PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia has been under an extreme cold warning since Wednesday, according to the Office of Sustainability. Now with snow falling, that means special measures are in place for those who are homeless.
The city is under a code blue. "And what that does is it puts additional homeless outreach workers on the street 24/7," said Liz Hersh, director of Philadelphia's Office of Homeless Services.
She said her office is boosting its efforts due to the sustained cold and snowy forecast.
"The bottom line here is we want to keep everyone alive, and this is life threatening weather," she stressed.
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Hersh said keeping everyone safe from COVID-19 is a top priority as well. She says everyone is screened before they go into a shelter.
"First of all, we want to keep people safe from getting COVID as well so we'll screen everybody before they come in, make sure they're not having any symptoms," she said.
"If they think they’ve been exposed and for some reason tested positive and are still out on the street, we want to know that before they come in so that we can get them to the medical care that they need or if they've been exposed get them to quarantine and isolation."
The department works with more than 70 nonprofits. Hersh said there are plenty of beds available, and if necessary, they'll open up more.
If you or someone you know needs help, you can reach the Office of Homeless Services at 215-232-1984.