There have been loopholes and workarounds, and people certainly have had to leave their homes. The eviction policies haven't been perfect. States and cities have had their own laws, too. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a nationwide moratorium citing these public health concerns in September 2020, and it was in place until this past August. SIMMONS-DUFFIN: One way policymakers have tried to curb this is by outlawing landlords from evicting people when they can't pay rent. LEIFHEIT: People take on all kinds of work to avoid that eviction, and that might actually drive up risk of COVID. SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Another way not being able to afford rent can affect the spread of the coronavirus - there's a saying, she says. That increases your number of contacts in the community, and it increases the efficiency with which COVID can spread through a community. KATHRYN LEIFHEIT: So a person loses their home, they often move in with friends or family. Kathryn Leifheit is a postdoctoral fellow and epidemiologist at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. SIMMONS-DUFFIN: This story of a family moving in together because rent was unaffordable illustrates one way that housing insecurity can lead to more viral spread. He's had to use an inhaler for the first time in years.ĬUELLAR: He's not the same after that, either. Her husband has had trouble breathing, too. SIMMONS-DUFFIN: He's now back home from the hospital and is doing better. SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Over a year later, her dad is back in the hospital with pneumonia and congestive heart failure - after effects from COVID, she says.ĬUELLAR: That's why I'm yawning because, like, I was at work last night, and I went straight over there. UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: When I reach her, she is exhausted. And all the doctors are asking me, you know, like, if they need to be ventilated, are you OK with that? You know, just having to make all those decisions But it was super stressful having to call the hospital and deal with both of them. Thankfully, me and my daughter, we had it, but we didn't have any symptoms whatsoever. And then three days later, my dad was having trouble breathing, so I took him to the same hospital. SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Both her husband and dad had to be hospitalized.ĬUELLAR: My husband went to the hospital first because he couldn't breathe. Then in July, he got sick.ĬUELLAR: July the 4, that's the day that he came home.
![erica simmons simulacra 2 erica simmons simulacra 2](https://img.juxia.com/upload/202002/05/05172522cb10b8HR3WdZzmBcr0t.png)
At this point, in the spring and summer of 2020, there was no vaccine. SIMMONS-DUFFIN: So there was a risk he could bring the virus home. Her husband's job at the pipe yard.ĬUELLAR: His job did not take it seriously whatsoever. So then they didn't have to worry about the rent, only the pandemic. SIMMONS-DUFFIN: They broke their lease and moved in with her dad. He's - my dad's a big like - he doesn't like going to the hospital or anything.
Erica simmons simulacra 2 full#
So her dad invited the family to move in with him even though he's 67 and having a house full of people could put him at more risk.ĬUELLAR: My dad was like, don't worry about it. SIMMONS-DUFFIN: They were worried about affording the rent - $1,200 a month for their house. And, of course, those shutdowns would be not paid. Her husband works in a pipe yard.ĬUELLAR: They were talking about shutting down at work. Last year, when the pandemic hit, she lost her job as a home health aide for a boy with autism. SIMMONS-DUFFIN: She is 26 and lives in Houston.
![erica simmons simulacra 2 erica simmons simulacra 2](https://img.juxia.com/upload/202002/05/0517263275384pIiPLROtblfrlb.png)
![erica simmons simulacra 2 erica simmons simulacra 2](https://www.quotemaster.org/images/41/4160edb0097d89a7a48603e02358e56f.jpg)
SELENA SIMMONS-DUFFIN, BYLINE: When I reach Erica Cuellar, she's watching a show with her 2-year-old daughter.ĮRICA CUELLAR: She is currently in her Spider-Man costume that she does not want to take off ever. NPR health policy correspondent Selena Simmons-Duffin reports on the housing crisis and how it collides with public health. That's according to NPR's recent poll with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard Chan School of Public Health. Right now, 1 in every 4 renters is having trouble paying. When people can't pay their rent and have to leave their homes, they can be at greater risk for COVID-19. That stress is amplified in the pandemic. It's incredibly stressful not knowing how you're going to make rent.