Keeping homeless population safe a concern during pandemic

LACONIA — The advice for people who have tested positive for coronavirus is to self-quarantine, but if the person with the positive test is a homeless person, where does he or she go?

That’s the question experts are trying to answer as they fear the homeless population may be particularly susceptible to the virus, said Cathy Kuhn, chief strategy officer for Families in Transition-New Horizons and director of the New Hampshire Coalition to End Homelessness.

She said that another big question is who would staff a facility for quarantined homeless people.

“We have been living with this issue for two weeks,” she said. “It’s unprecedented. Homeless people are some of the most medically compromised in our population and many are elderly and at significant risk. 

“And they are more likely to get the virus. Many are living in close quarters with little ability to self isolate or distance themselves from others.”

Homeless shelters and homeless encampments can be crowded places. Also many homeless people take up temporary residence with others, but that option may be less likely now.

“In a time like this people are less likely to take in an extra person or a family members, so folks are living very precariously,” she said.  

Kuhn said meetings have been taking place with state and municipal officials to see what solutions are possible and initial plans are beginning to be formulated. 

In Laconia, Salvation Army Capt. Scott McNeil said steps have been taken to increase social distancing among the homeless who use his emergency shelter. Also the Salvation Army’s soup kitchen is now take-out only.

“We give them to-go containers, a beverage and dessert and they go on their way to eat somewhere else,”  he said. “We maintain the 6-foot rule. But we want to continue to feed the homeless. Now with children out of school, there is an increase in demand for the soup kitchen.”

There is also a heightened focus on cleanliness and hygiene among those using the emergency shelter.

“They wash their hands with hot water and soap as they get here. In the emergency shelter, we’ve flipped sleeping quarters to increase the separation.”

He said many homeless people practice social distancing as a habit.

“But the thing that concerns me about the homeless is that they might not have the resources to understand the severity of this virus,” he said. “They don’t understand it’s not just a simple common cold.”