People without secure housing 'particularly vulnerable' to coronavirus

Extract from The Guardian

Coronavirus outbreak

Advocacy organisations have called for accommodation to be provided to homeless people who need to self-isolate

Jack Banister

Fri 13 Mar 2020 03.30 AEDT Last modified on Fri 13 Mar 2020 03.34 AEDT

People who are experiencing homeless have health issuehttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/13/people-without-secure-housing-particularly-vulnerable-to-coronaviruss that make them particularly vulnerable to Covid-19, advocacy groups say, and are in urgent need of temporary housing during the coronavirus crisis. Photograph: Nick Ansell/PA

Homelessness advocacy organisations in Victoria and New South Wales are calling for more temporary housing to be made available as they plan for the spread of Covid-19.
Kate Colvin, a spokesperson for Victoria’s Council to Homeless Persons (CHP) told Guardian Australia that although none had been diagnosed in Victoria yet, homeless people would be particularly vulnerable if they caught the virus.
“People with pre-existing health conditions and the elderly who contract Covid-19 are particularly vulnerable to experiencing severe symptoms,” she said. “People who are experiencing homelessness are more likely to have poor health due to exposure to extreme heat and cold and living in substandard accommodation, which is poorly ventilated or damp.

“Having limited finances also makes it hard for people to access healthcare and medication to manage chronic underlying illnesses,” Colvin said.
At the 2016 census, there were 116,427 homeless people in Australia. 44% of those were living in severely crowded dwellings, and 7% were in improvised dwellings, tents, or sleeping out.

CHP works with people living in a variety of situations, including sleeping rough, living in rooming houses, couch surfing, or in temporary crisis accommodation. Help will be required if people in those circumstances need to self-isolate, Colvin said.
“As part of pandemic planning, we are calling for the Victorian government to resource access to self-contained accommodation to support homeless clients in this situation as required.”
Outreach teams from CHP are providing the latest information from the health department to homeless people, and also distributing hand sanitiser where possible.
A spokesperson for the Victorian department of health and human services said that a briefing would take place with community sector leaders this week but declined to say who would attend.
“The department is actively considering a range of measures to make sure our clients, including those experiencing or at risk of homelessness, have the information they need about Covid-19 and we have plans in place to mitigate any significant impacts of the virus on important services,” the spokesperson said.
Katherine McKernan, the CEO of Homelessness NSW, has also called for more temporary accommodation in hotels and motels to be made available if people without secure housing need to self-isolate.
“What we’ve been asking for is a coordinated plan to look at not just people sleeping rough, but also people in crisis accommodation, to help assist services [to] plan if there is isolation that needs to happen,” she said.
McKernan is also concerned that a lack of information has left people feeling anxious. The Australian government guidelines do not include advice specific to people experiencing homelessness.
McKernan said any crisis planning needed to involve organisations such as Homelessness NSW, who have a close connection to their communities.
“We’ve just got through the response to the bushfires, and now services are having to work on the ground with a lack of information around how to respond to the coronavirus as well. It’s not ideal,” she said.
NSW Health did not respond to questions about how the state’s crisis plans factor in people experiencing homelessness. More than 60 people have been diagnosed with Covid-19 in the state, but the department did not say whether any of those cases involved people in insecure accommodation.

A Queensland health department spokesperson did not answer specific questions, but said they were working with a range of stakeholders on a response to the virus. The NT health department was contacted for comment but did not respond to questions before deadline.