Icon: enlarge
The winter and the corona pandemic are currently particularly vulnerable to homeless people
Photo: Daniel Bockwoldt / picture alliance / dpa
You are currently exposed to a particularly high risk: homeless people in winter, in the middle of the corona pandemic.
The already fragile social contacts often dwindle for fear of infection, and illnesses intensify in many people on the record, both physical and mental.
As a result, there have been more deaths among the homeless in Hamburg in recent months than there has been for a long time.
A dispute has therefore broken out between the city and various aid organizations about how to deal with people on the street correctly.
At its center is the question of the right accommodation during the pandemic.
There are so-called emergency shelters in which the homeless can seek refuge in special situations.
But these are mainly collective accommodation.
These are avoided by the homeless for various reasons, not least for fear of being infected with Corona.
Various aid organizations have therefore long asked the city to set up emergency accommodation with single rooms.
So far, this type of accommodation has mainly come about through the use of private supporters;
the city insisted on accommodation in collective accommodation and pointed out that these have not yet been fully utilized.
But now there is obviously a rethinking.
The Hamburg street magazine “Hinz & Kunzt” reported on Twitter that the city wanted to open an emergency shelter with 35 single rooms.
According to information from "Hinz & Kunzt", the social welfare authorities will open the accommodation on Monday.
It is aimed at homeless people who "do not take advantage of the winter emergency program due to psychological stress or other fears," it says in an official email to street social workers.
Icon: The mirror
meh