The City of Windsor says its efforts to test its homeless population for the novel coronavirus has yielded encouraging results.
A progress report has been provided by city officials on a two-day testing initiative for Windsorites experiencing homelessness. This has resulted in 172 people being tested. As of Wednesday evening, 70 per cent of the test results have come back and all have tested negative for COVID-19 so far.
The testing took place over May 7 and May 8, as part of a joint effort between the city, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, the Windsor-Essex Community Health Centre, Hotel Dieu-Grace Healthcare, Essex-Windsor EMS, and leaders from several of the area's emergency shelters.
"While testing for COVID-19 only represents one point in time, mass testing among our homeless population was important to give us a sense of the current impact of COVID-19 within this vulnerable group," said Dr. Wajid Ahmed, medical officer of health for the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit. "Our team at the WECHU, led by our CEO Theresa Marentette have worked closely with the City of Windsor, our health care partners and emergency shelters for the past few months."
The city's employment and training services department has also been working to make sure shelters and businesses have the personnel needed to help deliver these important services. Staff have also participated in support programs such as the day program at Windsor Water World.
"What this has told us is that our collective efforts to ensure the health and safety of individuals experiencing homelessness are working well and I feel assured that as we move forward we have the right systems, processes and partnerships in place to continue to protect this group and limit the spread of COVID-19," said Ahmed.
The initiative is also part of the directive given by the provincial government earlier this month, to step up coronavirus testing in long-term care homes and among those who are vulnerable.
