NEW YORK—Most of the time, they patrol the streets for crime, but during this COVID-19 pandemic, the Guardian Angels have added hygienic care for the homeless to the top of their list.
The safety patrol group is passing out hand wipes, food, and water to the less fortunate. Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the group, told NTD News that the city isn’t doing enough to help the homeless, including those with mental disorders.
“They keep telling us that on tv over and over, ‘wash your hands,'” he said. “Well, how are the homeless and emotionally disturbed gonna wash their hands? Some of them have no control of their physical or emotional faculties. You have to wash them for them.”
As of March 23, there were nearly 58,000 homeless people living in the shelters, according to data (pdf) from New York City. And last year it found that more than 3,000 were without shelter on one night.
Sliwa said you can’t ignore the homeless because they can also get COVID-19 and spread it in shelters and other areas.
Pandemic Reaches the Homeless
So far, 30 people in city shelters have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease the CCP virus causes, according to data from Department of Homeless Services (DHS) obtained by NTD News. But the department has started isolating the infected in special units.
NTD refers to the novel coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan and causes the disease COVID-19, as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Party’s coverup and mismanagement of the outbreak fueled its spread throughout China and across the world.
As for those without shelter, outreach teams have made approximately 6,000 engagements and helped transport eight to NYC Hospitals for investigation, according to DHS. None have tested positive for COVID-19.
And despite the risk of exposing himself to the virus, Sliwa said he’s not worried.
“I seem to remember Mother Teresa and the nuns caring for lepers, people with leprosy and Kolkata. They never wore a mask, they never wore gloves,” said Sliwa.
The patrol group gives care packages to those who need them the most—on the trains, and in the subways. Sliwa said he has called an ambulance for homeless people with fevers before.
And while he feels the Chinese Communist Party should be held accountable for the pandemic, he said the United States needs to focus on the problem at hand—for now.
“So we’ll deal with the Red Chinese later on because they’re at fault for this,” he said. “But right now we have to care for ourselves, and also care for the international community, because the Red Chinese never let them know.”
