1. Radio
 / Modified jan 4, 2021 5:55 p.m.

Virus fears halt Arizona county's annual homeless count

Federal government allows opt out
by Associated Press

Homeless man santa rita A man sits on the curb at Santa Rita Park in Tucson.
AZPM Staff

Agencies helping the homeless in Arizona’s largest county say the annual count of people living on the streets has been cancelled this year because of concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.

The Maricopa Regional Continuum of Care includes shelters and other services for homeless people. It says the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development allowed it to opt out of the January 2021 count.

The Maricopa Association of Governments last week announced it cancelled the outdoors count and face to face interviews amid a surge in reported COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations.

Last year's effort counted 3,767 homeless people in Maricopa County.

MORE: Arizona, Coronavirus, News
By posting comments, you agree to our
AZPM encourages comments, but comments that contain profanity, unrelated information, threats, libel, defamatory statements, obscenities, pornography or that violate the law are not allowed. Comments that promote commercial products or services are not allowed. Comments in violation of this policy will be removed. Continued posting of comments that violate this policy will result in the commenter being banned from the site.

By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.
AZPM is a service of the University of Arizona and our broadcast stations are licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents who hold the trademarks for Arizona Public Media and AZPM. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
The University of Arizona