Hungry, scared and tired, scores of sex workers in Mexico City have been forced to live on the streets as fear of contracting the coronavirus keeps clients away and the government shuttered the hotels where many of them lived and worked.

Now they sleep under makeshift tents and on sidewalks, relying on social workers and handouts for what little they have been able to eat, and on each other to fend off attackers and criminals.

"They literally put us out on the streets. We've been on the street for a week; before we lived in the hotels," said Marina Rojano, who has been a sex worker for 24 years.

Another woman, Jazmin Carrillo, said she was jolted awake on the sidewalk earlier this week when two men tried to forcibly remove her pants.

Really shocking photo moments -  sex life in Mexico

The government estimates there are around 7,000 prostitutes in Mexico City.

In an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus, which has infected 3,181 people and killed 174 in Mexico so far, city authorities deemed hotels non-essential and ordered them shut.

Some have decided to stop working, but for others, hunger and the need to support a family mean that is not an option even if they lack the means to protect themselves from the coronavirus.

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