A half-dozen people at a Charlottesville shelter recently tested positive for COVID-19, creating logistical issues for the city’s only overnight shelter.
“Someone was sick, they said they had COVID-like symptoms, we tested and then, as protocol, tested everybody,” said Jim Battaglia, spokesperson for The Salvation Army of Charlottesville. “That’s when we knew we had it in our shelter.”
Five shelter residents tested positive, as well as the shelter’s director. The city of Charlottesville helped relocate the affected residents to the Royal Inn Motel along U.S. Route 29 — which has outdoor stairs and allows for meal delivery to take place without anyone entering the building.
“That is probably the hardest part: We had to make sure we had meals,” Battaglia said.
Taking those measures allowed the shelter to remain open, and all of its residents tested negative over the weekend.
This was the second COVID outbreak this year for the 48-bed shelter, which Battaglia said routinely operates at 90% capacity.
Charlottesville is experiencing an uptick in COVID cases as the heat has pushed people indoors, said Dr. Kenneth Gordon, director of epidemiology for the Blue Ridge Health District.
“It’s just a constant reminder that Covid is still about,” he said.
Gordon added that unhoused people are prone to outbreaks — especially those staying in shelters.
“When they gather in those kinds of settings, they’re focus is going to be on that immediate need that they have, not so much on infection control or prevention,” he said.
Battaglia, the Salvation Army spokesperson, said one of the most difficult parts of the shelter’s mission is balancing safety protocols and continuing to operate the shelter.
“We had to make sure … to maintain the safety of the five [residents] who tested positive, as well as the employees and the [other] residents,” he said.
