(siren blares)
TINA MARTIN:
In Seattle, the desperate fight
to contain the country's first
coronavirus cases
and protect
the city's most vulnerable.
DOW CONSTANTINE:
People who are homeless
can't shelter in their own home.
They can't isolate,
they have nowhere to go.
WOMAN:
Working on the floors,
I see multiple people
dying every day.
It's really hard.
You have basically
like a wildfire happening.
CONSTANTINE:
We need to figure out
how to help those who are
least able to help themselves.
MARTIN:
 Pandemic in Seattle,
on Local, U.S.A.
MARTIN: America's
first deaths from COVID-19
came in a nursing home near
Seattle, Washington.
It soon became clear that
the elderly
were especially vulnerable.
But so was the city's largest
population of homeless people.
Public health workers sprang
into action
desperately trying to outpace
the virus's deadly toll.
In Pandemic in Seattle,■
we join them
on the frontlines of the crisis.
♪ 
ROSALIND:
The purpose of this meeting
is to get the paperwork done
so that we can move your
application forward for housing.
What would you say was
your last stable residence?
STEVIE:
Over a year ago.
ROSALIND:
Where have you lived since then?
STEVIE: I had gotten into
my own apartment
which then lost, 'cause I
lost my job, and in the car.
We've got thick blankets,
we got a sleeping bag.
Tonight I think it was, what?
Yeah, 36 out, and I mean,
I was fairly warm back there.
Were you warm, kiddo?
ALEXA (laughing): Kind of...
STEVIE: Kinda.
- Merry Christmas.
- Merry Christmas.
STEVIE:
Since I've been out of work,
this has all been really hard.
Trying to put gas in the car,
trying to feed my daughter.
98% of people feel
that homeless people
are junkies and alcoholics,
and I'm none of those.
There's a lot of us out there
that are just trying to
get stable and on our feet
so that we can
live a normal life.
CONSTANTINE: Seattle has a
housing and homelessness crisis,
and a lot of it
really is tied up
in the success we've had here.
With the run up in rents,
folks have been squeezed
out of housing
and ended up on the streets.
I love you.
Being homeless, I feel like
I'm failing my daughter.
(crying): I feel like
I'm failing as a mother,
that I'm not a good mom
because we've lost everything.
(exhales)
♪ 
KATHERINE KEMPF: I am a medical
student, single mom, two boys,
and I am the daughter
of Alan Kempf,
who is a resident at
Life Care Center of Kirkland.
This is Pop-Pop
before his stroke.
You know,
I'm my father's guardian.
He can't really talk
for himself well.
This is when Pop-Pop, when
he was rehabbing the first time
and he went to Life Care Center.
I just wasn't able to
manage his care by myself
while I finished up school.
So he went to Life Care Center
and became a resident there.
(birds chirping)
♪ 
PATTY HAYES: Last fall,
I went down to meet with
our Medicaid state agency,
the Health Care Authority.
I said
if we had a large outbreak,
particularly with a
homeless or nursing homes,
I would not be ready to respond.
If we would have been paying
attention to public health
over the last 20 years,
we would have been in a lot
better space to respond to this.
♪ 
REPORTER: Seattle is
the home of tech giants
like Amazon and Microsoft.
It's also the site of
the first coronavirus deaths
here in the United States.
REPORTER: Health officials
are especially concerned
about a cluster of infections
in Kirkland,
that's a suburb of Seattle.
JENNY DURKAN: According to
the World Health Organization,
we are now in a global pandemic.
I truly believe
that this outbreak
may be one of the
most transformative
and consequential events
that we've had in this region
and in this country.
JAY INSLEE:
By mid-May,
we could be looking at
over 60,000 people infected
if we do not act.
There is a very successful
effort that we can take
to slow the spread
of this disease.
And that's to reduce
the social interactions
that are not necessary
in our lives.
REPORTER:
- I'm sorry?
INSLEE:
Yes, we are gonna have
a minimum of $100 million 
available to protect
our vulnerable,
including people in our
long-term care facilities
and unsheltered people.
I want to thank you,
be well, wash your hands, care
for your family, thank you.
♪ 
HAYES: When the first case
happened here in King County,
everybody turned
to us for advice
and what we need in
place in public health.
(elevator dings)
It's empty.
(elevator chiming)
Public health is
the silent force
that's working for the
health of the community.
So we're often not seen,
but we're a backstop
to the safety net.
The public health efforts
during this pandemic
started with containment.
So we wanted people
to physical distance,
but also for very vulnerable
people to stay at home.
Public health cares about
everybody, of course,
but particularly
those communities
that need our help and
support through this.
CONSTANTINE:
People who are homeless
can't shelter in their own home.
They can't isolate.
They have nowhere to go.
We are all in this together
and we need to figure
out how to help everyone,
including those who are least
able to help themselves.
♪ 
CASEY BALLARD: I'm not really
too worried about COVID-19.
It's just more the
effects that it has
on us getting housing.
Living in the car is
definitely stressful.
We put...
- My stuff in the very back.
(Stevie laughs)
We just kind of
have a little setup in here
and we just
basically every night
will pick out clothes for Alexa,
get her changed and it works.
We've got all our food and
stuff back here too, so.
We got hooked up
with Cars to Housing.
It's a program where they
give you a safe place
to park a car every night.
It takes a little bit
of stress off of you,
minus the homeless stress.
(chuckles)
- How are you guys doing?
- (laughing): Good.
- Yeah?
Coronavirus, huh?
Today, we just need
to fill out a budget
just to kinda see exactly
what's coming out of your pocket
so that you can make
some adjustments.
So, employment right now?
STEVIE:
Oh, I'm still, I'm in training.
- Right, but you are,
have you actually
worked some hours at all?
- Mm-hm.
- Okay.
STEVIE: I've been
working at Lice Spies,
which is a lice removal service,
about a month.
I absolutely love that job,
but it's not a lot of hours.
TY: So, how much do
you get in food stamps?
- $355.
TY: So right now,
our projected income would be
$826.50, okay?
If you even considering
trying to get an apartment,
we're talking about
anywhere from $1,500 to $1,700.
(Stevie struggling)
STEVIE: My tire
decided to go completely down
to the rim on me.
It was a $135 for them
to come out.
And I'm like, "I don't have
$135, I have like $30."
(sighs)
Taking care of my family,
taking care of housing,
those are my major stressors.
You know, coronavirus,
until it directly affects me,
I really wanna stop
hearing about it.
CONSTANTINE: We are at a
critical moment in this crisis.
We're leaving the phase
of COVID-19 outbreaks
in concentrated
areas of the county
and we're entering the phase
of potentially rapid and
widespread infection.
Treat the next two weeks as
a period of self-quarantine.
HAYES: We get
the positive COVID tests in
from the labs around
eight in the evening.
Last night I was notified
that one of
our disease investigators,
it's a nurse, had been
one of the positives.
By the time I got to
work this morning,
there were ten who are
out ill today out of my team.
It shows how vicious
this virus is.
REPORTER: The Life
Care Center in Kirkland
remains at the epicenter of
the coronavirus outbreak.
So far, 22 people associated
with the facility have died.
KATHERINE:
When I heard that this outbreak
was in the facility,
my first thought was,
"Oh, (beep)."
Hey, Pops.
My dad's quarantined in there,
but he hasn't tested positive.
Can we take him out before
he becomes positive?
You have basically like
a wildfire happening.
And when the building's
on fire, what do you do?
You get out.
(horn blaring)
Well, we got
the email last night.
Her school has now closed
until the end of next month.
I have to figure out something
to do during the day,
and, you know, make sure
she's taken care of.
It's not easy.
I do have a whole new
respect for teachers,
though, trying to
get all these kids
to do their work in class.
Do you have to answer
these questions?
- I don't know.
- Or is it just...
well, let's look.
HAYES:
There was a huge discussion
around the closure of schools. 
Because of the unknowns
around this virus,
there's really
intriguing questions
about the role children
play in this
and the spread. 
- (laughter)
But also, public health
is deeply concerned
about the impact it has for
families to stay at home.
KATHERINE:
What's your song?
I mean, if all I had to do
was stay home and home school,
it'd be great.
But most of my days are
really filled with phone calls
and trying to get my
dad what he needs,
which he is not getting.
Is it possible for us
to set up another call
with him this afternoon?
They weren't testing
everybody at first
because they didn't
have enough tests.
They called me back the next day
and told me that
he had tested positive.
HAYES:
Would I have ever expected
to be in the middle
of a pandemic
where the virus is so vicious
and to have so many
deaths here in Seattle?
It's horrifying.
So we're having to try
and think of strategies
to set up before we
get so many people
that the hospitals
are overwhelmed
like what we saw in Italy.
We are setting up what we're
calling a recovery center.
Two large tents,
one that will be
where people will come
as they're being
tested and they're ill.
And then the other tent where
folks who have COVID can stay.
- This will be
the first one of these
anybody has done in the nation.
So we're breaking new ground.
But we have to break
the ground fast.
(saw whirring)
SHARON LEE: We are
about to open 24 tiny houses
for homeless men and women.
Many of the shelters, people
are sleeping too close together.
If you're in a tiny house,
you're automatically
six feet apart.
Usually a village like this
would take us like maybe
three, four months.
But because of COVID-19,
we were asked by
the city of Seattle
to set this up like in a week.
My overall fear is
we're not doing enough.
Public health and the mayor
are very much concerned
about what's gonna happen
if homeless people
catch the virus.
But before the virus,
we still had the same crisis.
LEO FLOR: There might be a
progressive strategy
where we start with
something just basic,
like temporary toilets,
hand washing stations,
but could sort of improve
the sites sequentially.
CONSTANTINE: Congregate
settings are a challenge.
And whether
it's a homeless shelter
or a nursing home,
that is a place where once
an infection gets started,
it can spread very rapidly
and with tragic results,
as we saw at the nursing
home in Kirkland.
♪ 
STEVE SEDLACEK: My dad
took a fall and hit his head.
He was in here for rehab.
He's gonna be in
here a couple weeks
and then go back
to where he lives.
And at this point,
told us on Monday
that he tested positive
for coronavirus.
It just knocked the
wind out of us.
He's in that room there and
we go knock on the window
and say hi through it
and then
they hold the phone up to him.
Hey, Dad!
Happy Monday.
- How are you doing?
CHUCK: Not bad.
STEVE: There's been 29 people
that are dead from this place.
29 as of last night.
There should have been
systems in place at Life Care
that they could have
prevented this from happening.
And to have it happen
where 80% of all of the
patients here get it?
Something's broken
in the system.
KATHERINE:
I have stood at the window
asking for the specialist
on the phone.
This virus is bad?
Yes.
Did all those
people need to die?
No.
I worry, is my dad
gonna get crappier care
because they can't stand me
because I'm such a
thorn in their behind.
But I'm not gonna just go sit
in a corner and cry about it.
No, I'm gonna fight.
♪ 
You took my spot.
Look at Pop-Pop.
- Hey Pops!
- Hey Pop. 
KATHERINE: I see
you got Steamboat Mickey.
- Oh yes.
KATHERINE: My dad
was basically forced
to stay in a burning building
and become COVID-19 positive,
and thus far he's been lucky
enough not to die of that.
- (wheezing)
BRADEN: Pops, are you okay?
KATHERINE: Can you breathe?
(Alan wheezing)
They told me,
"Well, you can discharge him."
To where?
No facility will take
a COVID-positive patient.
The only place that will
take them is the hospital
when they progress to the point
that they basically need
to be put on a respirator.
- Pop-Pop, I love you.
- Pop-Pop, we love you.
I can't wait until you come out.
KATHERINE:
You have a lot of laws
that are supposed to be in
place to protect people.
But what is the accountability?
If you're on the fringe,
if you are a person without
resources, you're screwed.
♪ 
HAYES:
Even though it's impossible
for a person of privilege
to understand somebody who's
experiencing homelessness,
if you attempt to put
yourself in their shoes,
multiply that by 100.
That's the additional stressors
with COVID coming in.
STEVIE:
The clinic is closed right now
due to all the coronavirus
stuff going on.
You know,
the income stopped and it's...
honestly, it's just
been one big struggle.
TY: There's some light at
the end of this tunnel.
- Mm-hm.
- There may be a room
that becomes available
and you guys will be able
to go into the shelter.
That is a possibility.
So just, you know,
be encouraged in that aspect.
- Yeah.
- Okay.
I'm just--
I'm really stressed out,
like really stressed out.
(sobbing):
I'm scared.
Trying to maintain
my family and get into housing
and dealing with the COVID-19,
it's...
(sighs)
It kinda feels like
everything's
just at a standstill.
HAYES: People don't know when
life will begin again.
And just that unknown brings
tremendous stress on people.
♪ 
BRADEN: Hi, Pop.
KATHERINE:
You can hug him, it's okay.
He's officially
testing negative.
Oh, finally, after like--
it's hard
to hug you all
bundled up burritoed.
It's good to see that
maybe he is progressing,
but I'm having a hard time
trusting the system right now.
So much of this could
have been avoided.
Our oversight agencies do not
have the funding and resources
that they need to do their job.
HAYES:
That nursing home
did not report to public
health as is required
when they started
seeing an elevation
in respiratory diseases.
It's clear there was
a breakdown in reporting.
It's clear that the spread
of COVID went faster
than we realized.
So we have developed
strike teams to go out
on a very quick notice.
When we go into a nursing home,
if there's a positive patient,
we want to test everybody that
is symptomatic and all staff
so that we're separating
folks that are symptomatic
and not symptomatic.
When we go into a shelter,
we will test everyone
because of the high risk there.
(people talking in background)
Ideally, everybody
would be able to be tested.
But right now, testing
has been limited.
So health care workers
are such a vulnerable group
that we want to make sure
that testing is available
as much as possible for them.
- Working on the floors,
I see multiple people
dying every day.
It's really hard,
I'm really sad.
Some of us are getting sick.
Even with
everything we're doing
just because it's new,
it's... you know,
no one has immunity to it.
♪ 
(dog barking)
- So this is gonna be your room.
- Oh wow, okay.
- Is this doable?
- No, this works.
- (laughs)
- This is bigger than a car.
(laughter)
- Oh, that's really nice.
You can stay back there.
(laughter)
(laughing):
I'm kidding.
This is awesome.
CHERI: So,
we have shared restrooms.
There's a door here
for the showers.
- Okay.
What will be going on in
here is they're putting in beds
and things like that.
STEVIE: Uh-huh.
Kinda like their
own little clinic type thing?
- No, it's gonna be
a quarantine area.
- Okay.
- In case people get sick.
STEVIE: Okay.
CHERI:
These times are
the most uncertain times
that we have ever
had in our lifetime.
So I just wanna
recognize that if
you know,
you're having struggles,
it's completely understandable.
♪ 
One of the things
that impresses me
about people who have
experienced a lot of trauma
is their resiliency.
Are they stressed?
Absolutely.
Are they worried?
Absolutely.
But they're putting
their best foots forward
and showing up for their kids,
and that's amazing to me.
All I wanna do is take
care of my little girl.
That's all I want.
Okay, knock it off.
- Is there a sticker on me?
- (laughs) Yeah.
She was excited to
see the shelter,
you know, excited to see
the fact that we have somewhere
to put our stuff and to sleep
and it makes her happy. 
So that's,
that's what I want.
♪ 
HAYES: More and more of
the modeling is showing that
we may all be
seeing a decrease in cases.
Public health has come up with
ways of keeping people safe,
but those are not permanent.
Those are meant for
the COVID crisis.
Right now,
we're looking still to help
de-intensify
homeless shelters,
so we're trying
to find facilities
where we can get those
people separated.
DELORES MACK:
Most of our patient population
are actually from
homeless shelters.
And for the most part,
if they have any needs, food,
someone to talk to,
we're here,
we let them know 24/7. 
MELISSA ESCOTO: I cried a lot
when I found out I was positive.
It's really scary because
you feel like you can't breathe
and you don't know if
it's your last day or not.
HAYES: Folks who are
experiencing homelessness,
we still don't have
enough housing for them.
So when these folks are
finished here and they're well,
they might go back
into the shelter again.
Why are they
stepping up only now?
Cost of housing is high.
And then when you
have an eviction,
nobody wants to rent you.
You know,
where are people gonna go?
What are they gonna do?
STEVIE:
They're putting up shelters.
They're trying to help finally.
But when COVID-19's all gone,
it's probably all gonna be gone.
LEE:
The moment,
like the absolute moment
the crisis is over,
all of homeless people are
gonna be back on the street.
♪ 
HAYES: There's a huge emotional
toll around all of this.
Public health
is gonna actually
need to be boosted here.
It's one of the reasons why
I use my voice so very much.
We all have to remember
this is just the first wave.
The virus is still there.
There will be a resurgence.
♪ 
MARTIN: As the death toll
continues to rise,
 Pandemic in Seattle ■
is a reminder
of the crucial efforts
and expertise
of our
public health workers.
Visit World Channel's YouTube,
and go beyond the lens
with executive producer
Soledad O'Brien
and director Rose Arce.
♪ 
♪ 
♪ 
