CDC: Japanese Data Show Indoor Coronavirus Transmission 18.7 Times Likelier, as Garcetti Moves L.A. Homeless to Rec Centers

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently published a paper reporting that Japanese data showed that coronavirus transmission was nearly 20 times more likely indoors than outdoors.

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti is moving hundreds of homeless people into recreation centers in residential areas — a policy that is receiving increasing scrutiny and criticism from residents and the media.

The Los Angeles Times reported this weekend that there is growing discord in California about Garcetti’s plan to help the homeless:

There has been pushback to using the recreation centers, though, and a fear that they could be incubators for spreading the novel coronavirus among an already high-risk population. While most health experts, advocates and some politicians agree that quick action will require using multiple types of shelter, they say single-occupancy spaces such as motel or hotel rooms are safer.

The CDC paper, dated Mar. 18, 2020, has surfaced amidst debates about whether to move homeless people indoors to protect them from the coronavirus pandemic — or whether doing so would actually expose them to more risk.

The paper, by Thomas R. Frieden — a former CDC director — and Christopher T. Lee, notes (footnotes included):

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