'Urgent need' prompting creation of COVID isolation centre for Fredericton's homeless

Plans are in the works for the opening of a COVID-19 isolation centre for homeless people on Fredericton's north side.

Prompted by "urgent needs in the Fredericton region," the Department of Social Development is setting up an isolation site for COVID-positive people in the region who are homeless, department spokesperson Rebecca Howland said in an email.

Howland said it's too early to know when it will be operational but added the department is working to open it as soon as possible.

"Once opened, the site will be able to accommodate approximately 20 individuals and will be staffed accordingly —  depending on the number of individuals requiring assistance with isolating at any given time," she said.

"This isolation centre is needed to ensure that individuals experiencing homelessness, or who are housing insecure, are able to isolate safely and successfully."

Howland said there are other similar sites in Moncton and Saint John.

She said their goals are to reduce transmission in the community, provide on-site care, offer social services, care and supports, and reduce the impact to the acute care system and prevent hospitalizations.

Howland said there will be 24-hour security at the site.

She didn't say where the site will be located, but Fredericton Coun. Jocelyn Pike, announced in a Facebook post last Friday, that the province planned to use the Kinsmen Centre on School Street as a COVID isolation site for homeless people.

CBC News contacted Pike, whose ward covers the Kinsmen Centre, but she declined an interview.

Pike, on Facebook, said the Department of Social Development and Public Health notified the city of its plan to set up the isolation centre.

"We appreciate the Government of [New Brunswick] keeping the City informed of their plans for site security as this facility is in a residential area across from a school," Pike said.

City of Fredericton spokesperson Wayne Knorr said in an email that details are still being sorted out.

Joan Kingston, chair of the Community Action Group on Homelessness, said she's been involved in discussions about the isolation centre in the city.

She said she understands the one being opened by the province will offer surge capacity in the event that other options for allowing homeless people to isolate become limited.

"So it would be a time when all other resources to help people self-isolate were being used, and therefore they needed to be able to offer people a way to self-isolate and be supported in that self-isolation," she said.

Typically, if a homeless person tests positive, arrangements are made to have them stay at a motel to isolate, said Kingston, adding the costs are covered by the Department of Social Development.

Kingston said she hasn't heard of any instances of someone refusing to isolate after testing positive.

Asked about the risks homeless people face from COVID-19, Kingston said they aren't any higher than other people, with those in Fredericton vaccinated at about the same rate as the general population.

However, homeless people are still catching COVID-19, and finding themselves with nowhere to isolate so that others don't catch it, she said.

"So the difference between the general population and the homeless population is if they do contract COVID, which they can, immunized or not, that they have a problem with being able to self-isolate like the general population is able to in their own home.

"People need their own place and this particular situation really brings that into sharp focus."

Last November, an outbreak of COVID-19 at the Oak Centre, at the former City Motel building, resulted in eight cases among residents.

And last month, outreach workers expressed concerns over growing COVID-19 cases among people living in tent camps, which have since been taken down.

Cases among homeless expected to increase

Warren Maddox, executive director of the Fredericton Homeless Shelters Inc., said he didn't know much about the province's plans, but added that an isolate centre likely is needed.

He said an agreement with a motel owner has meant homeless people have a place to isolate when they get COVID-19.

But as the highly transmissible Omicron variant continues to result in high case numbers, he can foresee the need for isolation space exceeding the motel's capacity.

"Once it hits a certain point in terms of numbers, it's just not, it's not practical to try to keep them isolated in a motel anymore — that, that we really have to sort of step up and create another space that can be supervised and staffed appropriately for the numbers that we may be getting," Maddox said.

"I don't think we're there yet, number-wise, but we're anticipating that we may end up being there, so it's a … little bit of preventative planning as opposed to being knee-jerk reactions."