COVID-19 Test Delivery Leaves Out Houseless and Multigenerational Households

The Biden administration launched a new website this month. program Four COVID-19 rapid test kits will be delivered to each household for people who have an address in the country. Advocates for the program claim it will deliver 500 million tests. However, it disadvantages multigenerational households and houseless individuals. a glitch in the system The building can only have one set. The program is most beneficial for those who live in the traditional American nuclear family. It does not help the most vulnerable populations because they cannot afford to live on their own. When community spread is rampant and the country is still in its infancy, there is a demand for testing. averaging Close to 700,000.00 new cases are added each day. The Biden administration’s first direct testing response leaves a lot to be desired two years into the pandemic.

“There’s clearly a very myopic view of how to handle this rollout, which has consistently been a problem this entire pandemic,” said Dr. Imani E. McElroy, a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital. “[The rollout] directly benefits those who have the privilege of high-quality access.”

McElroy lives in an East Boston apartment building with six units. This is in a area that has a variety of housing options. Latinx population She estimates that 52.9% of them have been affected by COVID-19. Soon after the program was announced she discovered that apartment dwellers could not order their quotas if another person in the building had placed an order. She has delayed ordering her own until she is sure that her neighbors, including multi-generational families, can apply for their tests. She is a doctor and has access to COVID-19 testing through her department.

“I didn’t want to affect their ability to get their test,” McElroy said.

According to Generations UnitedAn estimated 66.7 million Americans, or one in four, live in multigenerational households. Although some people live in multigenerational households because of cultural reasons, many others have been forced to do so by rising living costs. The octombrie 2013 report showed that the Federal Register reported The cost of living in 2022 will rise by 5.9% In BostonMcElroy’s hometown has a cost of living 51% higher than the national median. According to a 2016 study Pew Research studyBlack, Latinx and Asian families were more likely than white families to live in multigenerational households. These households are more likely to need to quarantine and isolate themselves during a pandemic than usual. According to a public health study Multigenerational households in New York City are at risk for COVID-19 because of overcrowded homes and multigenerational housing.

“The largest affected populations by COVID have been populations that can’t afford to live on their own and can’t self-quarantine,” McElroy said. “You’re getting rapid transmission throughout these communities.”

McElroy suggested that the federal government use census data in order to send more tests to households who may need them, and that they have an efficient way to request additional tests as needed. McElroy suggested that the federal government could send more tests to households that may need them, and also have the option to send them directly to a P.O. If needed, she suggested having the option to send them to a P.O. The U.S. The U.S. Postal Service has not responded when asked for further information about future distribution programs.

“There has to be a way to petition to be able to get more tests,” McElroy said. “There’s a lot of stopgaps that could have been used to prevent the issues that we’re consistently seeing in this response.”

The current program has also excluded houseless people who don’t have a permanent residence. Referred to as “the invisible victims” COVID-19 has few resources to keep track of the number and causes of infection and death in the houseless community.

David Peery, founder of Miami Coalition to Advance Racial Equality says that even if houseless people had access to at-home quick tests, it would be difficult to keep them. Many homeless people living in encampments are exposed to street sweeps that trash and destroy their possessions.

“[The government] can give out a testing kit on a Monday, and the City can come and do a sweep the very next day and destroy everything and throw all your stuff away,” Peery said. “It’s very hard to keep possessions when you don’t have a home.”

Peery says that a more comprehensive solution would include the expansion of non-congregated shelters through the contracting and rental of hotel and motel room. Peery says that since the outbreak of the pandemic, there have been more private rooms being used in cities to isolate the victims. including AtlantaThey should be expanded as emergency shelter options, as opposed to the traditional emergency congregate Shelters that crowd people into a dorm. A public health study supports Peery’s idea, suggesting that isolation hotels help mitigate the spread of Covid-19 among houseless populations.

“Non-congregate settings have proven to be much more effective in getting people off the streets. Now you have a roof over your head, you have a door you can lock, and you can store your possessions, including these at-home testing kits,” Peery said. “They’ll also be protected from infections and it will provide a path to permanent housing.”

People from all walks of the country agree that it is important to consider reaching the most vulnerable communities with the least amount possible access to mitigating measures before the government launches a new program to distribute personal protective equipment or tests.

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