The Coronavirus pandemic has arrived in California. With already over 200 confirmed cases in the state, nine cases here at home in Santa Cruz County, our local governments have a moral obligation to treat this public health crisis seriously and with urgency. We also know that working families in Santa Cruz, one of the top 5 least affordable cities in the US, are one paycheck away from homelessness.

A pandemic meets a housing crisis in Santa Cruz. Without paid sick leave, hard-working families infected by the Coronavirus are simultaneously forced to stay at home, lose out on a paycheck, and then be dangerously at risk of losing their homes. Without PTO, workers will still try to come to work sick so that they can put a roof over their heads, endangering the public at large. Santa Cruz must follow the lead of other cities and counties in enacting temporary bans on evictions for renters who are afflicted with this public health crisis. San Francisco and Alameda Counties have already suspended eviction enforcement.

With a temporary ban on evictions, we can protect our community from both a housing crisis, by protecting ill workers from homelessness, and a public health crisis, by isolating them and mitigating the spread of a highly-contagious virus.

In addition to a ban on evictions, there needs to be a stated grace period for repayment of rents so that people can get back on their feet without a hefty fee after the lockdown is lifted. The ordinance must forbid no-cause evictions as well, not just for non-rent payment. Without such protections, a landlord could theoretically refuse to re-up a lease.

We also ask our local governments to temporarily stop conducting sweeps of encampments of people experiencing homelessness, and to increase the number of hand washing stations and port-a-potties. These are crucial steps that must be taken to slow the spread of this virus that is especially dangerous to our vulnerable unhoused population.