Randy Byran has been homeless for 20 years — but recently, he's started finding something out of the ordinary on the streets: face masks.

"You see so many on the road that people throw away. You pick it up, you think it's something, and you look at it and it's a mask," Byran said. "And you ain't got nothing to wash your hands with or disinfect yourself."

Byran and his friend John Rorabaugh said they get information about the coronavirus through what they read in the newspaper.

"We don't really get around a TV that much," Rorabaugh said.

They've been using hand sanitizer more to protect themselves from the virus, but say it's scary when they see people walking around with masks on.

"You see so many people with masks on, you're afraid to touch 'em. You know, you don't know if it's a flu. You don't know if it's a bad cold. Or you don't know if it's worse than that," Byran said.

Shelters, ministries providing information but avoiding panic

Each morning at Triune Mercy Center, the day begins with everyone holding hands and praying together. On Wednesday, they still prayed but kept their hands to themselves because of coronavirus concerns.

Triune Mercy Center associate director Pat Parker said they're trying to inform the homeless population while trying to avoid panic as well.

"Because of the population we serve... our homeless population, we don't want them to bombard the emergency room. That is a challenge," Parker said.

Another challenge Triune Mercy Center faces is that it's not a residential facility — so they don't always know where people are coming from and who they've interacted with.

Triune Mercy Center is working closely with St. Francis hospital, Parker said. If someone at the center shows coronavirus symptoms or thinks they might have coronavirus, they have a plan to quarantine that person and work with a St. Francis practitioner on taking the next steps to get that person care.

Parker said they've been bleaching everything in the center, have signs about washing hands posted, and hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes available. They're also providing masks for people who request them.

Homeless shelters in the area have been preparing in similar ways. Tim Brown, vice president for adult ministries at Miracle Hill Ministries, said they're "beefing up hygiene." Miracle Hill, which has several resident facilities, has been encouraging hand washing and have increased cleaning of the facilities, Brown said.

"We're keeping them updated but don't want to put them in a panic mode," Brown told the News.

Miracle Hill is in the process of putting together an area where they can quarantine residents if needed and they've introduced a questionnaire that asks new people entering the shelter if they've had a fever or cough recently.

The Salvation Army is preparing for a possible coronavirus outbreak as well, according to divisional communication and marketing director Shelley Henderson.

"As the situation evolves, we will work in close partnership to prepare and respond in order to meet the needs of the 23 million individuals we serve nationally each year, and the more than 63,000 employees of our organization," Henderson said in an email to the News.

Henderson said the Salvation Army is keeping up with the latest information from the Center for Disease Control and are distributing information on proper hygeine to Salvation Army staff, volunteers and program participants.

"It's just hard, because people come in from every walk of life," Parker said.

Contact Genna at gcontino@gannett.com or on Twitter @GennaContino.