D.C. is housing residents experiencing homelessness in motels, such as the Hotel Arboretum, to keep from crowding shelters during the pandemic. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)

The Aug. 9 Metro article “D.C. hotel rooms may further limit virus’s spread” described the extraordinary job D.C. has done to protect people experiencing homelessness during the coronavirus pandemic. As the doctor in charge of medical care at these sites, I found the article’s reference to the high percentage of vacant hotel rooms misleading.

To be clear, D.C.’s Department of Human Services (DHS) has established hotel sites with two distinct purposes: (1) hotels for people with confirmed or suspected covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, or close contacts of someone with the coronavirus who have no place to safely isolate or quarantine; and (2) hotels that proactively protect people experiencing homelessness at highest risk for serious complications or death from covid-19.

The hotels in the latter group are at capacity with 300 individuals safely protected from the coronavirus. In contrast, the isolation and quarantine sites require built-in surge capacity. As the numbers of coronavirus cases among people experiencing homelessness soared to more than 300 in April, DHS negotiated additional hotel contracts to stay ahead of demand. A single case of coronavirus in a shelter could result in 50 admissions on a single day depending on the number of subsequent close contacts.

As transmission rates declined in shelters, the isolation sites have been downsized from four hotels to one. Empty rooms in the one remaining isolation hotel are a testament to the city’s success at containing the coronavirus, preventing homeless shelters from becoming covid-19 hot spots, which is a public health victory for the entire city.  

Catherine Crosland, Washington

The writer is director of Homeless Outreach Development for Unity Health Care.

Read more letters to the editor.

Coronavirus news in D.C., Virginia and Maryland

The latest: More than two years into the pandemic, covid cases in the D.C. region are rising again, , while liberal Montgomery County asks who deserves credit for its robust covid response. Meanwhile, Black funeral directors still face a daunting amount of deaths from covid and the omicron wave has had an unequal toll in the DMV.

At-home tests: Here’s how to use at-home covid tests, where to find them and how they differ from PCR tests.

Mapping the spread: Tens of thousands have died in the local region and nationwide cases number in the hundreds of thousands.

Omicron: Remaining covid restrictions in the D.C.-area, plus a breakdown of variant symptoms and mask recommendations.

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