The
House of Charity in Spokane, a Catholic charity house provides meals, clothing,
and shelter to the underserved population of homeless, transient, and poor men
and women in the Spokane area, and accepts anyone in any condition as part of
its mission.
On
Nov. 13, there was an outbreak of norovirus at the House of Charity, which
caused inflammation of the stomach and/or intestines. Other symptoms of norovirus include stomach
pain, nausea, diarrhea, fever, headache and body aches, and usually go after a
few days. Even though it is a non-life threatening virus, the facility worked
diligently to stop the virus from spreading further. A large group of staff volunteers
sanitized as best as they could.
Guests
who were infected were treated with medicine and fluids, while 160 guests who
were not infected were quarantined outside the facility in tents. A local
emergency doctor anticipated that the virus would subside within the next
couple of days.
Rob
McCann, Director of the House of Charity, urges the public to help the homeless
population in hopes of stopping outbreaks like these from happening. The work
of the House of Charity is very inspiring, and this is a great reminder that
viral outbreaks can occur anywhere at anytime and we need to work together to
play our part in preventing outbreaks.
Emily
Nguyen
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