Assessment of a Hotel-Based COVID-19 Isolation and Quarantine Strategy for Persons Experiencing Homelessness

March 2, 2021

Jonathan D. Fuchs, MD, MPH Henry Clay Carter, BA; Jennifer Evans, MPH; Dave Graham-Squire, PhD; Elizabeth Imbert, MD, MPH; Jessica Bloome, MD, MPH; Charles Fann, BA; Tobi Skotnes, MPH; Jonathan Sears, MPH; Rebecca Pfeifer-Rosenblum, RN; Alice Moughamian, MSN, RN, CNS; Joanna Eveland, MD; Amber Reed, BA; Deborah Borne, MD, LCSW; Michele Lee, BA; Molly Rosenthal, MD; Vivek Jain, MD, MAS; Naveena Bobba, MD; Margot Kushel, MD; Hemal K. Kanzaria, MD, MSc

Jama Network Open

Fuchs et al sought to assess the safety of using hotels for COVID-19 isolation and quarantine for people experiencing homelessness with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 and how this system relates to inpatient hospital capacity. This retrospective cohort study assessed 1,009 persons who were transferred to isolation/quarantine hotels from hospitals, outpatient settings, and public health surveillance programs in San Francisco, California in the spring of 2020. Of the guests who were positive for COVID-19, only 4% needed to be readmitted to a hospital. The authors found the isolation/quarantine hotel system to be associated with preserving hospital inpatient capacity; they also found that this system was implemented rapidly and safely to deliver medical and behavioral care. The authors found that premature discontinuation of isolation/quarantine occurred in 19% of patients and was more likely to occur among the unsheltered homeless and more likely to occur among persons in isolation due to an exposure vs. an active infection.

Fuchs JD, Carter HC, Evans J, et al. Assessment of a Hotel-Based COVID-19 Isolation and Quarantine Strategy for Persons Experiencing Homelessness. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(3):e210490. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.0490

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