Baltimore officials have extended emergency contracts to house roughly 500 homeless residents at five city hotels for three more months, buying time to come up with a plan to move most of them into congregate living facilities amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The contracts were set to end at midnight on Dec. 31, when federal CARES act funding expired, but will now remain in place through the end of March. Daniel Ramos, the deputy city administrative officer, said Baltimore is paying for the extension through its general fund and is being reimbursed at a 75% rate by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.