'Street medical teams' to test LA's homeless for COVID-19
Los Angeles will provide COVID-19 testing and additional resources to Skid Row and other encampments in the city to protect the homeless population from the virus.
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Los Angeles will provide COVID-19 testing and additional resources to Skid Row and other encampments in the city on Monday to protect the homeless population from the virus.
Rapid-results field tests, health and wellness screenings, physical distancing counseling and transportation to shelters or hotels are among the services that will be provided by "street medical teams," the mayor's office said.
The "street medical teams" will also deliver hygiene supplies, face coverings and other necessities for the homeless.
Coronavirus: Concerns mount over outbreak within LA homeless community
Additional resources will be directed to Skid Row, the epicenter of the homeless crisis in the city. A high capacity pop-up testing clinic operated by the L.A. Fire Department will be set up there and will include transportation to isolation and quarantine beds.
Mayor Eric Garcetti says L.A. has started receiving its first trailers from the state to house the homeless. The first 10 will open at Woodland Hills Recreation Center, with a goal to provide 300 trailers citywide in the coming weeks.
On Saturday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said California has secured a 10,974 hotel rooms for the unsheltered as well as another 5,025 motel rooms, thanks to a partnership with Motel 6. The initiative is part of Project Roomkey, a program to house thousands of California's homeless during the coronavirus pandemic.
