SLO: Why Wait Until the Homeless Show Covid-19 Symptoms before Housing Them?

Note: All of our volunteers, including myself, are following the strictest Covid-19 exposure guidelines, despite reports to the contrary.

Our safety net is facing its biggest test in decades as a flood of people have flocked to homeless shelters, slammed suicide hotlines and packed food pantries. The economic shutdown is hitting the poor and working class with the most force, especially in cities like SLO with high homeless populations.

Before the virus was first detected, homeless shelters were already filled to capacity. In a typical week, numerous volunteers help run the shelters. But because of the coronavirus, few volunteers are coming. The demand on the paid staff is greater than ever, with surfaces needing to be disinfected regularly and people needing to be screened for symptoms. Beds now have to be spaced at least 6 feet apart to protect against the spreading of the virus.

Most of the chronically homeless (who do not stay in shelters) are in their 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s, and their physical health is often more in line with people 25 years older. To make matters worse, showers trailers and restaurant / gas station restrooms have closed. As far as I can tell, the announced hand washing / sanitation stations have largely not appeared. In all my wanderings in the last week, I only saw 1 hand sanitation station, and that was outside the restroom at Mission Plaza. How does that help? The restroom was already open. With personall hygiene among the homeless so important right now, there is very little available.

Recently, homeless have been asking for masks and gloves, and we have none to give them. Eventually, when the Covid-19 spreads throughout our homeless camps, the homeless will swamp our medical systems, and will die at rates 2 or 3 times the average for their age. Then we’ll wish we had put them in hotels / trailers BEFORE they showed symptoms.

Final thoughts: There is a survey used by the "70 Now" (Housing First) program called the "Vulnerability Index: Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool" (VI-SPDAT), which is used to "rate" the homeless on their medical vulnerability, and thus their admission to the program. Basically, VI-SPDAT determines a rating for the relative likelihood that a particular homeless is most likely to die prematurely due to living on the streets. This survey could be used to determine who are also most vulnerable to the novel coronavirus / Covid-19, and house them before they get this virus and require hospitalization. Think about it.