Democrats have argued that paid sick leave is necessary to protect public health in the situation of a virus outbreak.

Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) attempted to expedite a vote on an emergency paid sick leave bill that would help address the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, but one of her Republican colleagues put a stop to her efforts.

According to HuffPost, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) objected to Murray’s move, which would have bypassed the Republican-controlled health committee and allowed a vote on the Senate floor.

Murray noted that many Americans do not have paid sick leave and would be financially harmed if they contracted the coronavirus and had to miss work while recovering or be under a lengthy quarantine. And those who go to work sick because they cannot afford to take time off risk infecting other people.

“For many of our workers ― restaurant workers, truck drivers, service industry workers ― they may not have an option to take a day off without losing their pay or losing their job,” the Democrat said. “That’s not a choice we should be asking anyone to make in the United States in the 21st century.”

HuffPost noted that Democrats can try to attach the measure to another legislative package addressing the outbreak.

Murray’s bill “would immediately guarantee workers 14 days of paid sick leave in the event of a public health emergency like the current one,” the outlet reported, and would also allow workers to “separately accrue up to seven sick days over the course of a year.”

“Murray’s emergency bill was all but certain to die in the Senate, but the measure still afforded Democrats an opportunity to put Republicans on the record in opposing it,” HuffPost reported, noting that polls show “the idea of a sick leave mandate tends to be extremely popular, with even a strong majority of Republican voters supporting it.”

Read the full report.