September 15, 2020

Characteristics of COVID-19 in Homeless Shelters

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Testing and Treatment

Keywords (Tags): testing, washington

• Contact tracing events (“surge testing”) identified a much larger proportion of the positive SARS-CoV-2 cases among residents and staff in homeless shelters across King County (Washington State) compared to routine surveillance. Among 29 SARS-CoV-2 positive cases identified from 1,434 encounters of shelter residents and staff in homeless shelters, 72% of cases were detected during “surge testing”. Individuals who were 60 years or older more were more likely to test positive (45% vs 16%) and 86% of positive cases slept in a communal space.

Rogers et al. (Sept 15, 2020). Characteristics of COVID-19 in Homeless Shelters. Annals of Internal Medicine. https://doi.org/10.7326/M20-3799