"Home Treatment" for the Homeless on the Street: No Treatment and No Travel Restrictions

[경향신문]

One homeless man looks at something, sitting in a corner of Seoul Station Square on December 8. Bak Min-gyu, Senior Reporter

A homeless man who tested positive for COVID-19 was neglected for nearly ten days without receiving any treatment and without being subject to any travel restrictions. The man frequently used the public bathroom at a subway station. After the number of COVID-19 patients surged, forcing authorities to struggle with securing hospital beds, the government decided to have patients with light symptoms receive treatment in their homes. However, the homeless living in the streets were exposed in the blind spot of such at-home treatment.

When we met Gim Jang-su (alias) near Seoul Station on December 7, he had been receiving “home treatment” in the streets for the nineth day since he was confirmed COVID-19-positive. During that time, Gim never received treatment necessary for COVID-19 patients and was never subject to any travel restrictions to contain the spread of the virus.

Gim had regularly had PCR tests done once a week to receive the certificate of the negative test result, which he had to present when using facilities for the homeless, such as soup kitchens. Recently, he heard that a large number of cases were confirmed near Seoul Station, and he voluntarily got tested once every 2-3 days. On November 30, he tested positive.

Gim could not go to the hospital even after testing positive for the novel coronavirus. In an interview with Homeless Action on December 3, Gim said, “After I received my positive test result, I was informed that I could not enter hospitals because they were full and told to try and remain in one place if I could.” Afterwards, the Seoul Station Hope Support Center, a center for the homeless run by the city of Seoul, guided Gim to a container office used as a temporary waiting area, but this time, Gim refused claiming that he wanted to be treated in a hospital.

The home treatment guidelines state “patients living in a residential environment vulnerable to transmission” as exceptions to home treatment. When these people test positive, they are to be transported to temporary living treatment centers or hospitals. But on the field, such measures were not properly implemented. On December 8, an official from the Central Disaster Management Headquarters said, “Homeless people who contract COVID-19 have unstable residences, so it is important that they are assigned to a stable location. But they have been pushed back in the waiting list for hospital beds due to the recent surge in COVID-19 cases.” He further explained, “We have agreed with the city to first transport homeless people with mental disorders to hospital beds in psychiatric wards and those with no underlying diseases to living treatment centers.”

There was no one checking on the condition of Gim, who tested positive. Medical staff are supposed to check the health condition of patients receiving home treatment twice a day, but Gim, who has no communication device such as a cell phone, has no way to tell someone even if his symptoms suddenly deteriorate. Perhaps because he was fully vaccinated, fortunately, his symptoms were not severe.

Homeless people (right) watch as citizens line up to get tested at a temporary screening clinic at Seoul Station Square on December 8. Bak Min-gyu, Senior Reporter

Other problems were meals and bathrooms. Since Gim could not use the soup kitchens that required a negative test result certificate, Gim ate his meals far away after receiving them from religious organizations. Since he had to use the bathroom, he used the one at Seoul Station. Whenever he used the bathroom, he warned others “Don’t come near me” for fear he could harm them. This raised concerns about a further spread of the virus.

Gim is not the only homeless person neglected after testing positive for the virus. On December 6, another homeless man, Gim (75) went to get a meal at a soup kitchen near Seoul Station, but had to return without the meal. Gim’s name was on the list of homeless people who tested positive, a list that the soup kitchen staff receive every day. The soup kitchen staff only checked the status, no one stopped Gim.

At the container office, which the Seoul Station Hope Support Center used as a temporary waiting area, travel restrictions for COVID-19 patients were not properly kept. Two homeless men waiting there after testing positive for the virus told the reporter on December 7 that there was another person who tested positive. They said, “He was here, but must have gone out for a while.” When asked if they could freely go out despite contracting COVID-19, they said, “It’s just for a little while.”

An official from the Seoul metropolitan government said, “Since home treatment is difficult for the homeless, we are to transport them to hospitals or living treatment centers according to the guidelines by the Central Disease Control Headquarters. The container is not a space for home treatment, but a temporary area where they wait to be transported to hospitals or living treatment centers.” He added, “We don’t have the authority to use legal force and prohibit the travel of homeless patients, and if we end up arguing with them and extend the time in physical contact with them, there is a risk of contagion, so there are limits in control.”

Homeless Action argued, “The government guidelines for home treatment was a measure that never made sense for the homeless with poor housing,” and said, “Securing hospital beds and creating more living treatment centers may be hard to solve immediately, but in the case of homeless patients, the government should quickly establish a temporary living facility and transport them there.”