Authorities pledge to look out for homeless amid COVID-19 outbreak

Shanghai authorities will improve care for homeless people facing difficulties during the latest COVID-19 outbreak and cooperate with social assistance agencies to keep them safe, officials said at a news briefing on Friday.

According to Jiang Rui, director of the Civil Affairs Bureau, the homeless people mentioned cover travelers who do not have a place to reside due to hotel closures, those who used to live in workplaces like construction sites that have been closed due to prevention and control measures, and job seekers who are not willing to leave the city now.

"We will reinforce efforts to locate these people in need of help and arrange for them to take nucleic acid testing and antigen testing. The environment they've been to will be disinfected. Those who test positive for the COVID-19 will be transferred to quarantine sites as needed," said Jiang.

"We'll also help people in need secure jobs in the city. For people not included in the situations above, local governments will provide them with daily necessities and house them in temporary relocation sites," she added.

According to Peng Chenlei, the city's vice-mayor, the city had received 337 million yuan ($52.9 million) in donations from the society as of April 11, with 316 million yuan already utilized.

Among the donors is Shanghai Charity Foundation, which gave 116 million yuan, 86 million yuan of which has been spent on supplies for prevention and control.

"The city government will further support and motivate charities and non-governmental public welfare organizations to carry out fundraising," Peng said.