As more of us are told to stay at home, Edinburgh Live looks at how those without a home on our streets are being supported, and what you can do to help.
Major concerns have been raised about the impact the pandemic could have on those experiencing homelessness, with questions raised about how they could possibly self-isolate if needed.
Charities across Scotland have been working to better support those without a home during the crisis, and the Scottish Government
There have also been calls for evictions to be halted during the outbreak, with Shelter warning thousands could be at risk.
The charity highlighted the case of an NHS worker who was facing eviction because their landlord was "scared" of catching the virus from tenants.
Lorraine McGrath, chief executive of Simon Community Scotland told Edinburgh Live they would welcome support from the public: “We are naturally very concerned about the impact Covid19 will most likely have for people who are experiencing homelessness or who are in temporary accommodation.
"It is a sad fact that many of the people we support have very poor health as a starting point, with many of the concerning underlying conditions, so the impact of COVID19 could be significant, and by that we mean fatal.
"Added to this is that fact that any possibility of self isolating is immediately hampered by not having a safe, supported and secure place to self isolate with friends that can bring groceries and medication.
"Our street teams in Glasgow and Edinburgh and all of our staff throughout our services are very aware of the signs and symptoms of Covid19 and we are supporting people to be aware, to follow good hand hygiene and to avoid crowded spaces where possible.
"Plans are also being made on to examine how we can effectively and safely support anyone we support to self-isolate.
"We are working closely with other charities to ensure that we can provide the most up to date information, response and care as quickly and effectively when that may be needed.
"Access to essential supplies is an area of major concern.”
The Scottish Government's housing minister,Kevin Stewart,said they were working with partners to support those in need.
Aileen Campbell, cabinet secretary for communities and local government, said:“Extra accommodation has been made available across Scotland to help rough sleepers and people in temporary accommodation to self-isolate and we want to encourage them and support them in their efforts.
“Local authorities and their partners are developing plans to further increase capacity in the coming days, including the use of hotel bed spaces and vacant student accommodation.
“As part of the Community Wellbeing Fund we provided support to frontline homelessness services to help them support rough sleepers and people in emergency accommodation to self-isolate. We will also provide support to charities and social enterprises to help support people in temporary accommodation, and by Friday we will be funding Social Bite to provide 3,000 meals a day.”
You can keep updated with all the latest coronavirus updates from around Edinburgh throughout the day using our live blog.
For the latest guidance on coronavirus from Health Protection Scotland, click here.
