50 COVID-19 outbreaks in Toronto's homeless shelter system, data says

As temperatures dip, Toronto's homeless people find themselves facing an awful choice: stay outside and freeze, or go inside and risk catching COVID-19, advocates say.

Outside, wind chill values dropped to near -30 C, as the City of Toronto issued an Extreme Cold Weather Alert.

But inside, city figures show another danger: the Omicron variant speeding through shelters. There are 50 outbreaks across the shelter system — more than half of all shelters — and there were 401 COVID-19 cases in those outbreaks, and one death, as of Friday.

That’s up from 48 outbreaks a few days ago, as the pandemic piles on to many other challenges homeless people face. The situation was predictable, said one advocate, who said the city’s shelter system should have been more prepared.

“We knew that COVID-19 was going to be coming. We knew that winter was coming. It’s not like any of this should have been a surprise,” said Lorraine Lam, an outreach worker with Sanctuary Toronto.

The City of Toronto said in a statement that it had opened up 26 temporary sites, four warming centres and two respite centres. It said it’s using more than 440 HEPA filters and says it’s on track to provide more than 310,000 N95 masks to people using the system — enough for two weeks.

The shelter system is not the only public service under strain from a surge of COVID-19 — ambulances, public transit, and the hospitals themselves have all been affected.

On Saturday, Engage and Change’s Project Winter Survival shipped out some 3000 survival kits for distribution to those in need. 

The kits contain 27 items including hand warmers, sleeping bags, and other items designed to help people navigate extreme cold.

“The harsh elements make it much more challenging for the people out there who don’t have homes and are suffering,” said Staff Sgt. John Stockfish, a Toronto Police officer volunteering his time helping move the 3000 bags into cars, destined to arrive at more than 200 agencies.

Project Winter Survival has been going on for more than two decades — something that its organizers actually wish didn’t happen at all.

“Every year I say this. We don’t want to do this. The solution is long-term housing and supportive services. But we will be here as long as there’s a problem,” said organizer Jody Steinhauer.

Steinhauer estimated there are more than 10,000 homeless people in Toronto. The last homeless count, finished before the pandemic began, counted some 7300 people living inside support services and outside — but there were about 7400 people sleeping in the system as of earlier this week.

The surge is likely due to many people who live outside choosing to avoid the cold — but Tracy Murdoch of Woodgreen Community Services said she is seeing an across the board increase as well.

“I have not seen the homelessness at this rate since the 1980s. People are overdosing. People are dying,” she said.

Scott Mills, a retired Toronto Police officer turned advocate with Invisible People, said he wants people to change the way they understand homelessness, and to find compassion this winter.

“What can we do? Do something little. If you see someone homeless on the street, say hi. Give them some hope,” he said.