Boston Healthcare For The Homeless are working to prevent the COVID-19 virus from spreading among some of the city's most vulnerable. WBZ NewsRadio's Suzanne Sausville reports. Listen to coverage on WBZ here.
“We will have more needs than we can meet,” said Dr. Jessie Gaeta, a physician at Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program. “So the city, the state and shelters are working really hard to identify spaces.”
Dr. Jessie Gaeta, chief medical officer for the Boston Health Care for the Homeless program emphasized that there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 among Boston’s homeless population and only small number of individuals have shown symptoms of the infection.
The distillery’s first batch was made on Friday, and they hope to start distributing it next week, with Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program already confirmed as a recipient.
Housing advocates fear an outbreak of coronavirus in homeless populations as shelters across the country scramble to increase capacity and maintain social distancing. With no access to health care the homeless can spread the virus across states faster than people that can afford regular health care. Many cities are working to test and isolate this vulnerable population. Watch Dr. O'Connell here.
Dr. Jim O’Connell, president of Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, noted that preparing to test and care for homeless people is different than it is for the general population. Social distancing and quarantining don’t apply to homeless shelters.
"[Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program's] doctors and nurses will staff the quarantine tents. On Tuesday, they started performing coronavirus tests in another tent behind their South End clinic and the Woods Mullen shelter. Before then, people had to get tested at hospitals.
“This is the time to set up a process for when it does hit because it feels inevitable to me. It feels like an avalanche is headed our way,” said Dr. James O’Connell, president of Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, which is overseeing the program.
