The
Palais
des
Festivals
aka
Cannes
Film
Festival
last
week
announced
a
delay
in
the
festivities
due
to
the
novel
Coronavirus
(also
known
as
COVID-19).
While
the
show
normally
opens
the
door
for
the
hottest
names
in
the
cinema
industry,
a
report
recently
said
that
the
venue
will
now
be
used
as
living
quarters
for
the
town's
homeless
during
the
lockdown.
The
annual
film
festival,
which
takes
place
in
the
palm-fringed
French
Riviera
resort,
opened
its
doors
for
the
homeless
on
Friday,
after
the
delay
in
the
date
was
announced.
The
organisers
had
announced
that
while
the
festivities
were
to
take
place
from
May
12
to
May
23,
have
been
postponed
to
until
late
June
and
early
July.
"We
have
between
50
and
70
people
here
every
night," said
Dominique
Aude-Lasset,
an
official
at
Cannes
Town
Hall.
A
report
stated,
at
the
venue,
a
worker
in
a
face
mask
is
set
to
take
the
temperature
of
each
homeless
person
as
they
enter
the
site.
For
their
convenience,
there
is
an
eating
area
inside,
along
with
a
shower
block
and
communal
space
with
television
and
games
to
help
them
stay
indoors.
They
have
also
been
provided
with
camp-beds
that
are
set
up
in
three
long
lines.
The
organisers
have
made
shelter
arrangements
for
stray
dogs
as
well.
"We
know
dogs
are
precious
for
people
living
on
the
streets," Aude-Lasset
added
in
his
statement.
A
week
ago,
President
Emmanuel
Macron
had
initiated
a
nationwide
lockdown
in
France.
He
told
the
67
million
people
of
France
to
flatten
the
curve
by
staying
at
home
and
protect
themselves
from
the
pandemic.
According
to
reports,
the
country
estimated
that
the
homeless
exceeded
by
12,000
people.
The
homeless
living
on
the
streets,
usually
without
access
to
proper
sanitation,
rely
on
handouts
by
the
privileged
who
are
now
confined
to
their
homes.