Ricerc@Sapienza

Homeless persons and migrants in precarious housing conditions are vulnerable populations that have been peculiarly impacted by the Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic. These populations are more at risk of contracting COVID-19 as they often find it difficult to adhere to public health directives and, if exposed, may be more susceptible to illness or death due to the higher prevalence of underlying physical and mental comorbidities compared to the general population.

In this article, the authors have compared the characteristics of five different homeless shelters in Rhode Island, USA, and evaluated the prevalence of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection among their residents (n=299) using RT-PCR nasopharyngeal swabbing. The overall prevalence across all shelters was 11.7%; however, a large difference was found between shelters, as 3/5 had no cases while two had 21.6% and 35.3% of positive cases, respectively.

Objectives: Asymptomatic carriers account for over a third of all Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) cases and are characterized by the absence of symptoms but the same infectivity as symptomatic infections. The high percentage of asymptomatic COVID-19 patients is significant in settings with specific vulnerabilities, such as homeless shelters, where the consequences of an outbreak may be dramatic.