COVID-19: Emergency homeless accommodation saved hundreds of lives

Measures introduced to protect homeless people from COVID-19 infection, including the use of hotel accommodation and increased hostel hygiene, are estimated to have prevented hundreds of deaths in this vulnerable population, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The research team, whose modelling study is published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine , also find that relaxing these infection control measures could lead to outbreaks and potentially hundreds of deaths among homeless people, whether there is a second wave or not. On March 26, 2020, the UK Government instructed that dormitory-style night shelters should be closed and mandated local authorities in England to provide alternative accommodation to those people sleeping rough. Many local authorities used commercial hotel rooms which were vacant due to the pandemic. Separately, homeless hostels with single bedrooms and shared facilities continued to operate as they had before, but with enhanced hygiene and social distancing measures. Explaining the study, lead author Dan Lewer (UCL Epidemiology & Health Care), said: "People experiencing homelessness are vulnerable to COVID-19 due to the risk of transmission in shared accommodation and the high prevalence of comorbidities. In England, as in some other countries, preventative policies have been implemented.