Coronavirus pandemic sees food shortages for homeless as panic buying strips supermarket shelves

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Food is becoming scarce for the homeless and people sleeping rough in Ipswich, west of Brisbane, as five charities stop operating amid the spread of COVID-19.

Those that remain open are struggling to keep up with the surge in demand.

Ipswich Assist, which provides hampers to people sleeping rough and those in hardship, said demand had doubled in the last fortnight.

Manager Jason Budden is concerned the charity may soon have to cater to up to 1,000 people per week, as those who work part-time and casually start needing more assistance.

"That is an incredible amount of people and we don't have food and resources to do that," he said.

Mr Budden said panic buying was preventing them from getting food to distribute, and his team were relying on food parcels from the public.

"One guy came in the other day, he had missed he meals provided in the community and he hadn't eaten in three days just because he wasn't there in time," he said.

"Normally there is more time but as they shut down, these guys are going hungry without any food.

"People aren't prepared to give them food because they are afraid of this virus."

Mr Budden said he has a group of dedicated volunteers who will continue working as the virus progresses, but he would be changing the systems and putting in hygiene measures.

"We are positive that if we can keep helping people, then they will be safe, fed and clothed. We are hopeful."

Nancy Papana from the community group, Footprints in the Park, said they were still operating but volunteers, many of whom work as teachers or as health professionals, were reducing hours to limit the risk of spreading the virus.

Even when their team do go out to get food, it is getting hard to find enough.

"Going out there to get food, there is hardly anything out there," she said.

"I think people are just hoarding it and for those people who actually need it, there isn't that much for them.

"It really hardens my heart that I can't help feed people and give them the things they need."

Advocates are concerned that homeless people will be more vulnerable to the virus due to their lifestyle and will end up in hospitals.

Renae Morrissey, from the group Keeping the Faith, runs weekly barbecues and delivers food to those living in hostels.

She said small volunteer groups were helping one another, but there was little help coming from outside.

"A lot of our people on the street dig through the bins or they will have leftovers from cafes," she said.

"But since the virus has hit a lot of them won't do that.

"They are worried their immune system is down and they will touch something that will make them sick."

About 20,000 Queenslanders experience homelessness at any one time.

Housing Minister Mark de Brenni said he has been talking with specialist homelessness providers.

"[They] are understandably concerned about some service capacity to meet social distancing and hygiene protocols," Mr de Brenni said.

"I am planning an immediate Queensland based interim response and feeding these concerns through to the national process."

Topics: diseases-and-disorders, covid-19, charities-and-community-organisations, federal---state-issues, infectious-diseases-other, community-and-society, food-safety, charities, activism-and-lobbying, government-and-politics, health, homelessness, australia, qld, brisbane-4000, ipswich-4305

Source: ABC News (AU)

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