Wichita sets $300k to shelter homeless in hotels for coronavirus testing, quarantine
Wichita City Hall will pay for hotel-motel stays for homeless people who have to shelter for coronavirus testing or quarantine for COVID-19 disease.
The City Council on Tuesday earmarked up to $300,000 out of an emergency $850,000 federal grant to help Wichita with prevention, preparedness and response to COVID-19 among the homeless.
The motel program will be administered by United Way of the Plains in consultation with city and county authorities, according to a city report.
The allocation passed unanimously with only council member Cindy Claycomb commenting briefly on it.
“I think this money would be well-spent,” Claycomb said, calling the allocation a part of “the real effort that’s going on in the city to help one of our most vulnerable populations.”
City Manager Robert Layton has said homeless people would be sheltered in hotels or motels under two circumstances:
▪ Persons showing symptoms of COVID-19 would be sheltered for testing and kept at their room until results come back, which could take several days.
▪ Those testing positive for the coronavirus, but not sick enough to justify hospitalization, could be quarantined in their room for up to 14 days.
Coronavirus spreads rapidly through homeless populations and their infection rate tends to run about twice that of the general public, according to data from California and Washington, where the pandemic is more advanced than in Kansas.
“The Kansas Department of Health and Environment estimates that up to 30 percent of people in Sedgwick County may be infected with COVID-19,” the city staff report said. “The prevalence of COVID-19 among the 530 individuals in the Wichita/Sedgwick County area in congregate shelters or unsheltered is expected to range from 159 (30 percent) to 318 (60 percent).”
“United Way (of the Plains) projects that 318 individuals will be symptomatic to the extent that COVID-19 testing will be warranted, and that 50 percent of those individuals will test positive for COVID-19.”
The preliminary cost estimate for hotel and motel stays is $100 a night per individual, but the city will be working with United Way to negotiate lower rates, said Sally Stang, city housing director.
Hotels and motels used in the program will have to be evaluated and approved by the Sedgwick County Health Department to avoid spreading the virus. The rooms will have to have direct door access to the outside and separate ventilation that isn’t connected to any other rooms or common areas, city officials said.
This story was originally published April 21, 2020 at 11:02 AM.
