Concerned about the situation of accommodation centers in the midst of an epidemic, Louis Gallois launched an appeal to the government, this Friday at the microphone of Europe 1. Masks must be "at all costs" so that the personnel who work there can be protected.

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Masks are needed in shelters. This is the call launched this Friday on Europe 1 by the president of the Federation of Solidarity Actors, Louis Gallois. While the peak of the coronavirus epidemic is expected in the coming days, the poorest, the homeless and the migrants, are living in a difficult situation. "You have to understand that the situation in accommodation centers is a bit like that of nursing homes," insists Louis Gallois.

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"We have very fragile audiences"

Invited to the midday newspaper this Friday, he calls on the government to provide masks to the people who work in these places. "We have very fragile audiences, and at the speed at which the virus is growing in the centers, we will not be able to hold out in a few days, if we do not have masks," he explains. "We will then have to put them back on the street, because people will not be able to work. There is an emergency!"

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Homeless people who start to "be hungry"

But the situation in shelters is not the worst, according to Louis Gallois, who points to the "dramatic conditions of those who are completely homeless". "These people are deprived of health care, hygiene, they have problems of access to water ... And then they start to be hungry, since the volunteers who ensured the food distributions are no longer there." A problem that the 15 million euros of service vouchers released by the government, to help the homeless during the confinement, are not able to solve: "It would be much more!".

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From there to take the step of requisitioning housing? "It's difficult, the procedures are long," retorts Louis Gallois. "But there are alternatives: high schools, boarding schools, university cities, youth hostels, there are structures that can be mobilized beyond the 7,600 hotel rooms opened by the government." And to sum up: "We need space, and people who must be able to be protected!"