IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Riverside and San Bernardino counties have postponed their Point-In-Time counts, the result of the recent spike in COVID-19 cases caused by the Omicron variant.
Riverside County is now scheduled to hold its count Feb. 23, 30 days later than originally scheduled, according to a statement on the county’s website.
San Bernardino County has moved its count date to Feb. 24, a 28-day delay.
The Point-In-Time Count is conducted every year by local agencies on behalf of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The department uses the data to determine the nation’s homeless population and how effectively local agencies are battling homelessness.
“Due to the ongoing pandemic, we made the decision to postpone the count,” said Heidi Marshall, director of Riverside County’s department of housing and workforce solutions, in the statement. “Our goal is to conduct a comprehensive and accurate count while ensuring appropriate safeguards for all involved. It is critical that we have current data on the local homeless population to assess the impact the pandemic may have caused.”
