are calling in sick that many businesses and offices are left understaffed and fellow workers are stretched thin. Health officials are walking a fine line between keeping essential services and the economy afloat and controlling the spread of the virus. But a labor shortage has noticeably influenced national and state Covid-19 policies – even temporarily allowing for health care
employees to continue working despite a positive test as long as they feel no symptoms and wear an N95 respirator. These guidelines have prompted questions about safety and whether public health is being jeopardized. Since the start of the pandemic, California’s top officials have been adamant that the state’s Covid-19 response is based on science. But these policies also have to be flexible, Gov. Gavin Newsom recently told reporters. “It’s called dealing with reality,” the governor said in defense of recent health workplace guidelines during his Jan. 10 budget briefing. “The pragmatism – not what you want, but what you need to do at a time of challenge.” Experts note that the virus and the pandemic environment are fast-changing, and policies in
response have to adjust quickly. But labor needs and politics aside, when it comes to returning safely to work, what are experts and research telling us about omicron? When is it safe for an infected employee to return to work and how dangerous is it to shorten that period? What if you have no symptoms? And what should your employer be doing to keep you and your coworkers safe? Here’s what you need to know.
With omicron, people are infectious quicker A red flag with omicron is that early research suggests that the incubation period – the time between when one becomes infected and when See Omicron, Page A8
The many rules during Covid: A guide for California workers By Grace Gedye
for isolatiolation and quarantine, said Erika Monterroza, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Industrial Relations. Unvaccinated, symptomatic workers must be provided with tests by their employer, at no cost to themselves, during paid time, regardless of whether there is a known exposure.
CALMATTERS
SACRAMENTO — A new cough. The beginnings of a fever. A note from your boss about a Covid case at work. As omicron ripples across California, workers are learning they’ve been exposed and coming down with symptoms. What happens next? There are rules employers and workers are supposed to follow to keep workplaces safe and limit the spread of the virus. Most California workers who are working in person are covered by emergency temporary rules from the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, better known as Cal/OSHA. A subsection of workers, including some in health facilities, correctional facilities, homeless shelters and drug treatment centers, are protected by different workplace rules. Here are the answers
Martin do Nascimento/CalMatters
Jaz B. serves a patron at Baker & Commons in Berkeley, Wednesday to some questions Californians might have about their rights in the workplace during the pandemic.
Can I get time off to get tested? Sort of. If you get exposed to Covid at work, your employer is generally required by Cal/ OHSHA’s Covid work-
INDEX Arts B4 | Business B2 | Classifieds B6 Comics A5, B3 | Crossword A4, B4 | Food B5 Opinion A6 | Sports B1 | TV Daily A5, B3
place rules to provide you with testing, at no cost, during paid time, unless you’ve recently recovered from Covid. If your exposure is from outside of work, your employer is still required to provide testing at no cost to you, during paid time, if doing so would allow you to remain at work or return to work earlier under public health guidelines
Can my boss make me come to work if there’s a Covid outbreak at my workplace? It depends. If an outbreak happens at work, employers are generally required to immediately make testing available to workers who may have been exposed, at no cost to the workers. If you test positive, your employer is required to send you home with
WEATHER 62 | 38 Early fog, then sunny. Five-day forecast on B8.
See Rules, Page A8
WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken rejected pressure to immediately escalate sanctions on Russia for its military buildup around Ukraine, saying it would limit the West's options in the future. The U.S. is tracking the security situation in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, and a U.K. warning that Russia is plotting to install a proKremlin government in Ukraine is part of the Kremlin’s playbook for encroaching on its neighbor, Blinken said in a round of interviews on U.S. Sunday news shows. “We’ve been concerned and have been warning about exactly these kinds of tactics for weeks,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” As the U.S. weighs
whether to pull out from Ukraine the families of diplomats, Blinken said, “we’re tracking intensely, hour by hour and certainly day by day” whether Kyiv is still safe. Blinken said the U.S. has focused with its European allies on building up the threat of “massive consequences” for Russia to dissuade President Vladimir Putin from sending forces into Ukraine and on leaving the door open to diplomacy. “The purpose of those sanctions is to deter Russian aggression and so if they’re triggered now, you lose the deterrent effect,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” As part of deterrence, the Biden administration has provided more defensive military aid See Sanctions, Page A8
Russia hits back after UK alleges anti-Kyiv plot Tribune Content Agency Russia hit back on Sunday after the U.K. alleged that Moscow is plotting to install a proRussian leader in Kyiv, with the West continuing to warn that Moscow could yet invade Ukraine. The assertions, offered without a timeline on the intelligence, were contained in a U.K. Foreign Office statement on Saturday. The U.K. claim is “evidence” that NATO countries, not Russia, “are escalating tensions around Ukraine,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday. The statement demanded the Foreign Office “stop spreading nonsense.” The U.K. said Saturday that Yevhen Murayev, a former Ukrainian member of parliament, was a potential candidate to be installed by Russia. The Foreign Office said it had information that Russian intelligence services maintain links
with “numerous” former Ukrainian politicians. It mentioned four by name who are already subject to Western sanctions. The men, who left Ukraine in 2014, are believed to reside in Russia. The assertions precede a U.K. bid to ramp up pressure on Russia, with the defense and foreign secretaries set to travel to Europe for talks. Prime Minister Boris Johnson will schedule calls with Group of Seven leaders this week to finalize additional sanctions on backers of President Vladimir Putin, according to officials. In Washington, a National Security Council spokeswoman called the alleged plotting “deeply concerning.” President Joe Biden met with his national security team on Saturday to discuss continued Russian aggression toward Ukraine. He was briefed on Russia’s See Russia, Page A8
3VJHS .PYS 2UV^Z 9LHS ,Z[H[L Dr. David P. Simon,
MD, FACS. Eye Physician & Surgeon, Col. (Ret.), USAF Services include:
• Routine Eye Exams • Comprehensive Ophthalmology • Glaucoma and Macular Degeneration Care • Diabetic Eye Exams • Dry Eye Treatment • Cataract Surgery • LASIK Surgery • BOTOX
Now Accepting New Patients! 3260 Beard Rd #5 Napa
707-256-5000 simoneyesmd.com
:HUKYH 9P[JOL` )\[SLY 9,(3;69® +9,
ZHI\[SLY 'NTHPS JVT
