A first responder’s job is not easy, and with the COVID-19 outbreak their jobs have gotten harder and more dangerous. Across Missouri, police officers, firefighters and EMTs have contracted COVID-19.
Gov. Mike Parson and Annie Hui, the director of the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, announced an emergency rule Tuesday that allows any first responder to receive workers’ compensation if they are quarantined or contract COVID-19.
Hui and Parson said that the rule creates the assumption that the virus was contracted while “in the line of duty,” and thus is an injury sustained while on the job.
“This new rule allows them to focus on their important lifesaving mission knowing they and their loved ones will be provided for by the workers’ compensation program,” Hui said.
The rule will go into effect April 17, but it will cover first responders who have already been infected or quarantined.
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