With the Bay Area under a shelter-in-place order because of the coronavirus pandemic, people are being asked to stay home. But for those without housing, that is difficult. San Francisco is implementing measures, such as installing public hand-washing stations and instructing people who are living on the streets to limit themselves to one person per tent. But certain plans are still unclear, and the situation is becoming increasingly urgent.
Brian Howey has been covering the intersection of homelessness and the coronavirus pandemic for the Public Press. When he visited several hand-washing stations in the past few days, he found broken or missing equipment and supplies, and confusion about what the city’s policies will be and what resources are available.
“I’ve spoken with doctors and outreach workers who’ve said that they’re really concerned about this because some of the underlying wisdom behind taking care of yourself during COVID-19 is that you need to stay warm. You need to stay clean. You need to not be stressed out and running around all over the place, and you need to try to stay at home as much as possible.” — Brian Howey
