![Five residents and six staff members at the Downtown Cleveland Salvation Army Harbor Light Complex have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week. [Google Maps]](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/bca8cd7/2147483647/strip/true/crop/980x551+0+0/resize/840x472!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F4%2F20%2Fharborlight.jpg)
Eleven people have tested positive for the coronavirus at the Salvation Army’s Harbor Light facility in Cleveland. The virus was found in a mix of staff and residents.
Five staff members tested positive in the last week and are no longer coming in to work, said Thomas Applin, divisional secretary of Salvation Army of Greater Cleveland Area Services. Six Harbor Light residents also tested positive.
“We’re doing our best to contain the virus and let it not spread farther than it just will naturally,” Applin said.
The six residents who tested positive have been quarantined, Applin said.
“We have a certain section of the building that’s been cordoned off just for those individuals,” he said.
Staff drop off food outside the quarantined residents’ doors, Applin said, and the shelter will help get them access to medical assistance, if needed.
“We’ve been as careful and as cautious, we’ve been following all of the precautions,” Applin said. “We had a plan in place, so as soon as it was confirmed we had a case we put our plan in place.”
The facility is also ensuring common areas are clean for those who still need to access them, he said.
“We do that normally, but like everyone else we’re being extra-vigilant about cleaning,” Applin said. “And if there’s a particular area that a resident frequents, that tested positive, we’re trying to make sure that those areas are treated.”
Advocates for the homeless have called for more widespread testing and protections for people without permanent homes. Some organizations have made hotel rooms available for unsheltered or unhoused individuals who are most at risk for the virus, or to quarantine those who test positive. Many shelters, including Harbor Light, are screening people using their services for symptoms.
Anyone showing symptoms of the virus at the Harbor Light complex is encouraged to seek out testing, Applin said, and the shelter decides how to proceed from there. Staff are wearing protective gear when necessary and following state and federal guidelines to limit virus spread, he said.
