The COVID-19 pandemic has created uncertainty for unhoused Americans. Due to their lack of safe housing, homeless individuals often face COVID-19 risk factors in their day-to-day lives. The congregate nature and hygienic challenges of shelter life also create the potential for rapid transmission of COVID-19 to this population. 

Eviction and Federal Policies

The ebb and flow of COVID-19 cases has also impacted unhoused communities economically, socially, and physically. Housing policies have shifted during the pandemic, most prominently in the form of rent forgiveness to eviction filings. Rent forgiveness was a form of relief to many, but evictions still occurred, increasing pandemic-related homelessness nationwide. To combat this, a federal order under the Public Health Service Act was passed to halt ongoing evictions to combat worsening COVID-19 prevalence and homelessness in the U.S.

Homeless Shelters and Covid-19

“Sheltered homelessness” is a term used to refer to people experiencing homelessness and residing in emergency shelters, transitional housing, or other temporary settings. The U.S. Center for Disease Control has provided interim guidance for shelters, which has continued to be updated since 2019. This guidance recommends pushing for vaccination within shelters, widespread proper personal protection equipment (PPE), and accessible broadcasts of free COVID-19 testing sites. The guide also states, “homeless shelters should not close or exclude people who are having symptoms or test positive for COVID-19 without a plan for where these clients can safely access services and stay.” The guide works to support unhoused individuals while also trying to navigate the uncharted territory of COVID-19.

• New York City, where one-fifth of all U.S. sheltered homeless live, issued an emergency declaration to ease crowding in shelters during the summer of 2021. This influx of homeless individuals into midtown Manhattan caused a response from groups that advocate for stricter COVID-19 regulations, such as The Coalition for Homelessness. In response to The Coalition for the Homeless’ demands to reevaluate NYC shelter situations, Mayor Bill DeBlasio said “What we’re seeing so far in Omicron: intense surge but less impact, and we also believe it’ll be for a brief period of time, so that does not suggest doing things the way we did last year.” DeBlasio’s response supported a shift back to pre-pandemic safety measures within homeless shelters.
• In Boston, Boston Healthcare for the Homeless provided 500 beds at the Boston Convention Center for homeless individuals who contracted COVID-19. Per the 2020 Census data, Boston has a homeless population of 6,203 individuals, and many streets are lined with tents occupied by unhoused individuals. The city has been taking measures to clear the streets while also calling on outreach workers to provide information about available shelter beds in the area. 
• Los Angeles has faced public opposition to the crowding of shelters due to the surge in the Omicron variant. In the last week of 2021, more than 140 shelters in Los Angeles county had experienced an outbreak of COVID-19. In response, the city is crafting a temporary housing strategy to slow the spread within the homeless population.

The variance in COVID-19 regulation from city to city shows the uncertainty surrounding the most effective methods for keeping unhoused populations safe. Most recently, many city-wide mask and vaccination mandates have been lifted as case numbers decrease. 

As the United States makes its way into the third year of the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2021 Annual Homeless Assessment Report found that there was an eight percent decrease in sheltered homelessness throughout the country. The overall Community Vulnerability Index value—which tracks COVID-19 cases across communities of varying vulnerability—has been on a rapid decline over the past two months. While homelessness still persists across the country, the presence of COVID-19 within unhoused communities is generally on the decline, causing public officials to slow, or end the implementation of protective measures.