Ryan Jiha

March 28th, 2020 in Miami, Florida.

“Homelessness and Rough Sleeping during The Corona Pandemic”

Photographs by artist Ryan Jiha

@r_jiha A note from the artist: “How do you shelter in place when you have no home?⁣ ⁣

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As more and more Americans practice self-distancing in the comfort of their own home to “flatten” the #covid_19 curve, the #homeless continue to sleep in abandoned buildings, shelters, or on the streets nearby. Addressing the issue of homelessness in America is no longer just a moral imperative to help the most vulnerable, but a matter of public health for the rest of us. What’s more, the economic crisis this pandemic is causing in big cities across the US is already pushing more people into homelessness. ⁣Before COVID-19, most common ailments for this population included colds, wounds, chronic illnesses, and frostbite. Today, homeless people are 10 times more susceptible to the novel coronavirus because they sleep in crowded public places, eat in communal settings, and are unable to wash themselves frequently. As more and more people living in the streets and in shelters contract the coronavirus and get sick, they will rush to emergency rooms; this in turn, will overburden local hospitals and increase the infection risk for the general population. It is now more important to protect the homeless and most vulnerable for society’s sake because in an era of pandemic, housing happens to be prevention and treatment.

@r_jiha