Coronavirus: Santa Clara County Unveils Plans to Aid Homeless

SANTA CLARA COUNTY — Santa Clara County provided an update to the public Monday on what the county is doing to help its homeless population, with 191 intensive care unit beds, 1,438 beds for a surge of patients, and 535 ventilators available throughout its health care system.

"We have the human infrastructure, if you will, to go in and screen and test and make sure that the unhoused population, the unsheltered population -- which is about 8,000 in this county -- get this same kind of attention and care and resources and treatment and compassion that the rest of the population is getting right now," Supervisor Dave Cortese said during the morning briefing streamed on Facebook.

Cortese said he is "very proud" of how the county is handling resources and outreach for unsheltered people in the county, but "like with everything with COVID-19, we've got a long way to go."

The county also said as of Sunday, about 602 additional shelter beds were opened for homeless individuals to access.

That number includes beds at the Gateway Pavilion at the county fairgrounds, beds at San Jose's Parkside Hall and assorted hotel and motel rooms purchased by the county, according to Ky Le, the county's Office of Supportive Housing director.

"We're working to expand the congregate and non-congregate shelter sites in the coming days," Le said.

The county's most recent count reported 1,207 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 39 deaths as of Sunday.

The county on Friday also reported 174 homeless people were quarantined because of infection or possible infection and another 215 possibly at risk or possibly infected or exposed people were said to be placed in the appropriate quarantine shelter soon.

Full coronavirus coverage: California Coronavirus: Latest Updates On Cases, Orders, Closures

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