Five clients and staff at a Portland homeless shelter have tested positive for the new coronavirus.
The Portland Press Herald reports that a client at the Milestone Recovery shelter on India Street tested positive last week and additional testing in recent days have confirmed another client and three staff were infected with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.
The shelter’s executive director, Bob Fowler, told the Portland newspaper that work is underway to test all 40 people who came in contact with those stricken with the virus.
The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating the cases and whether they are linked, the Press Herald reports.
The Milestone Recovery shelter serves those struggling with alcohol and drug dependency, and the organization also runs a detox, residential addiction treatment and transitional housing programs, according to its website.
Milestone’s shelter adopted a slew of policies in March to halt the spread of the coronavirus, including reducing its capacity, screening clients and staff for symptoms and requiring handwashing after entering, according to the Press Herald.
It is the latest report of positive cases within a Maine homeless shelter. Previously, positive cases were reported in Portland’s Oxford Street Shelter and Bangor’s Hope House, where 20 people contracted the coronavirus.