As the Covid-19 situation worsens, perhaps it would be both wise and ethical to consider a section of the population as yet unmentioned, always uncared for and at all times unable to self-isolate.
Homeless people are vulnerable in general and, with the likelihood of poor nutrition and other possible health complications, at great risk of contracting the virus. Those who live on the streets have limited opportunities to wash their hands for 30 seconds numerous times a day and cannot be involved in the panic-buying of hand-sanitising gels, toilet rolls or pain relief.
These citizens, with equal rights to dignity and social welfare, are quite literally left out in the cold. Even if one doesn’t have an appropriate ethical response to human suffering, one has to consider the spread of the coronavirus through and via an unmonitored part of the community.
