ROME — For more than two weeks, the Italian government has trumpeted a central message for containing the spread of the coronavirus: Stay home.

But for the thousands who are homeless or living in extreme poverty in Rome, keeping off the streets is nearly impossible.

“The message given to stay home is a message that they can’t respond to because they don’t have anywhere to go,” Francesca Zuccari, coordinator of services for people in extreme poverty for the Community of St. Egidio charity, said of the 8,000 people who typically live on Rome’s now empty streets.

“The problem is that these are the most fragile members of the population, and those who are most exposed,” she said.