'Most Vulnerable in Washington, D.C., Are Staying as Strong as They Can During Pandemic (Photo Essay)
Text And Photography By Joseph Young
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Washington, D.C., is like a ghost town. With some exceptions.
Muriel E. Bowser, the D.C. Mayor, issued a stay-at-home order in an effort to curtail the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The order requires all individuals in Washington, D.C. to stay in their homes except to perform essential activities, such as obtaining medical care, food and essential household goods. Those who violate the order may be charged with a misdemeanor and subject to a fine not exceeding $5,000 and imprisonment for not more than 90 days. The order went into effect on April 1.
The coronavirus crisis pose a new threat to those who are already most vulnerable in our society, such as the homeless and low-wage workers in the retail and service industry.
The unsheltered homeless are exempt from the mayor's stay-at-home order for the obvious reasons. Government officials have provided the unsheltered homeless with hand sanitizers, portable restrooms and hand-washing stations. That's a good start, but the response is inadequate. The D.C. government must do more now to halt the spread of the COVID-19 cases among the homeless. It would be in the best interest of the larger population. If the government does nothing rest a sure homeless infection cases will increase and enter into the general population with devastating consequences. These times are unprecedented. They require unprecedented action if we are to get through it with our pride and human dignity in tact.
The D.C. homeless shelter system is experiencing an increase in the number of COVID-19 infections. As of Wednesday, April 8, the total number of COVID-19 cases at the shelter system had risen to 22. The mayor's office said they were using three hotels as remote quarantine sites for nearly 150 people who lived at shelters. According to homeless advocate Eric Sheptock, a total of 6 people at the Community for Creative Nonviolence homeless shelter (CCNV) have tested positive for the virus. To combat the spread of the virus, CCNV, the roughly 1,000 bed homeless shelter, on 2nd and D streets NW, has been cleaned and power-hosed. The DC Department of Health is also conducting coronavirus testing of homeless people at CCNV, the largest shelter in the city.
The COVID-19 pandemic has placed an additional strain on an already broken homeless shelter system. Social distancing protocols are virtually impossible to implement at the shelters as they are presently set up. Beds are crammed together in an effort to serve as many homeless people as possible. This may have been okay in the past, but now, in the wake of this highly contagious virus, it is a recipe for disaster. The aging will be the first that are severely impacted, especially those with pre-existing conditions. Most chose to ignore the plight of the homeless, but D.C. officials have a duty to treat the homeless with dignity and respect and prevent others from losing their homes during the coronavirus pandemic.
In an odd twist of fate COVID-19 can be the catalyst to accomplish what D.C. has been unable to achieve for decades and that is - "move homeless people off the streets" and out of shelters and into affordable housing - affordable to the poorest of the poor.
A partnership between the D.C. Government and private industry can pull this off.
Now is the time.
The gentrified H Street Northeast corridor in Washington, D.C. is often bustling with hipsters. Most D.C. residents are adhering to the mayor's stay-at-home order. ©Joseph Young April 2020
Metro's X2 bus is often packed full. Since the first case of the coronavirus was confirmed in Washington D.C. in early March, fewer people are riding public transportation, with the exception of frontline workers in the retail and service industry. ©Joseph Young April 2020
The popular Hillman & Son is one of the few Black owned and operated barbershops that survived the gentrification of H Street NE corridor. The barbershop is temporarily closed because it isn't classified as an essential business operation during the COVID-19 pandemic. ©Joseph Young April 2020
The Wunder Garten is an outdoor beer garden in the NoMa neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It opened its doors in 2015 as a pop-up and quickly became a staple of the community. It is temporarily closed. ©Joseph Young April 2020
Michelle Hydier is one of the more than 6,500 homeless people in Washington, D.C. Individuals experiencing homelessness are exempt from the stay-at-home order. Like so many other homeless people, Hydier is pictured here without a mask or gloves to prevent the spread of the virus. She sits and waits while her cell phone is charged at this light pole in the NoMa community of Washington, D.C. ©Joseph Young April 2020
Liquor stores remain open in Washington, D.C., during the coronavirus pandemic. They are deemed essential business operations by D.C. officials. ©Joseph Young April 2020
Face masks, once thought of as an unnecessarily precaution for healthy people, are now being recommend by officials at the Center for Disease Control (C.D.C.) as a method to prevent the spread of COVID-19. ©Joseph Young April 2020
D.C. public health officials are strongly urging people to cover coughs or sneezes, preferably with a tissue and immediately dispose of it; or into the sleeve or elbow, not hands; regularly cleaning high-touch surfaces; and not shaking hands.
2020 ©Joseph Young
In D.C. many of the supermarkets have created social distancing markers on the floor, requiring customers to stay 6 feet apart. The pic was taken at Walmart on H Street, NW. ©Joseph Young April 2020
African Americans and Latinos are dying in disproportionate high numbers from COVID-19 as compared to the rest of the U.S. population. ©Joseph Young April 2020
The D.C. mayor's office is engaged in a media blitz outreach to residence on ways to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. ©Joseph Young April 2020
The mayor's office has issued an order stipulating that all D.C. residence wear a mask when shopping at grocery stores like this Giant pictured here. Many of the frontline workers in the retail and service industry, however, don't wear personal protective gear like mask and gloves. ©Joseph Young April 2020
As of Wednesday, April 8, District officials reported 22 residents of homeless shelters had tested positive for the coronavirus. The mayor's office said they were using three hotels as remote quarantine sites for nearly 150 people who lived at shelters.
According to homeless advocate Eric Sheptock, 6 people at the Community for Creative Nonviolence homeless shelter (CCNV) have tested positive for the virus. CCNV, the roughly 1,000 bed homeless shelter, on 2nd and D street NW, is sanitized and power-hosed by the cleaning crew shown above, to combat the spread of the virus. The United Health Care Center is also conducting coronavirus testing of homeless people at CCNV. ©Joseph Young April 2020
Public health practices show that the most effective approach to slowing the community transmission of communicable diseases like COVID-19 is through social distancing. ©Joseph Young April 2020
Customers at Chic-fil-a in NE seen here crammed together and are not practicing social distancing. The security officers is on site, but he doesn't enforce the social distancing guideline. Food service workers are not equipped with personal protective gear. Food service workers, who show symptoms of the coronavirus, can go for testing at the United Medical Center hospital. ©Joseph Young April 2020
The mayor's office is promoting the use of delivery services, such as food service providers. ©Joseph Young April 2020
Restaurants are limited to pick-up and delivery. The Pursuit restaurant's walk-up window. ©Joseph Young April 2020
Coronavirus fear isn't sidelining construction. Construction workers are classified as part of the essential workforce. The Latino construction workers seen here aren't wearing personal protective gear and practicing social distancing. Latinos and African Americans are dying in disproportionate numbers from COVID-19 as compared to the rest of the U.S. population. ©Joseph Young April 2020
Stay Strong DC. ©Joseph Young April 2020
Joseph Young is a photographer living in Washington, DC. His photography has appeared in the Washington Post Magazine, Washington Times, Washington Afro Newspaper and Washington Informer. His photographs are in the collection of the Smithsonian Anacostia Museum. He earned a bachelor degree in art from the University of the District of Columbia, with a focus on photography, as well as a bachelor degree in English. He is also the grant recipient from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities for his photography series about the homeless in the nation’s capital.
