According to CNN, volunteers first laid out donated carpets on the parking lot grounds to accommodate sleepers, but disinfecting concerns caused them to scrap that option. On the first night, 66 people showed up, with a total of 117 on Sunday.

Officials chose not to use the inside of the convention center, instead reserving the building for hospital overflow space, should the community need it during the pandemic.

“We needed a solution to this problem quickly,” Commissioner Lawrence Weekly said in a press release, “and I want to thank everyone involved for their hard work so that our homeless population has a place to sleep tonight.”

Over 6,500 people in Las Vegas don’t have access to permanent housing, The New York Times reported, and some 70 percent of the homeless community sleeps outdoors.

According to data compiled by The New York Times, there have been 1,113 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Nevada and 26 deaths, as of Wednesday morning. Nationwide, the U.S. has had 188,247 cases and 3,921 deaths, the Times reported.

As information about the coronavirus pandemic rapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from CDC, WHO, and local public health departments. To help provide doctors and nurses on the front lines with life-saving medical resources, donate to Direct Relief here.

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