At least one single-room-occupancy(SRO) tenant in San Francisco died from the COVID-19, revealed by one of the major SRO building operators in the city.
Chinatown Community Development Center(CCDC), the powerful housing and community advocacy organization, consolidated its own sources of data as an SRO operator and shed some light on the SRO tenants’ infection during the pandemic.
In the slides presented to the Board of Supervisors, CCDC showed that around mid-April, one SRO tenant death case occurred because of the virus.
“I should indicate that information”, Gen Fujioka, the Senior Analyst of CCDC, said in the meeting, “is not provided by DPH(Department of Public Health) but provided by a family member.”
Fujioka told the World Journal that the deceased patient was hospitalized and died. A family member notified the SRO building manager in Tenderloin, and then CCDC learned about the case. The person’s age, gender, ethnicity, and overall health conditions are not disclosed.
Currently, in San Francisco, 36 residents died of COVID-19, and half of them were people with Asian descent.
According to CCDC and Supervisor Aaron Peskin’s office’s data, over 170 SRO residents had been tested positive for COVID-19 now, involving over 50 SRO buildings citywide. SRO is considered a high-risk setting because the tenants share bathrooms and kitchens in tiny spaces.
“There is clear evidence of community contagion within buildings and the need for stronger preventative action”, Fijioka presented the findings to the supervisors.
On Tuesday, May 19, the supervisors unanimously passed the legislation of “Protections for Occupants of Residential Hotels During COVID-19 Pandemic”.
The bill requires DPH to provide clear health guidelines for SRO housing tenants. If someone within the building is infected, the city needs to provide the corresponding hotel room isolation for the patient, and the entire building residents need to be tested and can obtain some protection.
The legislation does not explicitly require the city government to conduct mass testing for SRO residents. However, many community groups in Chinatown, including Chinese Hospital, NICOS Chinese Health Coalition, and some SRO building owners, are already preparing to launch the plan soon.
Fujioka told that World Journal that there will be a meeting to discuss the details on Friday to decide whether they will join the mass testing pilot program. CCDC is a major Chinatown SRO building operator, and their residents’ participation will determine the scale of the Chinatown mass testing.
Peskin also proposed another piece of legislation to prevent the eviction of SRO residents, ensuring the “right to return” to their original residences after isolation and quarantine. The legislation was also passed unanimously.
In addition, Fujioka emphasized that testing is only one part of the solution, and all follow-up protections and services are critically important. Especially after the lockdown lifted, the residents of the SRO buildings may go out more frequently, and the risks for them are still high.
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The Chinese version of the story appeared on the World Journal on May 20, 2020.
