San Francisco will provide RVs, vacant apartments and hotel rooms for people who have tested positive for COVID-19 or have come into contact with someone who has, but don't have a place where they can self-isolate and recuperate.
The move is an effort to proactively provide recovery and quarantine locations for people who are experiencing homelessness or live in group homes, shelters or residential hotels, San Francisco Mayor London Breed said in a statement Tuesday.
As of Tuesday, 14 people had tested positive for COVID-19 in San Francisco.
“Our top priority is public health and slowing the spread of COVID-19 in our community,” Breed said. “It’s important that we take measures like this to care for our most vulnerable residents, including people who are homeless.”
Low-income people and people experiencing homelessness are more vulnerable to the coronavirus, city public health officials said, because they are more likely to have underlying conditions that could further exacerbate the illness.
The city now has 30 RVs staged at the Presidio said Francis Zamora, a spokesman for the city's Department of Emergency Management. The department hasn't yet decided where it will park those trailers when they are ready to be used.
So far, none of the 14 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 are homeless, Zamora said. The RVs are there just in case the city needs to use them, he said.
The city has already recommended canceling large gatherings, is encouraging telecommuting and is telling people who are elderly or who have underlying health conditions to stay home as much as possible.