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The Latest COVID-19 News, Delivered to You!
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Welcome to the National Health Care for the Homeless Council’s COVID-19 Flash Blast. This brief synopsis of key issues specific to the HCH community, policy developments, resources, and reading lists on the topic of COVID-19 will be delivered every two weeks. You are receiving this email because you subscribe to HCH communications. If you do not wish to receive this bi-weekly alert, you may unsubscribe below. (Note: These e-blasts will be archived here.)
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Isolation and Quarantine in the Age of Omicron
Communities have scrambled to meet the growing needs for Isolation and Quarantine resources while also adjusting policies to reflect the recently updated guidance from the CDC. On January 13, the Council hosted a community conversation to hear from the HCH community directly, which provided valuable feedback to our federal partners, including the CDC, HUD, and USICH, about the impact of the surge on people experiencing homelessness and homeless service providers. Numerous communities shared their updated policies to serve as roadmaps for others (thank you!). These can be found on our COVID-19 Resources page (Shelters, Medical Respite Care, Alternate Care Sites, and I&Q Facilities tab - “Local Programs” section).
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CURRENT/EMERGING ISSUES & STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS
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With new developments every day in the nation's effort to control the COVID-19 pandemic, there are a number of emerging issues for HCHs that we are following:
Current/Emerging Issues
- Developing risk stratification and prioritization processes to ration Paxlovid (the antiviral medication for COVID) because not enough is available and there is no dependable way to get more.
- Managing client frustration and impact on vaccine acceptance when some want to stay in isolation for 10 days, and others don’t want to have to isolate/quarantine at all.
- Unmet needs for rapid tests as supplies remain variable and the types of tests provided are not always able to be distributed to the community.
- Prioritizing resources for unvaccinated clients since they are the most vulnerable to severe outcomes, while not wanting to dis-incentivize getting vaccinated or alienating clients who feel they “did the right thing” by getting vaccinated.
- Reserving protective housing placements for those already matched to housing streamlines connections to permanent housing, but limits options for the majority of clients who have not yet matched.
- Prioritizing people for housing based on the length of time homeless leaves many extremely high-risk clients ineligible due to interruptions in their homelessness because of hospitalizations and incarceration.
- Scrambling to provide testing resources for staff so that they can safely return to work.
- Ongoing challenges with length of time to receive PCR test results are causing staffing shortages.
- Communities depending on health centers for access to testing supplies when other resources have not been activated.
- Continuing to lose clients to overdose while also combating COVID strains an increasingly exhausted workforce.
Strategies for Success
- Consider decreasing isolation time to seven days for vaccinated clients (keeping 10 days for unvaccinated clients) to free up isolation and quarantine resources.
- Implement a “test to exit” strategy for isolation and quarantine. Options include single negative test or consecutive negative tests to exit. Emphasize the need for full masking until at least day 10.
- Determine a Paxlovid priority eligibility process for the distribution of antiviral medications so providers are not shouldering the responsibility of rationing limited medications on their own.
- Add higher-risk factors such as BIPOC identity and higher age ranges to the antiviral prioritization process in order to better address equity.
- Advocate for antiviral medications to be available in all communities, not just affluent neighborhoods.
- Collaborate/advocate with local partners to keep I&Q and protective action hotel resources open even after the current surge is over. Ramping up is more difficult than maintaining an adequate base level.
- Do not test clients who have tested positive for COVID in the past 30 days unless symptoms reappear. Guidance allows providers to wait 90 days before testing again; however, a person may be sick with Omicron if they were previously sick with Delta.
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There will be many policy changes related to COVID-19 in the next several months as the Biden-Harris Administration moves forward with its agenda. Below are the most recent developments:
- Vaccine mandates and revised deadline: On January 13, the Supreme Court allowed the CMS vaccine mandate for health care workers to go into effect, but blocked the OSHA vaccine-or-test mandate for private employers. Health care providers in the states where the rule had remained in place during the litigation have until February 28 to be in full compliance with the mandate, and the remaining states where the rule is back in effect must be in full compliance by March 15.
- N95 mask distribution: Following the update CDC made to the mask guidance, the White House is making 400 million N95 masks available for free. Masks will be available at pharmacies and health centers for the public. HRSA announced the HRSA Health Center COVID-19 N95 Mask Program, where health centers can order adult masks by the pallet (2000-7000 masks per pallet). Deadline for submissions is Wednesday, January 26, at 6 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. CT / 4 p.m. MT / 3 p.m. PT / 2 p.m. AT / 1 p.m. HAT.
- Free at-home tests: The Biden Administration launched the website for Americans to sign up for free, at-home test kits to be delivered to their mailing addresses. Only four tests will be sent per address – leaving people without addresses or who depend on shared addresses unable to access testing supplies through this avenue.
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Federal guidance, local tools, and new research are being published every day. Below are the newest items we've selected that will be helpful to the HCH community.
Isolation and Quarantine Revised Guidance
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Federal guidance, local tools, and new research are being published every day. Below are the newest items we've selected that will be helpful to the HCH community.
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Have a resource or issue you want to add to a future COVID-19 Flash Blast? Let us know! Email Katie League.
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Katie League, LCSW-C
COVID-19 Project Manager
National Health Care for the Homeless Council
kleague@nhchc.org
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National Health Care for the Homeless Council
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National Institute for Medical Respite Care
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| Grounded in human rights and social justice, the National Health Care for the Homeless Council's mission is to build an equitable, high-quality health care system through training, research, and advocacy in the movement to end homelessness.
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