Space constraints lurk as 32 infected at homeless shelter

While the shelters are packed to capacity during the winter, there is no room as such for social distancing.
People queue outside the shelter complex at Bangla Sahib | express
People queue outside the shelter complex at Bangla Sahib | express

NEW DELHI: At least 32 people from a cluster of night shelters near the Bangla Sahib Gurudwara have tested positive for Covid-19 last week and have been shifted to the Sardar Patel Covid Care Centre, located at south Delhi’s Chhatarpur, government officials said.

According to officials in the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), which is tasked with setting up facilities for the homeless in the city, on January 13, 32 people from the complex were found positive of Covid while most had mild symptoms.

“We had got the Covid tests done of 155 people, of which 32 were found positive, including six children between the age group of 13-15,” said an official. The Bangla Sahib night shelter complex has six permanent porta cabins and six tents that have been set up during the winter for the homeless, having a total capacity of 370.

While the shelters are packed to capacity during the winter, there is no room as such for social distancing. Also, unlike the first wave of the pandemic in 2020, when those living in rain baseras (night shelters) were shifted to school buildings for maintaining distancing, it has not been done this time. This is due to the Omicron variant, being highly transmissible.

Bajrang Manik, 71, who is one of the three people who have come back to the shelter from the quarantine facility after recovering from the infection, said that he has been at the shelter for the past three months after squatters were removed from Connaught Place. “I had no earning once I was removed from CP, so I had to be here. The shelter gets overcrowded during the winter. The isolation centre had all the facilities which one doesn’t get at the shelter,” he said.

While the DM office had organised a camp for vaccination of the homeless at all DUSIB shelters last year, those out on the streets are still being identified to be included in the safety net. “Approximately 1,050 homeless people, included some of those without identity cards or any kind of proof, have been vaccinated so far.

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