California cases surge among homeless

Coronavirus cases have soared among the homeless population in the major cities of California, one of the hardest-hit states by COVID-19 in the United States.

San Francisco, which has more than 8,000 homeless residents, has seen a spike this month. The city reported 67 confirmed cases among homeless people from Dec 1 to Dec 21, more than those in September, October and November combined, data from the city's public health department showed.

In Los Angeles County, which has long been fighting the homelessness problem, more than 3,500 homeless people have tested positive for coronavirus so far, with a sharp rise in confirmed cases this month alone, The Los Angeles Times reported.

In San Diego, hundreds of homeless residents have slept at a convention center since April with just over two dozen confirmed cases until recently. Since early this month, more than 160 people have tested positive for COVID-19.

A recent outbreak at a homeless shelter in Orange County has left 50 residents infected over the past two weeks. Those infected are under quarantine in individual trailers or at a homeless navigation center, according to local media.

"It's been pretty clear in sheltered settings that when infections enter they spread very rapidly. We must remain vigilant. And despite a lower infection rate in the unsheltered homeless population, overall deaths are increasing," Margot Kushel, director of the Center for Vulnerable Populations at the University of California, San Francisco, said in a tweet.

A general rise

The recent increase is part of a general rise in coronavirus cases throughout the city as cold weather pushes residents, both housed and unhoused, into enclosed spaces, said an article by the San Francisco Public Press, citing an unidentified representative from San Francisco's COVID-19 Command Center.

The coronavirus has been spreading faster in recent weeks in California. The state has recorded more than 2 million cases since the start of the pandemic, making it the first state in the nation to reach that milestone.

California had about 130,000 homeless people as of 2018, the US Interagency Council on Homelessness said. The number is the second-highest in state history, after the Great San Francisco Earthquake in 1906 left more than 200,000 people homeless.

Homelessness in the time of COVID-19 is "a crisis on top of a crisis", said Kushel.

She explained that homeless people are disproportionately older and sicker, with many having underlying conditions, such as lung disease and diabetes.

"Add a highly communicable disease that spreads through a respiratory mode to a population living in crowded conditions with poor access to basic hygiene, and you have a nightmare scenario", she said.

California is vaccinating healthcare workers. With the next phase of vaccination just weeks away, people are debating whether homeless residents should be seen as a high-priority population.

Experts said there would be challenges distributing the vaccine to homeless people who do not live in shelters. There are concerns that homeless people, who face physical and mental health challenges and are generally resistant to governmental authority, might be particularly difficult to persuade to be vaccinated.