LAS VEGAS (AP) — Problems magnified by the pandemic, but not the virus itself, are being blamed for a rise in deaths in the Las Vegas area’s homeless population.
Local public health officials and homeless advocates told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the number of fatalities on the street is up 16% compared to last year. Yet, the COVID-19 test positivity rate among homeless communities is about the same as the general population.
Clark County reports 186 homeless people died from Jan. 1 to Dec. 4. That amounts to a rate of 35 deaths for every 1,000 — six more than in 2019.
The spike in fatalities could be attributed to the pandemic exacerbating difficulties in getting health care and other services, according to public health experts. People living on the streets likely don’t have the ability to do virtual appointments.
“In general, the COVID-19 pandemic identified a lot of gaps and a lot of issues with health, and our health care system in general,” said JoAnn Rupiper, the Southern Nevada Health District’s director of clinical services. “Especially when it relates to an underserved and vulnerable population.”
Rupiper and a team from the health department have reached out to shelters and encampments. They have administered 2,451 COVID-19 tests and 409 flu vaccines this year.
The county has channeled $100 million thanks to federal funding into rental assistance. It has invested another $50 million in increasing affordable housing. Around 1,000 beds have been set up in hotels and other temporary housing for homeless people considered medically vulnerable.
Advocates say having some kind of shelter can make all the difference with health.
“A virus that creates a pandemic is invisible, however an avalanche of evictions and people becoming homeless is not invisible,” said Donald Whitehead, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. “It just boggles the mind that we weren’t prepared for it.”