Las Vegas opens outdoor homeless shelter

A temporary outdoor homeless shelter has been set up in Las Vegas in response to a shelter closing down after a homeless man tested positive for the coronavirus. 

The temporary outdoor shelter is set up outside of the Cashman Center, the city of Las Vegas and Clark County, Nevada, announced in a joint statement. 

The temporary shelter opened Saturday and will be running until April 3, when officials said they anticipate the Catholic Charities homeless shelter in the Corridor of Hope will reopen. The shelter closing left about 500 people with no overnight shelter. 

The sea of blue mats is part of a temporary shelter for the #homeless, who will be spaced at least six feet apart, @ Cashman Center. It will open tonight & be open through April 3rd, when Catholic Charities, now closed, will reopen. #coronavirus #Vegas pic.twitter.com/FkoJUAjc1X

— Clark County Nevada (@ClarkCountyNV) March 28, 2020

Officials said people will be spaced at least 6 feet apart in the temporary, outdoor shelter. 

“We needed a solution to this problem quickly and I want to thank everyone involved for their hard work so that our homeless population has a place to sleep tonight,” Commissioner Lawrence Weekly said in the joint county and city announcement. 

The temporary shelter will operate from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. 

Touro University medical students and physician assistant students helped officials with setting up the shelter on Saturday. 

Touro University med students & physician asst. students have arrived to help with our temp. homeless facility at Cashman Center. It’s coming together! #coronavirus #Vegas pic.twitter.com/cCSaezqIFb

— Clark County Nevada (@ClarkCountyNV) March 28, 2020

The outdoor shelter is available for those who are able to walk to the site from the city’s Homeless Courtyard. Those with fragile health or mobility problems will be accommodated at the Courtyard.