Helping people to pay their rent can help fight the pandemic
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Erica Cuellar's father wasn't concerned, even though she was.
Cuellar and her husband were still in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic march 2020. They were anxious about their ability to afford $1,200 rent for their Houston house. Her job as a home-health aide for a boy diagnosed with autism had ended. The news suggested that most businesses would soon close. This would mean that her husband would either be working fewer hours or being laid off.
She says, "If there were going to be shut downs, those shut downs would not be paid." You can't do it at home, but working with pipes is something you should.
Her father, however, is a local resident and owns his house. He invited the couple and their child to live with him, even though he was only in his mid-60s and could be more vulnerable to COVID-19 from having a large house.
The story of families who moved in together after their rent was too expensive illustrates one way housing insecurity can be linked to the spread of viral transmission during the pandemic.
Kathryn Leifheit is a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and an epidemiologist. They may move into a motel to be closer to their loved ones. The loss of a home increases your contacts and efficiency in spreading COVID throughout a community.
Bring the virus home
"My dad used to say, "Don't worry about that." Cuellar assures that everything will be alright. My dad doesn't like the idea of going to the hospital. He believes that he can heal himself. He said, "Don't worry. You'll be fine. "
The young family ended their lease early and moved in to Cuellar's home. Cuellar's husband worked fewer hours but was still required to go into the pipe yard. There was a chance he would bring the virus home. Cuellar claims that his job didn't take the pandemic seriously.
In July 2020, her husband became ill.
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She recalls, "He came home on July 4th and he didn't feel well." "He got COVID, I got COVID, my 2-year-old got COVID, my dad got COVID."
While she and her toddler did not experience any symptoms, her husband and father became very sick.
"My husband was unable to breathe and went first to the hospital." Three days later, my father was experiencing difficulty breathing so I took him to the hospital." she says. "All the doctors were asking my permission to ventilate them. Although neither of them needed to, it was the most stressful period of my life.
Both men are still suffering from health problems more than a year later. Cuellar reports that her dad was hospitalized with pneumonia and congestive cardiac failure as a result of COVID-19. Her husband also has difficulty breathing and has needed to use an inhaler for asthma.
Rent is cheaper than eating first
Many people find renting unaffordable right now. According to NPR's latest poll with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, one in four renters had difficulty paying rent over the past few months. Chan School of Public Health.
Leifheit states that "rent eats first". To avoid eviction, people do all sorts of work. This could increase the risk of COVID.
To reduce financial stress, policymakers made it illegal for landlords to evict tenants if they are unable to pay rent. These public health concerns were the reason why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a nationwide moratorium on evictions, which was in effect until Sept. 4, 2020. This moratorium was in place until August 26, 2021. Some of these eviction rules are still in effect.
These laws are far from perfect. There were loopholes and workarounds. Some tenants have had to move out of their homes.
Research shows that an eviction moratorium can slow down viral spread
Leifheit's research has shown that these policies can help. Nearly all states stopped evictions in March 2020. Some states maintained those eviction rules over the following months while others allowed evictions to resume. Leifheit and her colleagues analyzed the six-month period from March 13th to Sept. 3rd 2020. They compared deaths and coronavirus infections in states that allowed evictions to states that didn't.
She says, "We found that states who ended their moratoriums had over 430,000 more cases and more than 10,000 more deaths than if they kept their moratoriums." These results were true regardless of whether the scientists considered the effects of shelter-in-place and mask mandates, which are known to reduce viral spread.
Leifheit points out that the effects of illnesses and deaths can be felt across entire communities.
She adds that outlawing evictions does not solve the problem. Renters can be helped by utility and rental assistance programs. This will allow them to pay their rent, settle their debts, and continue to live in their homes. These policies are mainly for people who want to remain put.
Additional challenges for those who do not own a home
Finding and moving into stable housing for someone who isn't already in their own home can prove difficult.
John Stangel was a Philadelphian who was staying in a hostel when the pandemic struck. He is now 55 and a plumber by trade. He moved to Maryland after construction jobs were lost in 2020.
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He says that he thought there was a "broad risk" of contracting COVID-19. He said that he was always at risk, no matter if he was in a shelter, at work, or at home with friends. He didn't have any protection against the outside world that would keep the coronavirus away.
Stangel has been vaccinated and, to his surprise, he claims that he never received COVID-19. Stangel is now in Rockville, Md., a temporary shelter that was set up quickly in an abandoned office building. Despite the fact that people in the county were not evicted due to the pandemics, there was still a greater need for emergency shelter. The Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless increased its bed count from 60 to 200, and some clients were moved into the Stangel's home.
Stangel is happy with the shelter. The shelter has food, laundry machines, and a closet with donated clothes that can be used by anyone who is in need. It also offers access to counselors, dentists, and doctors. To keep the air flowing, shelter staff installed temporary clear plastic ducts to the ceiling.
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Stangel, despite being vaccinated and familiar with the shelter's policies for preventing viral transmission, says that he knows it is risky to share a living space with other people in the event of a pandemic. But he wants his own place.
He says that it usually costs $1,200 to $1.800 to get into a room in Rockville. He just got a job that pays 40 hours per week and has started saving money to rent a room.
He says, "What I am trying to do is save enough money so that I can get the first months rent and deposit and maybe have a few months to fall back on."
