Gov. Ralph Northam last month signed two bills into law that will make it easier for some frontline workers who become sick with the coronavirus to collect workers’ compensation benefits. The new laws create a presumption that medical personnel, law enforcement officers and firefighters sickened with Covid-19 acquired the disease at work, making them more likely to be covered for lost wages and health care costs.

But these measures leave tens of thousands of low-paid frontline workers without favorable recourse: Cleaners, grocery workers, home health aides, meat and poultry workers.