June 9, 2020

Pandemic Planning in Homeless Shelters: A Pilot Study of a COVID-19 Testing and Support Program to Mitigate the Risk of COVID-19 Outbreaks in Congregate Settings

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Transmission

• In a homeless shelter system in Hamilton, Canada, Bodkin et al. tested 104 residents and 141 staff for COVID-19 by RT-PCR and found 1% of residents and 5% of staff had prevalent SARS-CoV-2 infection. They found 1 case of secondary spread. The investigators suggest that shelter restructuring, isolating confirmed cases and those awaiting test results, and providing rapid test results may have helped to preventing an outbreak. 

Bodkin et al. (June 8, 2020). Pandemic Planning in Homeless Shelters: A Pilot Study of a COVID-19 Testing and Support Program to Mitigate the Risk of COVID-19 Outbreaks in Congregate Settings. Clinical Infectious Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaa743