No cure so you gotta rest. Nose is stuffed so you gotta mouth breathe. Throat is dry from mouth breathing. Dry throat makes it painful to swallow. Pain keeps you from sleeping and recovering. Lack of sleep leads to worse symptoms like piercing headaches. Need to rest to get rid of the headaches. Headache and swallowing is too painful to rest properly. Lack of rest perpetuates headaches, nose congestion, dry throat, painful swallowing.
What is this BS
That really depends on what country you live in. The US doesn’t require sick leave AFAIK and Canada only requires 5 days. So that’s like 300 days where you have to choose between getting better or paying rent. More socially progressive countries get paid sick leave, not everyone.