Not enough homeless being tested, shelters say
Only 20 in a population of 4,000: ‘The math just doesn’t add up’
There’s no way of knowing how bad the pandemic has hit Montreal’s homeless population because not nearly enough of them have been tested for COVID-19.
That’s what the heads of two of the city’s largest shelters said Saturday as Quebec looks to ramp up its screening efforts. Sixty of the 80 beds set aside for the homeless at the old Royal Victoria Hospital are vacant, a six-week effort to get people from Cabot Square screened resulted in only 20 tests and demands for mobile testing clinics to visit shelters are going unanswered.
“There are about 4,000 homeless people in this city and you’re gonna tell me that just 20 of them have COVID,” said Nakuset, co-executive director of the Resilience Montreal day centre. “Our clients live in close quarters. Some of them share cigarettes and drinks. It seems unlikely they’d be spared by this.
“The math just doesn’t add up here.”
Since March 30, 543 homeless people tested for COVID-19 and only 19 have come back positive, according to statistics provided by CIUSSS Centre-sud. Public health is doing outreach at shelters across the city, according to a spokesperson for the CIUSSS.
So far there have been “controlled outbreaks” of the pandemic at emergency shelters in Complex Guy Favreau, the Bonsecours Market and one in Little Burgundy, according to Nakuset and Matthew Pearce, executive director of the Old Brewery Mission.
Nakuset also had to shut down the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal last week after there were seven confirmed cases of COVID -19 in the facility.
“The workers and the residents of all these shelters interact, they move across the city and it’s possible they’ve been carrying the virus with them,” Pearce said. “I’ve asked the public health department to start doing testing on site so we can at least get a clearer picture.”
Pearce said the city has done an admirable job providing 700 beds for the homeless at the Maurice Richard Arena, the Bonsecours Market and other temporary sites.
“There are more beds available now than before the crisis,” he said. “The problem is testing.”
Meanwhile, Nakuset said some are avoiding shelters for fear of contracting coronavirus. Instead, they sleep in improvised campsites at Cabot Square on Atwater Ave. or other parks. But police will begin cracking down on these camp-style accommodations starting June 1, according to Nakuset and Pearce.
“That’s not the solution,” Pearce said. “That’s never the solution.”
As the Native Friendship Centre and other walk-in services have been forced to close because of the pandemic, Resilience Montreal is being overrun with demand for food and clothing.
“People don’t have access to their case workers. I’m seeing guys walk around barefoot on the street. We’re seeing more violence than usual,” Nakuset said. “The other day, I went to Wal-mart and bought 50 pairs of shoes. They were gone within the first half-hour of us handing them out.
“We’re spending $4,000 a month just on underwear, we’re making 500 meals a day. People who would usually shower inside can’t anymore. That’s a basic necessity, especially during a pandemic.
“If there’s an outbreak, we’re screwed. It’s going to wipe us out.”
Nakuset is trying to have an outdoor shower installed at the Atwater Ave. park across from Resilience Montreal.
She’s also applying for emergency funding from the $207 million in aid the federal government is using to help the homeless during the pandemic.
But while the aid was announced early last month, neither Nakuset nor Pearce have seen any of that money yet.
Meanwhile, the crises homeless people face persist even though addiction counselling and mental health services have all but dried up.
In early May, one homeless woman broke two glass bottles and threatened to slice her arms open outside Resilience Montreal.
It took hours to talk her into taking an ambulance, but not before 17 police officers and a canine unit arrived on scene.
“What’s scary is it feels like we’re in constant crisis mode, like we have the virus on one side and an escalation of stress and violence on the other,” said one street worker, who did not want their name published. “It’s burning us out.”
In Nakuset’s case, she hasn’t seen her children since the pandemic began for fear she might unknowingly infect them with COVID-19. She tested negative last week and so far, only one street worker in Cabot Square has contracted coronavirus.
“But even that has presented problems. When he called (public health), they told him he could go back to work without being tested again,” Nakuset said.
“Because he didn’t have symptoms anymore and he isn’t considered an essential worker. I won’t send him back out without another test.
“We are essential workers no matter what the government labels us.”