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Care homes? Yes. Prisons? Yes. Schools? Sure, there have been COVID-19 cases. So how is it that homeless shelters have been dodging the pandemic?
When we asked people who depend on Kelowna's emergency shelters, they say they haven't heard of any cases.
"Personally no, not at all," said one young man who is affected by homelessness. "I haven't seen anybody with it at all," said another.
"We have not had any confirmed COVID cases in our residence at the shelter this year," said Gospel Mission executive director Carmen Rempel. She said the lifestyles of the people who depend on the shelter seems to keep the virus at bay.
"It's actually a very socially isolated group, to begin with," added Rempel. "And all of the places we see COVID spreading are in establishments like restaurants and our clientele aren't even welcome in those places to use the bathroom."
Being without a home is not good for much. But it seems when it comes to dodging a pandemic, it might actually be an advantage.
"Our clientele often happen to be 'Lone Rangers' or to be in small groups, continued Rempel, "that really stick to themselves."
And when they are in the Shelters, there isn't a lot of mingling. "Here everybody's got their assigned bed, they've got their assigned bunk, they have their locker," she said.
The shelters also point to the serious approach they've taken when it comes to public health directives.
"Our staff are cleaning around the clock constantly sanitizing everything," said Rempel. "We have all of the protocols in place with our staff wearing masks signing in and out, all of those things in place."
There have been similar experiences with homeless populations all over North America. If there is a message in this for the rest of us, it may be that spending more time outside, maybe even better for our health than we thought.
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