[Mick]

There are over 150,000 homeless people in California at any given moment (at least as of January, 2019.  It may have improved a lot since -- or not).  There are around 10,000 in Santa Clara County.

I saw that six days ago, the first homeless person in Santa Clara County died of COVID-19.  Do they have any recourse?  What's likely to happen to the homeless population, particularly in hygiene-challenged cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles?

[Mick]

There are over 150,000 homeless people in California at any given moment (at least as of January, 2019.  It may have improved a lot since -- or not).  There are around 10,000 in Santa Clara County.

I saw that six days ago, the first homeless person in Santa Clara County died of COVID-19.  Do they have any recourse?  What's likely to happen to the homeless population, particularly in hygiene-challenged cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles?

[BostonCard]

Well, there are an awful lot of unoccupied hotel rooms.

But yeah, the homeless are screwed.  How do you maintain social distancing, let alone wash hands in an encampment.  This is a problem that could have been dealt with before the crisis, but we’re too busy worrying about “neighborhood character” to give a damn.

BC

[BostonCard]

Well, there are an awful lot of unoccupied hotel rooms.

But yeah, the homeless are screwed.  How do you maintain social distancing, let alone wash hands in an encampment.  This is a problem that could have been dealt with before the crisis, but we’re too busy worrying about “neighborhood character” to give a damn.

BC

[JustAnotherFan]

The homeless and those in detention (jails, prisons, CBP) are going to be crushed by this. It's tragic. Lots of people raising the issue but the invisible and powerless are the last who will get support.

[JustAnotherFan]

The homeless and those in detention (jails, prisons, CBP) are going to be crushed by this. It's tragic. Lots of people raising the issue but the invisible and powerless are the last who will get support.

[burger]

Can't recall the details, but some state or local officials were discussing moving homeless people into hotels.  I'm not sure if that was prophylactic or when they get sick and need to be quarantined.

This is where the lack of testing is going to seriously hurt.  The disease could spread through homeless camps like crazy before anyone notices.  In an ideal world, regular surveillance would be going on in these populations.

[burger]

Can't recall the details, but some state or local officials were discussing moving homeless people into hotels.  I'm not sure if that was prophylactic or when they get sick and need to be quarantined.

This is where the lack of testing is going to seriously hurt.  The disease could spread through homeless camps like crazy before anyone notices.  In an ideal world, regular surveillance would be going on in these populations.

[JustAnotherFan]

Can't recall the details, but some state or local officials were discussing moving homeless people into hotels.  I'm not sure if that was prophylactic or when they get sick and need to be quarantined.

This is where the lack of testing is going to seriously hurt.  The disease could spread through homeless camps like crazy before anyone notices.  In an ideal world, regular surveillance would be going on in these populations.

Right. Also in an ideal world we would have been working to ensure everyone had a home and sanitation long before a pandemic hit. Instead we had politicians running public campaigns to pass laws to criminalize homelessness or to push the problem down the road. This pandemic has the potential to open our collective eyes to all of the harm that we do to our society by throwing people away.

[JustAnotherFan]

Can't recall the details, but some state or local officials were discussing moving homeless people into hotels.  I'm not sure if that was prophylactic or when they get sick and need to be quarantined.

This is where the lack of testing is going to seriously hurt.  The disease could spread through homeless camps like crazy before anyone notices.  In an ideal world, regular surveillance would be going on in these populations.

Right. Also in an ideal world we would have been working to ensure everyone had a home and sanitation long before a pandemic hit. Instead we had politicians running public campaigns to pass laws to criminalize homelessness or to push the problem down the road. This pandemic has the potential to open our collective eyes to all of the harm that we do to our society by throwing people away.

[cardcrimson]

In an ideal world, regular surveillance would be going on in these populations.

In an ideal world, there wouldn't be these populations.

[cardcrimson]

In an ideal world, regular surveillance would be going on in these populations.

In an ideal world, there wouldn't be these populations.