Charlotte Rescue Mission halts admissions to slow COVID outbreak
Charlotte Rescue Mission is suspending admissions at its men’s facility in an attempt to curb a COVID-19 outbreak, officials said Monday.
The facility, at 907 W. First Street, offers a 120-day residential drug and alcohol recovery program, predominately for people who are homeless.
Mecklenburg County health data published Friday, the latest report available, shows 21 cases — 20 residents and one staff member— connected to the rescue mission.
Residents who tested positive will quarantine 14 days in the hotel Mecklenburg County is leasing for isolation, according to rescue mission officials. No one has been hospitalized in connection to the outbreak.
”While we are saddened to close admissions for the time being, we believe it is necessary to keep current and future residents safe and healthy,” said Trina Fullard, chief programs officer, in a statement Monday. Programs will resume once the facility is cleared by county health officials, Fullard said.
Charlotte area shelters for months have worked to keep COVID-19 outbreaks out of their facilities, including spreading out sleeping areas within congregate living facilities, moving some people into hotels and increasing screening procedures.
Leaders at the Salvation Army Center of Hope, which primarily serves homeless women and children, experienced an outbreak that sickened 45 people. After moving its residents into hotels to provide social distancing, the shelter was taken off the county’s active outbreak list in mid-December.
%20Cropped.jpg)