Former St. Thomas, Ont. school being used as COVID-19 isolation location for homeless population

St. Thomas school now isolation site for homeless The former Wellington Street School has been set up as a temporary COVID-19 isolation location. CTV London's Brent Lale has more.

With COVID-19 moving through St. Thomas, Ont.'s homeless population, the city and Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) have turned the former Wellington Street Public School into an isolation centre for 10 individuals.

"It's come about very quickly and we needed to spend the time just getting the basic facility in place and making sure that everyone is safe," says Wendell Graves, city manager for St. Thomas.

"Not only the guests who are having to be there but also all the allied workers who are working in there. So when people see individuals with their full PPE outfits on it's just because everyone's being kept safe."

Over the weekend, the partners were working to convert the former school into this new temporary isolation site.

It was seeing those workers, and being kept in the dark about what was happening, that had neighbours describing the scene as something out of a movie.

As the site was being converted, they were not informed of anything for health privacy reasons.

David Martin says his daughter plays on site's playground and has fears of potential COVID-19 spread after witnessing a man leave the property Monday.

"I witnessed a guy come running out of the building and then two security guards and a worker chased him there and all full PPE, gowns, headsets and facemasks," says Martin, who lives just a few metres from the property.

"After that I finally had enough and I confronted them, I asked 'What's going on?' They said they couldn't tell me, but one of the workers gave me advice saying she wouldn't let her children play on this playground, or go near the school for the foreseeable future."

SWPH Medical Officer of Health Dr. Joyce Lock says for those living nearby, there should be no concerns.

"You are not at risk by just walking by somebody," says Lock. "Those those interactions that are less than a minute in duration, they're not worrisome. So feel free to walk out and around the streets and the sidewalks in that neighborhood and you are safe."

Getting the site up and running quickly has taken a collaborative effort. Partners include St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital, Ontario West Health and the County of Elgin.

"We had to do things like bringing in portable shower units, arrange for food, and then our allied health partners looking after the health of the individuals," says Graves.

The health unit has also brought in paramedics from Grey County, who experienced an outbreak in their homeless population in August.

"We capitalized on that experience," says Lock.

"They graciously responded to our request to come down and provide us with some assistance based on their experience. So we've been quite pleased to have the leadership on site from our Grey County paramedics who just gave us some real, practical tips on on how to do this all the best we can."

The city hopes this site is needed temporarily until the infectious 10-day isolation period is up.