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California Governor Sounds Alarm, Takes ‘Significant’ Action Over Homeless Coronavirus Threat

   DailyWire.com
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a a news conference about the state's efforts on the homelessness crisis on January 16, 2020 in Oakland, California. Newsom was joined by Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf to announce that Oakland will receive 15 unused FEMA trailers for the city to use as temporary housing and as mobile health and social services clinics for the homeless. Newsom signed on executive order on January 8 to deploy 100 trailers and crisis response teams to areas in need across the state. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

In a press release and video statement Wednesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the “significant” action he has taken to address what modeling indicates could be the massive impact of the coronavirus among the state’s largest-in-the-nation homeless population, a development that threatens to overwhelm the state’s healthcare system.

“People experiencing homelessness are among the most vulnerable to the spread of COVID-19,” said Newsom in a quote included in the press release. “California is deploying massive resources to get these vulnerable residents safely into shelter, removing regulatory barriers and securing trailers and hotels to provide immediate housing options for those most at risk. Helping these residents is critical to protecting public health, flattening the curve and slowing the spread of COVID-19.”

As Reuters reports, Newsom revealed in a video statement streamed online Wednesday that modeling has shown that more than 60,000 homeless people could become infected by the virus in California over the next eight weeks. The potential impact of that development on the healthcare system would be severe, Newsom warned.

“Over the next eight-week period, we have modeled that of the 108,000 unsheltered Californians that are out on the streets, if you had an attack rate of about 56%, you’re looking at 60-plus thousand individuals that may have COVID-19,” Newsom said in a Facebook address, as reported by Reuters. “That creates a deep point of anxiety for the existing population but moreover for our healthcare delivery system, our capacity to move people in and out of the shelters safely without contacting other people and putting them at risk as well.”

So far, California has seen 598 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection and at least 17 reported fatalities as a result of the virus.

Below is the press release from the office of the governor issued Wednesday detailing the governor’s “significant, additional actions to protect Californians experiencing homelessness from COVID-19,” including $150 million in emergency funding specifically to address the homeless crisis, allowing local governments “flexibility” in creating emergency shelters, and the purchasing of trailers and the leasing of hotel and motels for emergency housing:

Governor Gavin Newsom today took a series of significant, additional actions to protect Californians experiencing homelessness from COVID-19. The State of California is providing emergency aid to local governments and implementing emergency protective measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 among this particularly vulnerable population, many of whom have no option to self-quarantine or isolate.

“People experiencing homelessness are among the most vulnerable to the spread of COVID-19,” said Governor Newsom. “California is deploying massive resources to get these vulnerable residents safely into shelter, removing regulatory barriers and securing trailers and hotels to provide immediate housing options for those most at risk. Helping these residents is critical to protecting public health, flattening the curve and slowing the spread of COVID-19.”

Today’s actions include:

  • Emergency Funding: Governor Newsom directed the first allocation of the $500 million in emergency funding recently authorized by the Legislature for COVID-19 related activities – $150 million for local emergency homelessness actions. To deploy this first funding allocation, the state will provide:
    • $100 million directly to local governments, for shelter support and emergency housing to address COVID-19 among the homeless population, and
    • $50 million to purchase travel trailers and lease rooms in hotels, motels, and other facilities in partnership with counties and cities to provide immediate isolation placements throughout the state for homeless individuals.
  • Executive Order for Local Flexibility: Governor Newsom signed an executive order providing flexibility to local governments to spend their emergency homelessness funding on immediate solutions tailored to combatting COVID-19 and its impacts on the homeless population. The Governor also waived certain regulatory barriers for any shelters or facilities built with this emergency funding.
  • Public Health Guidance for Homeless Shelters: The California Health & Human Services Agency issued official public health guidance to homeless service providers statewide about social distancing measures in shelters, access to hygiene supplies, health screening protocols, and isolation protocols for people with COVID-19 or those demonstrating symptoms. That guidance is available here.
  • Purchasing Trailers: The state is immediately procuring 1,309 travel trailers from FEMA and private vendors to provide quarantine capacity – moving people out of shelters and into isolation placements, focused on people with COVID-19 or those demonstrating symptoms. The purposes of this emergency protective measure is to protect healthy people in those facilities and create capacity in the existing shelter network. These trailers will be deployed to California’s largest population centers.
  • Leasing Hotels & Motels, in Partnership with Counties: The state provided California’s counties with tailored lists of hotels and motels that are potentially available to lease for the next several months. The state is also offering to contact hotels and negotiate leases, if a county requests that assistance. In total, the state has identified over 950 hotels across 53 counties that are potentially eligible for participation in the state’s leasing program. The state and counties have already begun outreach to these hotels and motels now, and when we identify a willing partner, we initiate lease negotiations with the owner.
  • First Hotel Leases: Yesterday, the state executed hotel leases for the first two properties and is transferring control to Alameda County. This includes a total of 393 rooms in Oakland. These rooms will be put to use as emergency protective measures by the local governments as isolation capacity for homeless individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 or are symptomatic, or otherwise at significant risk.

Unsheltered people living on the streets and those living in large shelter settings are particularly susceptible to COVID-19. The state has previously issued guidance that people 65 years of age and older and those with underlying medical conditions are particularly susceptible to having serious health impacts as a result of the virus, including higher mortality rates.

On Monday, the Governor issued an executive order that authorizes local governments to halt evictions for renters and homeowners, slows foreclosures, and protects against utility shutoffs for Californians affected by COVID-19. This order was in part a preventative measure to ensure that low-income Californians do not lose a safe roof over their head as a result of an eviction related to a loss of income or sickness due to COVID-19. The Governor hopes to see other local efforts to protect renters, low-income homeowners, and small businesses, following the leadership of local jurisdictions such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, and San Jose, which have already implemented or are working towards local measures.

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