Ok y’all are in for some thread because @NYGovCuomo⁩ made some pretty wild statements about homelessness & #COVID19 today. Listen to his interview at the link. (1/) https://abc7ny.com/homeless-shelters-ny-closed-hotel/6626103/

For context, NY (both NYC and other NYS counties) is reporting new increases in #COVID19 positivity rates. In our hospitals we are bracing ourselves for another spike. (2/)

Yet in this interview Cuomo advocates for moving people from encampments into shelters...as if shelters vs. encampments are the only two possibilities. I firmly agree people need options other than the streets... (3/)

But hello false dichotomy — there are, in actuality, other options like private hotel rooms or (heaven forbid) permanent housing. I do not hear these mentioned in Cuomo’s discussion. (4/)

He says we know how to open shelters safely, citing things like masks & 6 feet apart. In fact, studies have shown that #COVID19 outbreaks have occurred in homeless shelters even after they implemented such precautions. (5/)

He also—astoundingly—frames homeless encampments as a public health threat related to #COVID19, to people walking past them. Let’s be clear: nobody is going to catch COVID from walking masked past a homeless encampment. (6/)

What we do know, however, is that #COVID19 outbreaks in congregate shelters can create a real public health threat, particularly because the homeless population is not static. We have seen this from good scientific research out of Boston. (7/)

He frames the discussion around his own personal care for homeless people. But surely he knows enough to understand that shelters are not the only option, nor the best in terms of protecting health. (If not, the nursing home debacle should have made that clear). (8/)

Recommendations? Yes, nobody should be left in the cold this winter. But:
1) Now, with so much uncertainty around rising positive rates in some communities is a time for caution.
(9/)

2) A full range of options — to maybe include shelters in some cases but not ONLY shelters vs encampments — needs to be used.
3) Can we finally have recognition (by our political leaders) that homelessness is incompatible with true health and we need vastly more housing? (End)

And just to be abundantly clear: nothing in my thread should be construed to say that we should offer people outside or in encampments no other options.

And I nearly forgot — @CDCgov says: “If individual housing options are not available, allow people who are living unsheltered or in encampments to remain where they are.” That said, winter is coming...time to start finding safe alternatives = now. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/homeless-shelters/unsheltered-homelessness.html