Warming temperatures, Coronavirus pandemic pose concerns for cooling centers

Temperatures have begun to heat up throughout the Coachella Valley. Soon enough people will begin seeking shelter at cooling centers, but it's unclear whether those shelters will open back up to the public as the Coronavirus pandemic continues on.

"Well it can have a huge impact especially as the temperatures rise," Joslyn Center Executive Director, Jack Newby said.

Newby said the center has been closed since March 17.

The facility, for adults ages 55 and over, has closed with the exception of its essential services in providing meals for seniors.

The center also acts as a cooling center in the summer months, when temperatures are too much to bear.

"People are either at home, at a very hot home because they’re low income and they can’t afford the high electricity bills to run their air conditioners," Newby said.

As of Wednesday the center had around 2,000 members. Newby said many not only rely on a shelter away from the heat, but also they attend activities held there for social interaction.

Riverside County Department of Public Health said centers typically open on June 1. As of Wednesday, it was still unclear what could happen after the Coronavirus outbreak forced the halting of social gatherings, and caused social distancing guidelines.

"We opened earlier in past years when it got warmer sooner because of the circumstance. Now of course this is kind of flipped around," Riverside County Department of Public Health Public Information Officer, Jose Arballo said.

Arballo said the county is working to determine what's next, and whether cooling centers will actually open.

"The social distancing and the facilities themselves and the partners themselves may not be available to open as cooling centers so that’s something we’re working on now," Arballo said.

Arballo said restrictions on certain things could be lifted in the future, but it was too soon to tell what exactly could re-open.