Posted on April 17, 2020 by Emma Ockerman in VICE VICE, By Emma Ockerman The New York City doctors and nurses charged with handling a huge epidemic have another problem to deal with: The city’s moving too slowly to keep homeless patients safe. A group of more than 500 New York-based physicians, social workers, and nurses, wrote in a letter addressed to NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and others Friday that while they appreciate some of the actions the city has taken, like creating isolation spaces for the homeless, it’s still not enough to stem the daily swell of coronavirus cases. As of Thursday, 537 homeless people in the city had tested positive for COVID-19 — many of whom live in the city’s vast shelter system, with 140 locations reporting cases so far — and 33 have died. And it’s possible that it will get worse still, for the city’s homeless population of nearly 80,000.
