Hundreds of Lexington homeless can’t wash their hands. City needs hand sanitizer now.
The city of Lexington is collecting hand sanitizer and thermometers as part of its efforts to protect more than 700 homeless people in Fayette County from COVID-19.
“Homelessness does not stop,”said Polly Ruddick, the executive director of Lexington’s Office of Homelessness Prevention and Intervention. “As part of the response to stop the spread of this virus, we are asking people to stay home. On any given night, we have more than 700 people in Lexington that don’t have that option.”
A key tactic to ward off the respiratory virus —frequent and thorough hand washing —is difficult for people with no homes, city officials said.
That’s why they need smaller bottles of hand sanitizer that homeless people can take with them. A January 2020 count found 689 homeless people in Lexington. But many say the number is likely higher.
“We only have one shelter that has enough hand sanitizer that they can hand out to people for more than 30 days,” said Ruddick.
The city’s main homeless shelters — the Hope Center, the Salvation Army, Arbor Youth and the Catholic Action Center —are also now taking temperatures of anyone who enters the shelter, Ruddick said.
But many of those shelters don’t have enough thermometers. The city is collecting digital thermometers and disposable probe covers that can be discarded after each use, she said.
Those donations will be accepted from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 101 E. Vine Street, referred to as the Phoenix building.
“Right now that is what we need — small bottles of hand sanitizer and thermometers,” Ruddick said.
Fayette County Health Commissioner Dr. Kraig Humbaugh, other local health officials, Ruddick and homeless providers met Friday to finalize plans to keep the coronavirus out of the homeless population.
Shelter residents who are over the age of 60 and have a history of COPD, or chronic, obstructive pulmonary disease, will be monitored and kept away from the general population when possible. How those people will be protected will largely depend on the shelter and provider, she said. Some shelters may have space to put high-risk individuals in a separate area or even a separate building.
Most of the city’s homeless shelters are full. But many shelters are trying to create more distance between beds if possible, Ruddick said.
Anyone who is sick will immediately be taken to the shelter clinic to rule out coronavirus, she said. If there is no clinic or if the clinic is not operating, they will be referred to the Fayette County Health Department. Anyone who tests positive for the virus will immediately be removed from the shelter, she said.
The Fayette County Health Department will then take over and make decisions on what to do next, Ruddick said.
To date, there has not been any known coronavirus outbreak in homeless populations in other parts of the country. But information about the virus and who has tested positive changes nearly daily, she said.
Still, many long-time homeless people have chronic health conditions. Many are older, she said.
“If you look at the CDC recommendations on what to do to protect yourself, most of those recommendations people without homes can not do,” Ruddick said. “If it comes into our population the rate of mortality is likely going to be high.”
This story was originally published March 14, 2020 at 11:09 AM.
