Covid-19流行病中的无家可归者：了解了什么

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, there was another epidemic in the United States: In January 2019, an estimated 567,715 people experienced无家可归。

专家认为，这个数字在大流行期间已经上升，部分原因是2220万人下岗或休假三月和四月，虽然没有任何关于大流行对无家可归者的影响的官方数据或者遇到它的人。

"The pandemic really just shows the importance of housing for health and that you really can't have a healthy society when you have half a million people or more who are homeless," says Dr. Kelly Doran, MD, an emergency physician and assistant professor at the NYU School of Medicine.

大流行对庇护所的影响

在大城市，Covid-19通过无家可归者避难所迅速传播。在纽约市，57,000人在2020年8月经历无家可归。在纽约的埃尔曾经工作的Doran说，她努力为她的患者寻找有无家可归的患者的安全的地方。

"Earlier on in the pandemic...somebody would come in with a cough, and you didn't want to send them back to the shelter because that would potentially expose a lot of people," she says. "Then the subway shut down, which added just another layer of challenge because a lot of people who are homeless, they sleep in the subway because they feel that that's the safest option for them."

As of May 31, the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) in New York City reported 926 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in about 179 shelter locations, according to analysis from the Coalition for the Homeless. "As of that date, DHS had reported 86 deaths of homeless people due to COVID-19," the Coalition wrote. "In the month of April alone, 58 homeless people died of COVID-19, the vast majority (54) among homeless people living in shelters."

一个匿名的人，遇到无家可归的人推文他如何从他的推特账户中生活无家可归的纽约人说，当城市在2020年3月关闭时，无家可归者每天都必须离开他们的庇护所。

It caused "tremendous stress and anxiety," he says in a message via Twitter. "After public outcry, DHS allowed residents of their shelters to stay in dorms, except for 3 hours a day for cleaning; soon it gave up those 3 hours too," he says. For two weeks in March, he says there were also shortages of food at soup kitchens and shelters.

In response to a question about how he has been coping with the situation in New York City, he says, "How I feel is determined by my situation. What I do about it is try to improve it. I don't have much success, but I live indoors, unlike others."

The Role of Systemic Racism

根据疾病控制和预防中心的数据，非洲裔美国人和美国印第安人和西班牙和拉丁裔人民比白人更有可能死于白人比白人死亡。由于各种原因，他们也不成比例地体验无家可归者。

“住房隔离的整个历史和歧视在这个国家的非裔美国人真的是导致非洲裔美国人为一般人口的13％，超过40％的人在任何特定时间内经历无家可归者，“鲍比瓦特，MPH，国民医疗保健的首席执行官为无家可归的委员会。

Watts说，银行歧视性贷款措施阻止了黑人以与白人为白人的房屋拥有房屋，并且家房拥有的差异导致了一个种族财富差距并影响了教育。

People of color are much more likely to work in fields that are considered high risk during the pandemic, like the hospitality and service industries and public education. "They're more likely to be exposed, more likely to live in denser housing and denser neighborhoods, more likely to take public transportation and not go to work in a private car," Watts says.

所有这些因素和更多住房的隔离，都无法获得良好的素质教育，在较低工资工作中工作，更有可能由于种族主义而与执法进行互动 - 增加无家可归的风险。“所有这些都会导致健康状况不佳，非洲裔美国人和美洲原住民的过度代表，以及那些经历无家可归的人，以及卫生成果，特别是与Covid有关，”瓦特说。

住房暂停的交易是什么？

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield signed a declaration ordering the suspension of evictions if the tenant can't afford to pay rent due to financial hardship caused by the pandemic. The declaration is in effect until Dec. 31, 2020.

但是，该日期正在迅速接近，专家票据，国会尚未签署额外的救济包，数百万人仍然失业。暂停真的没有“牙齿”，说尼古拉斯•巴尔，博士，内华达大学的社会工作助理教授拉斯维加斯。

“为了受到这种联邦驱逐史纳利的保护，你必须表明你被驱逐出来，因为你无法支付因Covid而支付租金，这是繁重的，”他说。

最有争议的危险风险的人是较低工作的人们的低工资工作，LGBTQ +人—particularly变性人who are more likely to live in poverty—people with poor mental health, and those with物质滥用问题。巴尔说，这些人可能无法获得大量支持。“对我来说，他们将如何推翻坚定的楼主，他们想让他们出去，”他说。

在某些州，法律援助组织和非营利组织建立了帮助，以帮助面临驱逐的人。

需要长期解决方案

阿斯本研究所估计，至少有3000万人在九月底有逃脱的风险。巴尔斯表示，联邦政府需要帮助减轻租金债务人民积累，而他们也在不在工作的同时也在照顾房东。

"What you don't want to do is have a huge new influx of people into already stressed service systems where it's now more difficult to meet face to face because of the burden of the pandemic," Barr says.

在纽约市，迪兰说，该市提出了一个临时解决方案：它是房屋中遇到酒店的住房。她说，有那些已经测试过症状的人的孤立酒店，然后遇到症状，然后脱焰化酒店试图防止其他人因越野而导致病毒的其他人。加州，康涅狄格州，北卡罗来纳州和明尼苏达州的城市也暂时安置了酒店。

Doran says she would like to see those efforts turn into a push for permanent housing, and in some areas, they have. In the Bay Area, California Gov. Gavin Newsom distributed grants to help cities buy hotels and apartment buildings and convert them into long term housing for people experiencing homelessness.

“我希望优先考虑识别住房作为必需品，都是为了公共卫生，而且显然也是人权，”Doran说。

关于无家可归的长期解决方案，瓦特表示，普遍保健将有助于解决种族主义的影响。扩大经济实惠的住房选项和获得经济适用房也会有所帮助，BARR表示，联邦最低工资应从目前的7.25美元提高至15美元。“你养成的人的方式是通过建造经济适用的住房，并支付足够的钱，以便能够负担得起它，”他说。

虽然大流行突出了人们经历无家可归的人的公共卫生危险，但瓦特说，有一个亮点：“这是第一次，许多城市都关注他们邻居的健康没有家园，”他说。“我们在住房和医疗保健之间的实际术语方面取得了强大的联系，我们以前没有做过。”现在，我们需要建立在那些联系时，他说，帮助预防下一个大流行。