Nearly 3 Dozen at Anaheim Homeless Shelter Test Negative for Coronavirus

ANAHEIM (CNS) - Test results for 34 residents at one of Anaheim's two homeless shelters have come back negative for coronavirus, a city official announced today.

The tests on the residents at the Salvation Army-run Anaheim Emergency Shelter were ordered Monday night after two staff members were diagnosed with the infection caused by the coronavirus and those residents were potentially exposed to the staff members, according to Mike Lyster, Anaheim's chief communications officer.

The two staff members were self-isolating at home and were only identified as a man and a woman. It was unknown how they contracted the coronavirus, Lyster said.

None of the other residents or staff members at the shelter are showing any signs or symptoms of coronavirus, Lyster said.

The shelter's remaining 172 residents were offered testing and opted out because of minimal exposure risk or they showed no signs or symptoms. All residents and staff will continue to be monitored, Lyster said.

The open-air campus facility is located in an industrial area on Lewis Street, south of Ball Road, and city officials said nearby businesses are not in danger.

If a quarantine becomes necessary, a plan is in place that includes isolating residents onsite in state-provided trailers or at a hotel, Lyster said.

The Anaheim Emergency Shelter undergoes daily, hospital-grade cleaning and disinfection. Temperature checks are being done on anyone entering the facility.

Non-essential trips to and from the shelter stopped on March 16 and staff was provided with personal protective equipment should they encounter suspected cases of coronavirus, according to Lyster.

As a precaution, the shelter will stop taking in new residents for the next few days.

The two employees account for the only known coronavirus cases at Anaheim's two homeless shelters.

The city's second shelter, La Mesa Emergency Shelter, houses up to 102 people in an industrial area along the Riverside (91) Freeway near Kraemer Boulevard.


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