KILLEEN, Texas — More than half a million people across the United States are experiencing homelessness, and many of those people are older and suffering with weakened immune systems.
"The homeless population falls under the category of high-risk groups during a pandemic like this one," Family practice doctor Dr. Christine Mann said.
And many of them are uninformed of how at risk they are and the severity of the coronavirus.
"Many people at the shelter didn't know what was going on and what they should be doing," Mann said. "They just noticed that things were shut down and not running how they normally would."
This weekend Dr. Mann visited the Friends in Crisis shelter in Killeen to inform the people there about the pandemic and answer questions they had.
She spoke to several dozen people about signs and symptoms of the coronavirus as well as the importance of "flattening the curve." One of her main points was self isolation - which is especially hard in a group living situation.
"They don't have access to places to self-isolate properly like most of us do," Mann said. "But they can keep their distance from others and cough into their elbow as well as not touching their faces."
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