Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Farrell A. Self, PhD 2 ; Carol Y. Marx, MD 2 ; Temet M. Lukoff, MD 3 ; Jeffrey S. COVID can spread rapidly within and between congregate housing facilities, such as homeless shelters. COVID in homeless shelters, however, has not been well described.
Enhanced surveillance and repeat testing identified and confirmed COVID in 43 persons at these sites. In settings with known COVID outbreaks, assistance with enforcement of shelter-in-place orders, testing of residents and staff members, and prompt isolation of symptomatic or residents with confirmed disease are needed to prevent further transmission in homeless shelters. Among the persons tested, 19 On April 1, PHSKC and CDC collaborated to conduct site assessments and symptom screening, isolate ill residents and staff members, reinforce infection prevention and control practices, provide face masks, and advise on sheltering-in-place.
Repeat testing was offered April 7β8 to all residents and staff members who were not tested initially or who had negative test results. Among the persons tested in the second round of testing, 18 In addition to the 31 residents and six staff members identified through testing at the shelters, two additional cases in residents were identified during separate symptom screening events, and four were identified after two residents and two staff members independently sought health care.
COVID can spread quickly in homeless shelters; rapid interventions including testing and isolation to identify cases and minimize transmission are necessary. The resident, a man aged 67 years with underlying medical conditions, was hospitalized on March 29 for acute encephalopathy.
He reported 2 days of cough, shortness of breath, fever, sore throat, and runny nose. A nasopharyngeal swab collected on admission was positive for SARS-CoV-2 by real-time reverse transcriptionβpolymerase chain reaction testing. The patient remained clinically stable without the need for intensive care unit support and was discharged after 5 days to isolation housing i.
