On a previous blog post, I introduced the term social distancing. Today I will introduce essential workers. This is another term which has arisen during the COVID-19 pandemic or at least is in more common use now. 

What does essential workers mean? 

First, what does essential mean? Essential means necessary, or something we cannot do without. 
When we add it to workers, it means the workers we cannot do without. 

During this Coronavirus pandemic, some businesses or industries have been closed or shut down because they are not deemed essential. To prevent infection during the pandemic, at first only essential businesses and operations were allowed to keep going. Businesses such as movie theaters, concert halls, clothing stores and hair salons were ordered to close because people can survive without seeing a movie or getting their hair cut. 

We can't live without eating food, buying gas, going to the doctor, etc., so those businesses are considered essential. The workers who work there are called essential workers. 

What jobs do essential workers have?

In the food industry they include: cooks, grocery store clerks and checkers, farmworkers, farmers, people who work at meat packing plants, etc. 

In the healthcare industry they include: nurses, doctors, and all other healthcare workers who work in hospitals, nursing homes or private homes. 

First responders (fire fighters, police, ambulance drivers, etc) are also considered essential workers. 

How is your country acknowledging the efforts of its essential workers? 

Thanks for reading my blog and hope to talk with you soon on Cafetalk.