On March 29 our Prime Minister sent out a tweet: “COVID-19 is having an impact on people right across the country – but we know that some communities are more vulnerable to its impacts than others. So here’s what we’re doing to help the most vulnerable and make sure no one gets left behind.”
I am a nurse who has spent the bulk of his career working with marginalized and street-entrenched populations. As a nurse, I have a professional responsibility to act in a time of crisis, and advocate for those who cannot do so for themselves. I’ve watched concerns over COVID-19, and the subsequent impact on our most vulnerable, turn from fears to realities. I’ve seen the best in people: regular community members and business owners, donating their resources to support front liners in a time of resource scarcity. I have also seen the worst in people: the bureaucracy that drives slow decision-making, and the stigma that impairs our ability to do for others what we would do for ourselves. The latter is exemplified in our current approach to supporting people who are homeless during this pandemic.
In my view, the wrong path is the 24/7 homeless encampments that have been loosely organized by a number of collaborators. The development of holding camps is an example of public health gone wrong. The intent, we presume, is to provide hubs where services can be offered, screening can occur, and quarantine can be facilitated in short order. What that translates to however, is segregation, potential human rights infringement, and increased risk of disease transmission. Among all the memorable moments of the COVID-19 crisis, we should mark today down in the calendar as the day we chose to leave some of our community behind. For weeks, advocates and experts have been shouting about the lack of protective mechanisms available in camps like these — people cannot wash their hands, when there is no access to clean water and soap, or even shower. People cannot stay healthy, when they sleep in the rain, and eat one meal a day. When the prime minister said no one gets left behind, he clearly wasn’t speaking about people who must suffer the injustices of being homeless.
The realities of these camps are a far cry from the good intentions that inspired the idea. A hand washing station was set up on Sunday, six days after people started showing up. Nobody has showered. Some people have no tents; they sleep wrapped in a tarp on the cold and wet ground. Some people are going through drug and alcohol withdrawal and the toxic drug supply continues to contribute to high rates of overdoses. Some people have started coughing, and now they are wondering what will happen to them if they get sick. Will they be forcibly quarantined, and separated into groups of symptomatic and asymptomatic? Are these the public health approaches needed to stave off a pandemic? Are we certain we can rationalize warehousing disadvantaged peoples, and is this consistent with the kind of prevention that will flatten the curve? Can our current strategies even constitute an evidence-based approach to flattening the curve?
We are only in the infancy of this crisis, and for people who do not have a home, this is a waking nightmare. People experiencing homelessness and precarious housing are among those who may be seriously impacted by COVID-19; to many of them, their pre-existing conditions and lack of resources could be a death sentence. In other cities across the country, hotels and facility spaces have been emptied to support more shelter beds, and streamlined access to overdose prevention, and primary care services. Yet, in Victoria we are deciding which park could be best used to establish open-air holding areas. One week ago, a group of nurses (myself included) and public health professionals submitted an open letter to the government of British Columbia, including 12 points for action to prevent and manage COVID-19 for people who are homeless. We hoped to see urgent implementation of these points of action, but instead we’ve witnessed what we feared the most; management of homelessness rather than true prevention measures.
I am calling on the City of Victoria, Government of British Columbia, BC Housing, and all those involved in the planning/implementation of these encampment shelters to re-visit our 12 points of action and pay attention to the immediate need for housing. We should be moving to shelter people in hotel spaces with private rooms that allow for physical distancing and self-isolation, not leaving members of our community to brave the elements. Everyone deserves the same opportunity to protect their health, and equity is about removing the barriers so that everyone is afforded the same protections for their health. We have chosen the wrong path; one that shines a giant spotlight on how we value the lives of others in our community.
Corey Ranger
Victoria
