But Shoalhaven Homeless Hub manager Kerri Snowden says while the full ramifications of those job losses are yet to be seen, the homeless are being forgotten in the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I think the impact of it will be felt in the months to come, when people start getting evicted because they can't pay their rent," Ms Snowden said.

"Our big concern is if somebody homeless gets sick or is told to self-isolate, where do they go to self-isolate?

"Yesterday there was no temporary accommodation in Nowra."

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University of Sydney Professor Nicole Gurran, an urban planner and policy analyst, said the best way to help the homeless during the COVID-19 pandemic was to find them a safe place to live and the South Coast was in a unique position to do it.

"Of course this is the kind of action government's should take without a pandemic but right now it's absolutely warranted in terms of the level of public health response," she said.

"We know the South Coast tourism industry has been decimated and there is a huge number of empty residential homes on the South Coast that are often managed by short term rental companies.

"They've got their own armies of maintenance workers and cleaners who could operationalise access to some of that housing.

"The housing is there, the property management workforce is there and so is the need."

Professor Gurran said it would not be too different from what happened during the bushfires where holiday accommodation was provided to those who needed it.

Kiama MP and Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services Gareth Ward said the government was working to increase the supply of temporary accommodation available for people who are homeless, including accommodation suitable for self-isolation.

"We have already taken a number of initial steps to support homelessness providers, including covering the costs of additional staffing, such as casual workers or overtime, helping services to find alternative accommodation options for clients and covering the costs of temporary accommodation for people that need to self-isolate," Mr Ward said.

"We will continue to work across government and closely with our non-government partners to ensure continuity of services and support for vulnerable people."

Professor Gurran said there hadn't been much communication from the government on their response to homeless in this crisis.

"I hope, behind the scenes, there is more government action on that front than we're able to see," she said.