North America is facing a bizarre problem related to population. In recent years, there have been numerous people that are found lifeless in public places. According to Los Angeles County, the number of unsheltered groups is increasing. The cases involved in these casualties averaged five homeless deaths per single day.
According to the county's coroner's office, the state has 278 homeless individuals found dead on sidewalks, 72 on pavements, and 24 in alleys. Although the numbers are significant, it is a mere part of the larger population of homeless groups that take their last breath outside one of the wealthiest countries each year.
Homeless Mortality Rate in the US
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 18: An aerial view of San Francisco's first temporary sanctioned tent encampment for the homeless on May 18, 2020, in San Francisco, California. After public outrage mounted over a surge of homeless people and tents filling the streets of San Francisco during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the City opened its first temporary sanctioned tent encampment this week. The camp provides a safe sleeping area in a fenced-off space near City Hall with marked spots for tents that practice social distancing. Toilets, handwashing stations, and 24 hours security will also be provided. Other locations throughout the city will be opening soon.
University of California San Francisco's Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative and Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies expert Maria Raven explained that the decrease in the most vulnerable populations is comparable to death toll records during wartime, and the only difference is that there are no wars in these regions.
Raven, an emergency medicine specialist at UCSF, led the study about the alarming death of street dwellers in the city during the pandemic.
Raven's team published their findings in the JAMA Network Open, titled "Mortality Among People Experiencing Homelessness in San Francisco During the COVID-19 Pandemic."
The death of homeless Americans is safe to say a type of epidemic that has been uncontrollable for the past few years, as these populations have already aged and have shorter chances of life expectancy due to the lack of living qualities.
In addition, the death toll skyrocketed due to the existence of fentanyl across the communities. In previous studies, the drug was tagged as a fast-acting compound and could endanger the health of any people who take it.
Homeless people also die in an unfair situation, as the causes of their death, including chronic conditions and heart disease, have solutions already available in the country's medical facilities.
Death Rate of Vulnerable Populations Doubled During COVID Pandemic
According to The Chicago Tribune, the mortality rate of homeless Americans doubled during the surge of the pandemic. This is primarily due to the deadly threat of the coronavirus to the vulnerable health state of the street dwellers and the scarcity of medical care due to the hysteria.
During these years, available housing options cost higher than expected, and the supposed attention for the particular population was kept solely by the solutions for coronavirus.
Among the cities that have already acknowledged the rising death of homeless individuals on their streets are Nashville, Austin, Salt Lake City, Denver, and Indianapolis.
California, however, holds the most severe of this problem, as one out of four of the 500,000 homeless people in the US is in this city.
David Moderscbach, among the lead researchers for a separate study in Alameda County, said that the recorded data are "profoundly lonely deaths." Modersbach's team led the previous study on the region's homeless death toll, titled "Alameda County 2018-2020 Homeless Mortality Report."
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