A person staying at its downtown homeless shelter tested positive for COVID-19, Austin Salvation Army said Friday.
The person was sharing a living space with 19 other people, but has been transferred from the shelter to a local hotel.
Corey Leith, director of communications for Salvation Army Austin, said the person showed symptoms and said they had a history of respiratory illness. The individual was isolated Wednesday before getting tested for the coronavirus. The result came back positive Friday afternoon.
RELATED | Homeless Austinites – And The People Who Help Them – Are Having To Do Less With Less Amid COVID-19
The 19 other clients who were in contact with the person are being isolated in one of the shelter's dormitories, which holds up to 30 people. Leith says Salvation Army Austin is working with the city to find hotel rooms for them.
Salvation Army says it has been emphasizing social distancing since March 4. It has spread out beds, increased the number of hand-washing stations and started offering teleconferencing instead of in-person case-management services.
Leith says the Salvation Army's other two shelters, including the newly opened Rathgeber Center, are taking similar precautions and have not had clients exhibit symptoms of COVID-19.
Got a tip? Email Andrew Weber at aweber@kut.org. Follow him on Twitter @England_Weber.
If you found the reporting above valuable, please consider making a donation to support it. Your gift pays for everything you find on KUT.org. Thanks for donating today.
