France opens self-isolation centres to shelter homeless with COVID-19

France’s Ministry of Housing announced the opening of two self-isolation centres in Paris to shelter homeless people infected with COVID-19, with the first of them opening on Friday.
Each centre will host up to 150 homeless people tested positive for the novel coronavirus but whose condition doesn’t require hospitalization. The access to the centres will be decided based on medical advice, the statement read.
The Ministry said it plans to expand the new system of homeless self-isolation centres to the whole country, with the establishment of one centre per region or even more, in larger regions.
For the moment, more than 80 sites have been pre-identified by the national authorities throughout the country, with a total of 2,875 available places.
The Occitanie region in southwestern France already announced the opening of a centre of this type in its capital Toulouse, which will have a capacity for 50 patients, as well as the set up of another center with 40 places in the broader region by the end of the week.
Currently, there are 157,000 people housed in French homeless shelters, including 14,000 under the so-called ‘‘winter truce’’.
The ‘‘winter truce’’ is part of the French law and guarantees that people, including those living in shelters, remain in their accommodation during the coldest months of the year.
Last week, the French government announced a two-month postponement of the end of the ‘‘winter truce’’, rescheduling it from March 31 to May 31.