AIC has signed the Global Statement of Solidarity and Action to #ProtectTheUnhoused from COVID-19! Vulnerably housed people, including those experiencing homelessness, migrants, and refugees, are some of the groups that are most at risk from the COVID-19 pandemic. Take action to protect them today!
Sign the Global Statement too!
Full text:
“The associations together call for groups such as the homeless, migrants, whether housed or not, and other groups who have to survive in precarious conditions to be priority groups for screening at Covid-19, given their high vulnerability. These men and women run a real risk of being contaminated by the virus and their precarious living environment is an aggravating risk factor. The lack of attention for this specific population can only aggravate the epidemiological situation.
Urgent and priority measures must be taken to stem the spread of Covid-19:
Protection of the homeless public
In order to ensure the protection of the homeless and vulnerable public in general, it is crucial:
- To promote access to safe accommodation (respecting the standing standards of hygiene) that allows for the isolation of vulnerable groups, to control the potential transmission of the disease (impossible today in collective housing);
- To guarantee primary needs, including access to food and hygiene;
- To provide the necessary risk reduction equipment (masks, gowns, etc.) for both residents and employees;
- To provide access to counselling and support in view of the closure of services and reception centres;
- To protect homeless people from punitive measures by the police in the face of the lack of safe alternatives to public space.
Proactive and systematic screening policy
For an obvious public health reason, it is urgent:
- Covid-19 testing is urgently needed in homeless and migrant shelters and support services, to separate positive users from those who are not, in order to control the spread of the virus;
- To test caregivers working with these vulnerable groups on a daily basis.
Keeping people in housing
Faced with the economic impact of the crisis, it is necessary:
- To maintain housing for vulnerable people;
- To put in place structural solutions for access to housing, which has become, more than ever, a public health imperative.“
Sign the Global Statement of Solidarity and Action to #ProtectTheUnhoused from COVID-19
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