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City Of South Bend Looking To Create Isolation Facility For Homeless

MISHA FRIEDMAN / GETTY IMAGES

Staying at home to prevent the spread of coronavirus is not an option for people facing homelessness. The City of South Bend is looking for places to house the homeless who have either tested positive for COVID 19 or are showing symptoms.

The goal is to provide a place where people who are sick and facing homelessness can isolate. This will help prevent the further spread of the coronavirus.

City spokesperson Caleb Bauer says officials are looking at a number of sites, including hotels, as possible isolation facilities.

“Obviously this is a unique situation so there are a lot of things to plan for when opening a space like this.”

He says once they have a location, they’ll need to figure out staffing, housekeeping, disinfecting procedures, and food.

“There’s a lot of urgency in getting this set up so we can make sure when the need is there to isolate someone who is experiencing homelessness that there is a place for them to go.”

Bauer says it’s yet to be decided whether the money would come from the $500,000 in the city's COVID-19 emergency response fund or from other existing funds.

The City doesn’t have an estimate of when a location for an isolation facility will be chosen or when it would be ready to accept people.

Contact Annacaroline at acaruso@wvpe.org or follow her on Twitter at @AnnacarolineC16

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