The data comes from a report submitted by the City and County of Denver in response to a federal lawsuit it's facing over homeless encampment sweeps during the pandemic.
"People experiencing homelessness are two to four times more likely to have diabetes, cardiovascular disease and respiratory conditions. All of those can make it much more likely that COVID is going to impact them negatively," says Gregory Whitman, a public health physician who will be testifying in court on behalf of the plaintiffs suing Denver over homeless encampment sweeps.
But while those living outdoors may be in a vulnerable position, shelters aren't necessarily safer during a pandemic. "We’re continuing to see pretty consistently lower rates in the encampments," says Rowan. "When we tested in the summer at the city’s request, we found that one encampment near Stout Street Health Center had no cases of COVID out of fifty. When we tested in encampments in front of the Capitol and around Morey Middle School, they had significantly lower rates than the shelters did in June and July." The city dispersed those two large encampments in the Capitol Hill neighborhood over the summer.