New wave of Covid, flu and cold keep workers away and put companies on alert

This is a very popular topic. A new wave of contamination by Covid-19 is passing through the country, accompanied by the circulation of another type of flu, stronger and more transmissible. If, on the one hand, vaccination shows signs that it can contain a new peak of deaths from the disease, on the other hand, the increase in contamination is taking the workforce out of circulation in several sectors.

Labor-intensive sectors and movement of people, such as supermarkets, public transport, bars and restaurants, feel the increase in absences and begin to worry about an eventual worsening of the situation.

At Claudio Rabelo’s restaurant, in São José dos Campos (SP), five of the nine employees are on leave because of Covid-19. To keep the business going, he appealed to his family. “I turned to my son, daughter-in-law and brothers. And there was still a little lack of day-to-day logistics.”

Pedro Hermeto, from Abrasel (Association of Bars and Restaurants) in Rio, says that about 15 days ago the outbreak of the new flu, caused by the H3N2 virus, led small and medium-sized restaurants to close for a few days.

The manager also saw his own team lacking. Out of 50 employees, nine were on sick leave at the beginning of December. “At that moment, it was the flu outbreak and we think that the omicron one should arrive in a few days. We are seeing cases approaching and robbing us of our labor”, he says.

The solution today, according to Hermeto, has been to reinforce the lists of extras, which are common in the bars and restaurants sector. Most have a fixed team for the days with less movement, and another, floating, for the days with greater occupancy.

“We have to intensify contacts with the lists. There is a general lack of labor in this resumption of activities, which makes it more difficult to keep the extras”, he says.

The growth in the Covid-19 cases does not only concern the business community due to the reduction in the available workforce. It also comes from the fresh memory of closed doors or restrictions on opening hours and capacity. The expectation with the summer of this year was for a full house and economic recovery.

“This is a sign that we have to continue taking care of ourselves more and more. Financially, we have gone back some 20 years. Those who did not close their doors took on exorbitant debts with banks,” he says. For him, it is essential that events related to Carnival are canceled.

In urban public transport in São Paulo, the number of medical certificates presented by drivers, collectors and maintenance workers rose by around 35%, according to a survey by SPUrbanuss, a union of companies in the sector.

These absences occurred because the workers had flu, Covid-19, cold and sore throat symptoms.

To deal with the possibility of further absences, companies must have the technical reserve, a surplus of vehicles and employees provided for in the concession contract. Of the approximately 14 thousand buses in the fleet, 13 thousand are in operation daily. One company may also trigger another’s reserve to cover sick leave or exceptional needs.

Apas (São Paulo Association of Supermarkets) says it has observed a concentration of flu cases in the city of São Paulo and in some regions of the state.

“Following the health rules, employees with flu symptoms are instructed to seek the health service and stay away from work for a period of four to five days”, says the entity, in a statement.

The replacement of employees in supermarkets generates an extra cost for networks, according to Apas. “But thanks to the capillarity of its network and the wide margin of negotiation with suppliers and with the industry, the sector is able to absorb this excess cost without passing it on to the products offered in stores.”

In other countries, where new waves of high contamination by omicron arrived before Brazil, there are reports of closed companies and problems in public services. In the United States, The New York Times newspaper showed that, in addition to leaves, employers are not sure how much isolation time is required before returning to work.

In the UK, work after the end-of-year break would resume on Tuesday (4), but services such as hospitals and schools were understaffed as many were sick or isolated because they were contaminated, AFP said. Even the rail service had to slow down, as there were fewer people working.