Orlando Sentinel

Homeless coalition reports its first COVID-19 infections

- By Kate Santich

The Coalition for the Homeless, the region’s largest homeless shelter, reported its first five cases of COVID-19 infection Thursday, with three residents and two staff members testing positive for the virus.

All are now in quarantine for at least 14 days, a coalition spokeswoma­n said. So far, no one has required hospitaliz­ation.

“First and foremost, our thoughts are with these individual­s with wishes for quick healing,” said Allison Krall, the nonprofit organizati­on’s president and CEO. “The health and safety of our guests and staff is always our top priority.”

Although there has been grave concern across the country that the coronaviru­s would spread rapidly throughout homeless communitie­s, Central Florida had appeared to be spared until now. No other shelters in Orange, Osceola or Seminole counties have reported current coronaviru­s cases to the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida — an organizati­on that manages grant applicatio­ns and helps to coordinate the region’s effort to address homelessne­ss — although there is no explicit requiremen­t that they do so.

The agency had planned to work with Orange County and the city of Orlando to establish a separate facility to quarantine homeless individual­s who test positive, but the effort has hit numerous roadblocks.

“We’ve looked at hotels, a couple of apartments, even some unused health-care facilities, but we’ve had owners back out at the last minute” because of liability concerns, said Martha Are, CEO of the Homeless Services Network. “We’re hoping to open it by Monday.”

Are said the facility would not be identified publicly for the privacy of the residents.

When the pandemic first arrived in Central Florida in March, the coalition and the Orlando Union Rescue Mission each announced that a former resident had been hospitaliz­ed and tested positive for the virus. In the case of the Rescue Mission patient, though, the case turned out to be a false positive, and both men recovered.

The facilities also launched an immediate effort to keep the virus out.

At the coalition, for instance, officials have closed the campus to volunteers and nearly all new residents. Anyone who leaves for work or appointmen­ts undergoes a temperatur­e check and screening questions when they return. Meal times are staggered to allow residents to practice social distancing. New sanitizing protocols have been adopted. And face masks are now required in all common areas.

“Throughout the pandemic, we have been in constant communicat­ion with the Florida Department of Health and are proactivel­y following all recommenda­tions,” Krall said.

Officials have not yet been able to trace the source of the outbreak, but residents who are positive and those who were exposed are now being housed in isolation areas at the Parramore campus. The people with positive test results have mild or no symptoms, a coalition spokespers­on said.

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