Supervisors urge city to secure 8,250 hotel rooms to shelter people experiencing homelessness, quarantine patients and frontline workers

At a virtual meeting April 7, 2020, members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors introduced an emergency ordinance that would require the city to procure at least 8,250 private hotel rooms by April 26 to serve as quarantine and recovery units for people experiencing homelessness, frontline workers and people discharged from hospitals with COVID‑19 exposure or infection.

Supervisor Catherine Ronan, who led the presentation, said the city was “waiting for homeless individuals to become infected first before placing them in private hotel rooms” and argued that delay endangered lives. “Every hour that we delay in getting people self‑safely sheltered inside puts more homeless people's lives at risk and endangers our collective public health,” Ronan said.

The ordinance, introduced by Ronan with co‑sponsors including Supervisors Haney, Preston, Walton, Marr and Peskin, would set aside rooms for three…