Navigating coronavirus pandemic puts people with disabilities at high risk. Here’s why

For people with disabilities, there are barriers to social distancing and taking other preventative measures during the pandemic that put them at higher risk for getting sick.

Some can’t isolate as much as other people because they need “regular, hands-on help from other people to do everyday self-care tasks,” according to Forbes.

Tasks such as getting groceries can be difficult for people with disabilities because some rely on others for transportation and shopping, Forbes reported. Handwashing can even be cumbersome due to “physical impairments, environment barriers, or interrupted services.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance said people with disabilities who are most at risk are those with limited mobility or have to have close contact with family members and care providers, who have difficulty understanding or practicing preventative measures including handwashing and social distancing, and who have a hard time communicating the symptoms of the illness.

Deliveries to homes are also becoming difficult, even as some stores designate certain shopping hours to older adults, those who are immunocompromised and people with disabilities.

“Anyone have experience of registering as ‘vulnerable’ with a supermarket in the UK?” Jessica Kellgren-Fozard, a deaf and disabled TV presenter and YouTuber, tweeted. “I’m meant to be isolating for 12 weeks but can’t get any shop to deliver food... Waited for four hours in online queues for 3 different supermarkets at once only to find none had slots.”

For people with an intellectual or developmental disability, 70% can live at home, according to Vox. Around 681,000 live in supported-living apartments, group homes and state institutions, Vox reported.

People living in group homes are especially susceptible to coronavirus because it’s dangerous to people with underlying health conditions, according to Vox. They also need “full-time support, staff available 24 hours a day to help clients with basic everyday activities, from cooking and getting ready for the day to personal care,” which is proving to be difficult during social distancing measures and shutdowns.

In New York City, people in group homes are 5.34 times more likely than others to get COVID-19 and 4.86 times more likely to die from the virus, according to The New York Times. Around 10% of people in group homes had coronavirus symptoms but haven’t been tested, The New York Times reported.

Amid a global ventilator shortage, doctors are having to make difficult decisions on who to put on a ventilator and which patients to prioritize based on life expectancy, CNN reported.

Sassy Outwater-Wright, 33, told CNN she worries about what would happen if she gets seriously sick because she’s living with brain tumors.

“It’s terrible to have cancer in the time of corona,” Outwater-Wright said, according to CNN. “I still have to go to the hospital for my conditions. Each time, we’re putting our health and the lives of our loved ones at risk.”

Some states, including Alabama and Washington, have been accused by disability rights groups of discriminating against people with disabilities, according to NBC News. Several civil rights lawsuits have already been filed, NBC reported.

Alabama’s Emergency Operations Plan provided guidance on ventilators and conditions for which doctors should “not offer mechanical ventilator support.” It said that “persons with severe mental retardation, advanced dementia or severe traumatic brain injury may be poor candidates for ventilator support.”

This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 2:57 PM with the headline "Navigating coronavirus pandemic puts people with disabilities at high risk. Here’s why."