Homeless Shelter Guidance
News Update
Updated March 26, 2020 5:00 PM
Consejos sobre el nuevo coronavirus para albergues de personas sin hogar
- COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by a new strain of coronavirus that has now spread globally.
- While anyone can be infected, most people experience mild symptoms and do not need to go to the hospital.
- Symptoms are fever, cough, and difficulty breathing.
- People most at risk for severe disease are older adults and those with underlying conditions such as heart disease.
- Multiple cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Kansas
- Sedgwick County Health Department is closely monitoring this issue and is coordinating with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE).
- We anticipate more cases of COVID-19 in Sedgwick County in the coming days or weeks.
Do We Have to Close Our Shelter?
No. Residential facilities and shelters for seniors, adults and children are considered essential services
- Businesses are mandated to take proactive measures to ensure compliance with social distancing requirements where possible
What is Social Distancing?
Maintaining at least 6 feet of social distancing from other individuals, washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds as frequently as possible or using hand sanitizer, covering coughs and sneezes (into the sleeve or elbow, not hands), regularly cleaning high-touch surfaces, and not shaking hands.
What Steps Can We Take to Protect our Shelter?
You can take steps right now that can help protect those at your shelter. Many of these strategies are the same strategies used to prevent the spread of common colds, influenza, and other respiratory illnesses. Build on your everyday practices to implement these strategies.
In addition to these steps, Sedgwick County has mandated the following when possible for essential services:
- Designate 6-foot distances. Designating with signage, tape, or by other means 6-foot spacing for employees and customers in line to maintain appropriate distance;
- Hand sanitizer and sanitizing products. Having anti-microbial soap and water or hand sanitizer and sanitizing products readily available for employees and customers;
- Separate operating hours for vulnerable populations. Implementing separate operating hours for elderly and vulnerable customers;
- Online and remote access. Posting online whether a facility is open and how to best reach the facility and continue services by phone or remotely; and
- Protective equipment. As supplies are currently available and become available, providing employees who have frequent contact with the public with protective equipment, including but not limited to gloves and masks
Use Proper Infection Control Practices
- Regularly clean and disinfect counters, waiting areas, and other high-touch surfaces in public areas with an EPA-approved disinfectant.
- Make alcohol-based hand sanitizer available next to the check-in areas so people can sanitize their hands after using common items, like the pens used to sign-in.
- Have alcohol-based hand sanitizer or hand washing stations available at all entry points.
- Ensure you have adequate supplies of soap, paper towels, tissues, hand sanitizers, cleaning supplies, and garbage bags. If possible, a supply of disposable gloves and paper facemasks may be useful if persons become ill while at your facility.
- Keep pens for clients separate from your own and clean them daily.
- Remove magazines, toys, etc. from waiting areas to prevent contamination.
- Ask people entering the facility whether they have symptoms. Visitors, staff, and volunteers should not be permitted to enter if they have a fever, cough, or shortness of breath. Clients with symptoms should be directed to medical care and should not be denied housing.
Educate and Prepare Clients
- Post signs throughout the facility, encouraging hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette (cover your cough and sneeze), and avoiding touching your face with unwashed hands. Post materials in the languages used by the populations you serve. Print materials are available here on the CDC website or from the Sedgwick County Health Department
- Have fact sheets available for clients
- Limit unnecessary visitors and volunteers to the facility.
- Consider ways to limit direct face-to-face interactions with clients
- Consider ways to stagger event times to reduce crowding in waiting and dining areas.
Business Continuity of Operations Plans
- Designate a room and bathroom (if available) for clients with mild illness who remain at the shelter
- Develop a plan for cleaning and disinfection.
- Prepare for high shelter use during the outbreak.
- Communicate your needs with the health department and the community. Many in the community are looking for ways to support the response.
- Develop or review business continuity plans for how to keep critical services going if staffing and volunteer levels drop due to illness or taking care of ill family members or friends or children that may be temporarily out of child care or school settings.
- Be prepared to change your practices as needed to maintain critical operations (e.g., prioritize clients or temporarily suspend some services if needed).
- Ensure you have adequate supplies of soap, paper towels, tissues, hand sanitizers, cleaning supplies, and garbage bags. If possible, a supply of disposable gloves and paper facemasks may be useful if persons become ill while at your facility.
- You can find more information on organizational preparedness on the CDC website.
Prepare Staff and Volunteers
- Ensure staff and volunteers are washing hands properly and frequently.
- Train staff on how to use personal protective equipment (gloves, masks, etc.)
- Ensure sick leave and other polices are in place to support staff to stay home if needed. Do not require a healthcare provider’s note. This will put stress on the providers.
- Staff and volunteers who are at high risk of severe complications due to age or health conditions should not care for sick clients. Identify staff who can help with sick clients.
- Share information on continuity planning with staff and volunteers.
- Create a cleaning schedule so staff are regularly disinfecting touched surfaces such as doorknobs, handrails, bathroom fixtures, countertops, work stations, tables, and chairs.
- Staff should monitor Sedgwick County Health Department and KDHE websites (see online resources below) to understand COVID–19 activity in their community.
- Have a communication plan to keep residents, staff, volunteers, and partners updated.
- Be sure contact information is updated and ready for use.
- Read the CDC interim guidance for shelters.
- Report unusual patient complaints, surges in symptoms of fever, cough, or respiratory distress to the Sedgwick County Health Department at 316-660-7300
Serving residents with cough and fever:
- COVID-19 symptoms are fever, cough, shortness of breath
- If an individual has these symptoms and is over the age of 60, please coordinate a call with United Way’s 2-1-1 service to inquire about testing
- Union Rescue Mission has a respite program for those with medical needs. If referring to this service, please call ahead at 316-687-4673.
- Confine clients with mild symptoms to designated rooms and, if possible, bathroom facilities. If need be, use tarps or plastic barriers to keep those with respiratory symptoms separate from those without symptoms in the same room to limit the spread of respiratory droplets.
- Ensure sleeping areas are at least 6 feet apart and that clients sleep head-to-toe.
- Provide access to fluids, tissues, and plastic bags.
- Provide disinfectant supplies to those in the designated area but clean designated area on an “as needed” basis to limit staff exposure.
- Assist those with symptoms to contact a Federally Qualified Health Center to receive low-cost/no cost healthcare. Hunter Health (316-262-2415) and GraceMed (316-866-2000) have historically served the homeless population.
- Use gloves when handling belongings of sick clients.
- Provide masks, if available, to those who have symptoms such as cough or fever as they move through undesignated parts of the facility.
- Check on patients at high risk for complications regularly (those who are older or have underlying health conditions). Keep those at high risk in separate rooms from those with symptoms.
Online Resources:
Sedgwick County Health Department