Mayor Darrell Steinberg’s statement on 10-day closure of Library Galleria and Southside Park warming centers

Sacramento (Feb. 20, 2021) ”I’d like to start by saying that we as a City will do everything we can to support the three warming center workers and one guest who have tested positive.

 “I recognize and accept that opening overnight shelters during the pandemic raises difficult questions. There are risks to bringing large numbers of people indoors. There are also serious risks if we leave hundreds of people outdoors every night with nowhere to get warm. We are doing our best as a City to assess these risks every day, to save lives, and to minimize the chances of Covid spread.

 “I fully support the decision to close the Library Galleria warming center for 10 days retroactive to Thursday. This is necessary to make sure nobody else is infected at that site. I support keeping open the City Hall garage for cars and individuals without cars.

 “I also support the City working diligently to open multiple new sites in the coming days for overnight shelter. This will better allow us to be cautious about the maximum number of people housed at each site on any given night, so we can ensure adequate spacing and better protect our workers and guests.”