A person experiencing homelesness who tested positive for COVID-19 entered the Bloomington isolation shelter Tuesday afternoon after initially being turned away by the shelter on Monday, Marc Teller, a board member of the Bloomington Homeless Coalition, said.
The shelter, located at 300 W. Hillside Drive, was established to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the community, Emily Pike, executive director of New Hope Family shelter, told the Indiana Daily Student last month.
BHC was not initially able to locate the person after they left the hospital, leaving a window of time in which the person’s location and the number of people they interacted with unknown, Teller said.
While Teller said the person took proper precautions by wearing a mask and social distancing, exposure is always a possibility, he said.
BHC helped locate the person by telling the isolation shelter where the individual typically stayed, Teller said.
Related: [COVID-19 isolation shelter for people experiencing homelessness in Bloomington to open next week]
The search began late Monday night, Teller said. He was notified via text that the isolation shelter had found the individual late Tuesday morning.
In a BHC press release posted to Instagram on Monday, the group suggested anyone who had visited Seminary Park recently or has been in close contact with any person experiencing homelessness be tested for COVID-19.
A street medic and “affiliated friend” of the BHC took the person to the hospital to be tested Monday night, Teller said. The medic is currently isolating and testing for COVID-19.
Teller said the hospital referred the patient to the isolation shelter after their test came back positive, but the shelter’s policies, which Teller was unfamiliar with, did not allow the patient in.
BHC decided to put together a press release to inform the community that the isolation shelter did not provide a space for the person, Teller said.
To the best of Teller’s knowledge, the person is in isolation, though they are free to leave the shelter at any time.
The BHC press release also encouraged people who have visited Seminary Park or been in contact with a person experiencing homelessness to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 safety guidelines, which include a 14 day isolation period after last contact with someone with COVID-19, monitoring for symptoms and social distancing.
“We're watching the case very closely,” Teller said. “We're not in charge of the isolation shelter, but we're trying to help as much as we can and let people know what's going on.”
