The state agency's Guidance urges providers to equip themselves with prevention supplies (such as alcohol-based hand sanitizers, tissues, trash baskets, disposable facemasks and mobile hand-washing stations); identify spaces where individuals experiencing mild symptoms can isolate and identifying persons who could be at high risk for complications due to COVID-19 and take steps to reduce their risk of getting sick.

Specific Guidance for Homeless Service Providers

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued guidance for homeless assistance providers to plan and respond to COVID-19. It is summarized below.

Plan

Continuums of Care (CoCs), city and county homelessness officials and their partners should prepare now to protect people experiencing homelessness, homeless service provider staff, and volunteers from COVID-19. Specific steps include:

[Scroll down for further.]

• Establishing ongoing communication with local public health departments and connecting to community-wide planning.
• Developing or updating an emergency operations plan, which includes key contacts, a list of healthcare facilities, and contingency plans for dealing with increased absenteeism.
• Addressing key prevention strategies, such as best practices for preventing the transmission and spread of COVID-19.
• Providing prevention supplies, such as alcohol-based hand sanitizers, tissues, trash baskets, disposable facemasks (to be used only by sick individuals in your organization), and mobile hand washing stations.
• Procedures for reporting suspected COVID-19 cases to local health officials.
• Identifying spaces that can be used to accommodate unsheltered people with mild respiratory symptoms and those at significantly elevated risk of infection who have no option to self-quarantine outdoors.
• Those who are sick should be immediately isolated from those who are not sick and given a clean disposable facemask to wear while staying at the shelter.
• Identifying clients who could be at high risk for complications.
• Do not refer individuals to emergency rooms or physician offices unless the individual is experiencing shortness of breath or other complications. Make sure to notify the healthcare facility and transport personnel in advance.

CommunicateM/b>

CoCs, city and county homelessness officials and their partners should communicate frequently about COVID-19 and everyday preventive actions. To do this, they should:

• Create a communications plan for providing timely information to the general public as well as to unsheltered homeless individuals
• Identify and address potential language, cultural and disability barriers
• Counter stigmatization and discrimination

On March 7, LBREPORT.com published in detail the the CA Dept. of Public Health's Guidances for for schools, colleges/universities and large public events/mass gatherings in response to the COVID-19 novel coronavirus. [To our knowledge, LBREPORT.com is the only LB news outlet to date to have published these guidances at length in detail.]

Sponsor

Sponsor

Sponsor

Sponsor

Sponsor

Sponsor

Sponsor

.

---

Support really independent news in Long Beach. No one in LBREPORT.com's ownership, reporting or editorial decision-making has ties to development interests, advocacy groups or other special interests; or is seeking or receiving benefits of City development-related decisions; or holds a City Hall appointive position; or has contributed sums to political campaigns for Long Beach incumbents or challengers. LBREPORT.com isn't part of an out of town corporate cluster and no one its ownership, editorial or publishing decisionmaking has been part of the governing board of any City government body or other entity on whose policies we report. LBREPORT.com is reader and advertiser supported. You can help keep really independent news in LB similar to the way people support NPR and PBS stations. We're not non-profit so it's not tax deductible but $49.95 (less than an annual dollar a week) helps keep us online.

---

blog comments powered by Disqus

---