Three in quarantine at Poverello House after homeless man tests positive for coronavirus

Three men are quarantined at the Poverello House in downtown Fresno after one of them tested positive for the coronavirus.

The men are in isolation on site but away from the normal flow of people at the shelter, Poverello House Chief Executive Officer Zack Darrah said Thursday. Each is staying alone in a trailer provided by the Fresno County Department of Public Health for just this purpose, Darrah said.

Until now, the trailers had remained unused.

Darrah said the Poverello House put protocols in place at the beginning of the pandemic to deal with individuals who may have been exposed to the coronavirus, but this is the first case the shelter has seen.

The county’s first positive COVID-19 case among an individual experiencing homelessness was reported April 1. At the time, the public health department said a small number of unhoused individuals had tested negative. The department had deployed personal protective equipment and hand sanitizers to people experiencing homelessness, as well as to their outreach teams. It also set up isolation centers, which they continue to use, for those who have been tested and are awaiting results.

Darrah said that to his knowledge, the bulk of those tests continue to come back negative.

“I’ve been impressed by the ability of our community to make sure there is not an outbreak among our homeless population,” he said.

The Poverello House was alerted to the positive case by the public health department on Wednesday, Darrah said. The man happened to be onsite at the time and was immediately quarantined in the trailer. Two others were identified as being in close contact with the man and put in isolation for 14 days. Staff is providing food and services for the men, who have been “strongly and regularly encouraged” to not leave the trailers, Darrah said.

“And they are following those directives.”