South Hennepin News

Hennepin and Ramsey counties approved a $4.8 million emergency spending budget on March 17 so the counties can build or lease designated COVID-19 quarantine sites to house the region’s most-exposed citizens.

Hennepin County says it will spend $3 million to negotiate leases with existing buildings. County officials are targeting apartments and hotels in an ongoing effort to establish isolation rooms for residents who show symptoms of the virus. 

Ramsey County says it will spend $1.8 million to establish temporary quarantine housing units for homeless residents.

County Administrator David Hough says they have apartment buildings and motels that would work for what they are planning to do. He says the county is finalizing the legal documents.

“There are apartments; there are opportunities with motels with what we’re seeking to do,” Hough told MinnPost. “We have leads and we’re in the process of getting those documents finalized."

The two counties are looking to establish quarantine spaces for people who are homeless. They are also planning to house the county's most-vulnerable residents who have the symptoms but do not require a hospital stay. 

MinnPost reports 100 and 150 people seek shelter at a county-sponsored emergency homeless shelter every night in Hennepin County alone. Many of these residents are older than 65.

David Hewitt, who is the county’s director of the Office to End Homelessness, says the office's main priority is to move vulnerable people out of harm's way.

“Our highest priority is moving seniors and other people who would be at highest risk out of harm’s way,” Hewitt told MinnPost.

County leaders say people who are discharged from the hospital with no place to go need to have a place to isolate themselves under directions from the state Department of Health.