Coronavirus Response: Baltimore's Homeless Population Moving To Motels For Proper Social Distancing
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The city of Baltimore announced it is creating new measures to help protect the city's homeless community from COVID-19.
Baltimore's homeless community is being moved to shelters with more space for social distancing.
The Mayor's Office of Homeless Services announced they're relocating residents from three emergency shelters to a more suitable location.
The city said the homeless must be in a shelter before they can coordinate entry to the new facilities.
The city is also transporting the homeless over the age of 62 from shelters to motels.
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150 homeless who are healthy, but vulnerable, will be moved this week
"We were told a couple of days ago that we were processed as high risk and that we were going to a hotel," two men who wished to remain anonymous told WJZ.
But they said they aren't being moved to a motel.
"I think they really lied to us," they said. "We should be at the hotel."
Kevin Lindamood, at Healthcare for the Homeless, showed WJZ how they set up a COVID-19 testing center in their garage.
"This is a population that will be more likely to die of COVID-19 because of those chronic underlying healthcare conditions," he said.
Lindamood said he is trying to keep his clients safe, knowing their health affects everyone else's.
"The folks that we're serving are members of our community and their risk is our risk," he said.
Healthcare for the Homeless said all of their tests they've completed have come back negative and that the homeless community isn't seeing large numbers yet.
Lindamood said that's a good sign for Baltimore.
For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.
