By Xenia Shih Bion, California Health Care Foundation, April 6, 2020
Californians have been living under shelter-in-place orders since March 19, but for the more than 150,000 people experiencing homelessness (PDF) in the state, complying is all but impossible. Medical experts are deeply concerned about people who are homeless contracting COVID-19 because they lack access to stable housing, sanitation, and health care. How do you practice social distancing when you live on the streets or in a crowded shelter?
“What you are seeing is two crises — homelessness and the virus — collide,” Margot Kushel, director of the Center for Vulnerable Populations at UCSF, told Fran Kritz of the California Health Report.
“Being unhoused is a dangerous health condition,” Michelle Schneidermann, MD, director of CHCF’s High-Value Care team, told Essential Coverage. “People living on the streets have death rates between 2.5 and 10 times higher than the general public, and they die an average of 20 years younger.”
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