Officials fear virus spread among Miami homeless,
Miami-Dade’s homeless population could be moved to makeshift shelters in an effort to maintain social distancing and prevent a concentrated COVID-19 outbreak among those living on the streets and in crowded shelters.
As escalating emergency orders from the county government and the city of Miami urge people to stay home and stay out of public spaces, those without a home face limited options. Government agencies who work with the homeless could convert a former Costco in North Miami into a 135,000-square-foot temporary shelter that would allow more space for people to maintain distance.
For those who have symptoms and have been tested for the coronavirus, the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust is looking to use more hotel rooms to isolate individuals. On Saturday night, the Trust placed one homeless man in a hotel room while he awaits results of a COVID-19 test administered at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
“It’s an expensive solution,” said Ron Book, chairman of the tax-funded Homeless Trust. “But one we are forced to consider.”
Book said “a lot of hoteliers” have contacted the Trust and the county to offer rooms.
Anticipating infections would be hard to prevent in the close quarters of existing shelters, the Trust is considering the possibility of moving people to the former Costco at 14585 Biscayne Blvd. in North Miami. Book said the Trust could acquire enough portable toilets, showers and cots to convert the building into a makeshift shelter, if necessary. Such a facility could also provide relief if infections are confirmed in existing shelters.
Sources familiar with discussions among Miami administrators said the city has considered setting up long tents outside Miami Marine Stadium, similar to the staging for the annual boat show, to temporarily house hundreds of homeless people. One source said Miami-Dade County officials have taken the lead on making such decisions.
Book said with multiple orders cracking down on public gatherings, the message coming from outreach workers on the ground is getting more aggressive, though he does not believe authorities intend to arrest people living on the street. Trust staffers are urging people not to congregate and to sanitize their hands frequently, at least once an hour.
“We don’t wanna see homelessness criminalized but this isn’t about enforcement,” Book said, though he added that if people do not heed warnings, the response could change.
He likened the situation to the days leading up to the landfall of Hurricane Irma in 2017, which at one point threatened to hit Miami directly as a Category 5 storm. Book was criticized after a half-dozen homeless people were involuntarily committed to the hospital for evaluation after they refused to accept shelter. The Trust chairman said he stands by that decision, and sees the COVID-19 pandemic in a similar light.
“We had people sleeping on the seawalls on Bayfront Park,” Book said. “I look at this as the same kind of thing.”
Meanwhile, many living on Miami’s streets are taking precautions to stop the spread of the virus. Public handwashing stations installed in downtown by the city of Miami have seen so much use that the city is struggling to keep soap dispensers filled.
Ron Jones, who sleeps next to one of the city’s hand-washing stations, said employees came by early Wednesday to refill the soap dispensers. Jones, 64, said he asked the city staffer to restock more paper towels too, but the staffer said he didn’t have any.
The hand-washing stations installed last week are getting a lot of use, he said. People wash their hands before and after each meal served by the nearby Rescue Mission, as well as regularly throughout the day.
With the closure of restaurant dining rooms and more people staying home, food grew more scarce in early March. In the last week, Jones said, food donations have picked up considerably. Nearly every day, Miamians drive to his corner of the neighborhood and hand out sandwiches, cold water and snacks.
“People are contributing from everywhere,” he said.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to strain resources across the world, other U.S. states are grappling with how to take care of their homeless communities.
California, where the homelessness crisis is most acute, is spending $150 million to house people, TIME reported. Gov. Gavin Newsom said more than 60,000 of the state’s estimated 108,000 homeless could be infected in the next couple of months.
Bloomberg reported that California bought more than 1,300 trailers and 51,000 hotel rooms to serve as quarantine spaces for homeless people showing signs of infection. Orange County is housing elderly homeless people in a former juvenile detention facility, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Cities are stepping up, too. Los Angeles converted 42 recreational centers into housing, and San Francisco, which pioneered the shelter-in-place order in the U.S., is looking for 3,500 hotel rooms for its homeless people.
Joey Flechas: 305-376-3602, @joeflech
Alex Harris: 305-376-5005, @harrisalexc
Herald staff writer Douglas Hanks contributed to this report.