dtucker300 Loc: Vista, CA

The mandate seems simple enough in theory: If you test positive for the c****av***s, stay home.

Do not see friends, go to the market or visit family. And most definitely do not show up at work.

But what if you are living paycheck to paycheck while working a job that doesn’t necessarily provide access to paid sick leave for days? What if you simply can’t afford to miss two weeks of work?

A quarantine order isn’t going to pay for your basic living necessities. It won’t put food on the table, buy diapers or set aside money for your cellphone or internet bill while you stay home. But that’s what this East Bay pilot program aims to do.

On Tuesday, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a pilot program to give some residents diagnosed with the c****av***s a $1,250 one-time stipend — essentially paying them to stay home and isolate.

“What we heard — through our conversations with [residents], or the conversations they were having with contact investigators and tracers — was that many of them just could not afford to lose two weeks’ worth of wages to quarantine and isolate,” Vanessa Cedeño, who serves as policy director for Alameda Supervisor Wilma Chan, said. Supervisor Chan, whose district includes the cities of Alameda, San Leandro and parts of Oakland, spearheaded the program.

[See also: “Tracking c****av***s in Alameda County” in the Los Angeles Times]

“If people are afraid to get tested or they cannot isolate safely when they’re C***D positive, then our efforts to contain the v***s are not going to be as successful,” Cedeño continued. Fundamental safety net services like food delivery for c****av***s patients may help fill some of the gaps. “But at the end of the day, you can’t meet everybody’s basic needs. Sometimes people just need the money.”

The $1,250 figure comes from looking at the two cities with the highest minimum wages in Alameda County (Berkeley and Emeryville, at $15.59 and $16.30, respectively) and then accounting for the equivalent of what would be two 40-hour workweeks. The model is based on a similar San Francisco program, which provides eligible c****av***s-positive low-wage workers with a stipend that correlates to that city’s minimum wage.

The Alameda County pilot program will be place-based and designed with an equity lens, targeting primarily communities of color in the areas with the highest case rates.

Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors v**e approved the allocation of $10 million, which will cover about approximately 7,500 participants. Cedeño said the county would like to be able to continue and expand beyond the initial pilot.

In order to be eligible, an individual must be referred by a designated clinic in one of five high-risk neighborhoods, have tested positive for the c****av***s and not be receiving unemployment benefits or paid sick leave. Immigration status will not be taken into account.

The county is still exploring options for delivering the stipend to residents, including potentially using pre-paid debit cards. They hope to launch the program within the next few weeks.