Coronavirus coverage

UPDATE 30 March:

Guardian: Thousands of rough sleepers still unhoused in England, say charities
Independent: Coronavirus: Homeless people 'scared and hungry' on streets despite promise to house them over weekend

24 March:

Vice: It's Impossible to Self-Isolate When You Don't Have a Home

23 March:

Guardian: Coronavirus: homeless face race against time to self-isolate

Story mentions challenges Glass Door guests are facing and our hope for the future.

19 March:

The government released new guidance this week for organisations supporting individuals sleeping rough. Glass Door responded by welcoming the guidelines while calling for more specific advice on how rough sleepers can self-isolate.

Our response was included in several outlets, including:

Metro: Homeless shelters and hostels told to stay open during coronavirus crisis
Independent: Coronavirus: Hotels and empty offices should be used to let homeless self-isolate, ministers told
The Big Issue: Government must act now to let rough sleepers self-isolate in hotels

16 March: COO Lucy Abraham spoke from one of our shelters to Sky News

10 March 2020:

Glass Door chief operating officer Lucy Abraham and our coronavirus lead Megan Preston have been speaking to several media outlets about the impact of coronavirus for those sleeping rough. Their comments featured in the Independent and The Guardian among other titles.

In the Independent

Social affairs correspondent for the Independent, May Bulman, asks how rough sleepers will cope with the outbreak. She includes Lucy’s comments:

“The risks of the virus reaching our shelters is increasing in likelihood by the day. Turning people away from shelters without an alternative safe space to retreat seems inhumane and potentially risky for public health.”

I think all of us in the homeless sector are keen to share ideas and come up with a solution to support those who have nowhere to self-isolate.

In The Big Issue

The Big Issue quotes Lucy:

The thing for us is that we are deliberately an open access shelter and we don’t want there to be any barriers to accessing our service.

“We want to respect everybody’s inherent dignity but we also understand the importance of maintaining public health. Life’s hard enough when it comes to living on the streets. There are so many challenges already, and this is yet another challenge.”

In the Guardian and other titles

Robert Booth, social affairs correspondent for The Guardian shared the news that we were forced to turn away a potential night shelter guest due to public health guidance. This story was originally broken by Lucie Heath for Inside Housing.

Among other titles, Glass Door’s comments have been included in:

Read our full response to the outbreak of COVID-19

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