Clinic- and Community-Based SARS-CoV-2 Testing Among People Experiencing Homelessness in the United States, March–November 2020

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Public Health Rep
• Personal Author:
  Berner, Lauryn ; Meehan, Ashley ; Kenkel, Joseph ; Montgomery, Martha ; Fields, Victoria ; Henry, Ankita ; Boyer, Alaina ; Mosites, Emily ; Vickery, Katherine Diaz
• Description:
  Objective:
  
  SARS-CoV-2 testing is a critical component of preventing the spread of COVID-19. In the United States, people experiencing homelessness (PEH) have accessed testing at health clinics, such as those provided through Health Care for the Homeless (HCH) clinics or through community-based testing events at homeless service sites or encampments. We describe data on SARS-CoV-2 testing among PEH in US clinic- and community-based settings from March through November 2020.
  
  Methods:
  
  We conducted a descriptive analysis of data from HCH clinics and community testing events. We used a standardized survey to request data from HCH clinics. We developed and made publicly available an online data entry portal to collect data from community-based organizations that provided testing for PEH. We assessed positivity rates across clinics and community service sites serving PEH and used generalized linear mixed models to account for clustering.
  
  Results:
  
  Thirty-seven HCH clinics reported providing 280 410 tests; 3.2% (n = 8880) had positive results (range, 1.6%-4.9%). By race, positivity rates were highest among people who identified as >1 race (11.6%; P < .001). During the reporting period, 22 states reported 287 community testing events and 14 116 tests; 7.1% (n = 1004) had positive results. Among facility types, day shelters (380 of 2697; 14.1%) and inpatient drug/alcohol rehabilitation facilities (32 of 251; 12.7%) reported the highest positivity rates.
  
  Conclusions:
  
  While HCH clinic data provided results for a larger number of patients, community-based testing data showed higher positivity rates. Clinic data demonstrated racial disparities in positivity. Community-based testing data provided information about SARS-CoV-2 transmission settings. Although these data provide information about testing, standard surveillance systems are needed to better understand the incidence of disease among PEH.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Coronavirus Infections/diagnosis COVID-19 Testing COVID-19/diagnosis Ill-Housed Persons Pandemics Pneumonia, Viral/diagnosis Prevalence
• Source:
  Public Health Rep. 2022;
• Pubmed ID:
  35403502
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC9066227
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:167e33b1978704b489b360912246b31cf7fe64ca493d44aea24ddcf32714b074
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/117815/cdc_117815_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 816.53 KB ]