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California's Homeless Struggle to Stay Safe Amid Pandemic

Michelle Quinn

   BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA - Officials in cities and counties throughout
   California are struggling with how best to help more than 100,000
   homeless residents during the COVID-19 pandemic.

   But officials face multiple challenges tackling what has been an
   escalating crisis even before the coronavirus hit. The virus adds a
   new, deadly twist to the challenge:

   Bring people into crowded homeless shelters and increase the risk of
   exposure to the virus.

   Or leave them on the streets with limited access to sanitation, and the
   virus may spread quickly through encampments.

   Shelter in convention centers, museums

   Cities and counties are trying piecemeal approaches.

   In Northern California, Oakland moved some sick homeless people into
   two vacant hotels, and the city is setting up 60 emergency Federal
   Emergency Management Agency trailers to shelter the most vulnerable
   homeless residents, and another six more for homeless young people.

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