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8.A. - Page 4 of 21 <br />City of South San Francisco P.O. Box 711 (City Hall, <br />400 Grand Avenue) <br />South San Francisco, CA <br />City Council <br />Ordinance: ORD 1618-2021 <br />File Number: 21-150 Enactment Number: ORD 1618-2021 <br />URGENCY ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 8 OF <br />THE SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO MUNICIPAL CODE <br />TO ADD CHAPTER 8.77 "COVID-19 HAZARD PAY" <br />TO REQUIRE GROCERY AND DRUG STORES IN <br />THE CITY TO PAY EMPLOYEES AN ADDITIONAL <br />FIVE DOLLARS ($5.00) PER HOUR IN HAZARD PAY <br />DURING THE CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) <br />PANDEMIC. <br />WHEREAS, on March 19, 2020, the California State Public Health Officer, designated specific <br />sectors and their workers, including grocery and drug stores, as Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers <br />("essential workers") to ensure the "continuity of functions critical to public health and safety, as well as <br />economic and national security"; and <br />WHEREAS, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, grocery and drug store workers <br />in the City of South San Francisco have continued to report to work and serve their communities, despite <br />the ongoing hazards and danger of being exposed to and infected by the novel coronavirus, helping to <br />ensure individuals throughout the City of South San Francisco have had access to the food and medicine <br />they need during this pandemic; and <br />WHEREAS, essential grocery and drug store workers are not highly paid and cannot choose to <br />work from home -they must come to work to do their jobs, which involve heightened risk of exposure <br />and infection of COVID-19 through substantial interaction with customers on an ongoing basis and <br />indoors where there is less air circulation; and <br />WHEREAS, according to an October 29, 2020 study published in the journal Occupational <br />and Environmental Medicine, a comprehensive test of workers at one grocery store resulted in 20 <br />percent of grocery workers testing positive for COVID-19, even though three of four workers were <br />asymptomatic; and <br />WHEREAS, according to an August 2020 article in The Washington Post, at least 130 U.S. <br />grocery workers had died from COVID-19, and more than 8,200 have tested positive for the virus; and <br />WHEREAS, according to a January 2021 article in The Washington Post, the United Food and <br />Commercial Workers estimates 109 of its members have died to from COVID-19 and more than 20,000 <br />have tested positive; and <br />WHEREAS, despite the efforts of grocery and drug stores to take precautions and keep <br />customers and employees safe, including requiring masks, social distancing, and sanitizing cash <br />registers, food conveyor <br />City of South San Francisco <br />page 1 <br />46 <br />