Recently, the government told councils to house all rough sleepers in England 'by the weekend', to halt the spread of Coronavirus, to praise from the homeless charities. I do not know if Scotland has followed.

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I walked around Edinburgh and saw the peculiar vulnerability of the street homeless to infection and death.  In normal times the average life expectancy for a homeless man is 47; for women it is 43.  Edinburgh has the second-highest rate of homelessness in Scotland.

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An estimated 3,229 people need permanent housing in Edinburgh alone. According to Homeless.org data, 45% of 2,590 surveyed had been diagnosed with a mental health disorder, compared to 25% of the general public. 61% have used they’ve used hospital services within the last six months. 39% are recovering from drug addiction and 27% are recovering from alcoholism; a majority have underlying conditions.

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Graham McDonald, 44, sat quietly in the shade, waiting for donations which had tapered off in the near empty streets.

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“I’ll have to find a B&B tonight,” he said, “but the only open ones are around £80 a night. How am I meant to find £80 when the streets are like ghost towns?”

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“I’m just scared of catching it because when you live on the street, your immune system’s knackered. I’m waiting for a valve replacement on my heart the last thing I want to do is catch that.”  

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I dropped pounds in Graham’s cup and heard a quiet whimper. I followed the sound behind a row of cars outside Sainsbury’s and found a man with a broad Irish accent.

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He was more reserved than Graham, but he accepted some water. His eyes were bright and untrusting. As he lit a cigarette, a money spider dropped from his hood.

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“I’m not getting any help whatsoever, no claim, and no national insurance number,” he said.

 

“They’re meant to try and help you but they’re not doing anything.”

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“No one’s approached me about the virus. Streetwalk came and gave me a squeeze of hand sanitiser but that was it.”

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The Scottish Tenants Organisation is worried about, “lack of action” by both Westminster and the Scottish government. Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon pledged to provide £300,000 of funding to temporarily house those in need of immediate shelter.

 

Edinburgh’s council leader Adam McVey said: “We are committed to doing all that we can during this crisis, and we stand ready to support everyone who is or becomes homeless, in any way possible”.

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Even so, many are wandering the streets. Two homeless men passed and nodded to the Irishman.

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“I’m not worried,” said one, “We’ve been told we need to self-isolate for 14 days before you can do anything and if it gets worse then we can go and see someone.”

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“I’ll have to stay in the graveyard for 14 days!” said the other.

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When I asked where they would spend the night they pointed towards a row of doorways. They prefer to sleep outside. For them, it feels more like freedom; and they believe they are more likely to contract the virus in a crowded shelter. If they are offered accommodation, I doubt they will go.

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“I’ll sleep just up there,” said one, “I think shelters are breeding grounds but if I did get it wouldn’t know where to go. You can’t go to the doctors, can't go to the hospital, you can't go anywhere.”

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They have no access to food or medical care in this crisis, and they have underlying medical conditions. Still they feel lucky.

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“I couldn’t care less about the virus, if I catch it, I catch it, but I know I’m not going to catch it. I’m on treatment for Hepatitis C and that’s a heavy body cleaner so I’m pretty sure that’ll sort it,” said the other.

 

“Anyway, how did you know we are homeless?”