CALGARY -- Seeing the number of active COVID-19 cases rise at Calgary homeless facilities has some advocates worried.

There are now more than two dozen cases identified, including 20 at the Calgary Drop-In Centre.

“Currently there are 16 clients who have tested positive and four staff that have tested positive,” said executive director Sandra Clarkson. “However with the staff there’s no evidence that they contracted it at the workplace.”

Seven more cases have been identified at Alpha House properties.

That has Chaz Smith worried. He’s the president and CEO of Be The Chance YYC Street Outreach.

“I’ve been advocating all spring, all summer for us to have solutions in place already,” said Smith.

“What I keep being told is that we’re waiting on the province to actually approve solutions.”

Alberta Community and Social Services Minister Rajan Sawhney has said there are currently enough beds in Calgary for its homeless population. She says there are about 1,100 spaces and the utilization rate of people staying in shelters is anywhere from 65 to 80 per cent.

“I look at the reports every day to look at what our capacity is, what our utilization is,” said Sawhney. “I’m confident that we have the space for vulnerable Albertans if they need a place to shelter.”

Ward 7 Coun. Druh Farrell says the changing seasons means more people will be looking to stay warm at night.

“What we’ve seen over the summer is a lot of people were in encampments, they were camping out in tents,” said Farrell. “Because it was safer and that’s no answer over the winter time.”

Capacity at the Calgary Drop In Centre is typically upward of 1,100, but because of the pandemic it’s down to 380.  Smith says other Canadian cities have been quicker to respond with temporary homeless shelters this winter.

“This year with the challenges of COVID and people being terrified to enter shelters as they are break out sites and that reduced capacity at shelters we could very well be facing way more people’s lives lost because of this inaction,” said Smith.

Sawhney says from the government’s perspective, they are working hard on the issue.

“We are making sure the spaces are available and we’ll continue to keep our eye on things as they unfold," she said.