Select a region
The government has spent more than £250,000 placing essential employees into hotels and apartments to self-isolate, Express has learned.
In order to curb the spread of covid-19, the government decided to provide emergency accommodation for key workers who needed to keep away from home either due to having vulnerable relatives or being confirmed or suspected to have been infected with the virus.
It was also decided that essential workers arriving into the island from the UK should be accommodated so that they could self-isolate for 14 days in line with guidance for all new arrivals into the island.
Since then, a spokesperson told Express there have been more than 340 placements of this kind, costing £252,709.59 to date.
They confirmed that a procurement process took place in advance, resulting in the selection of six sites – four hotels and two self-catering apartment facilities:
Ahead of the new airport testing regime pilot being launched, the government also considered whether a dedicated quarantine facility should be made available to travellers for them to self-isolate while they await their PCR (diagnostic) test result.
However, officials have since suggested this idea is no longer on the table.
"We continue to review all aspects of the pandemic public health strategy as a matter of course, and that includes isolation measures. There are no plans for a dedicated isolation (quarantine) facility at this time, but we do of course keep that under consideration as we do all options," a spokesperson told Express.
Pictured: There are no current plans for an isolation facility where travellers can await their result.
Specific guidance has been issued to hotels hosting individuals that are self-isolating, including advice on food preparation and delivery and the provision of fresh linen and towels.
Hotels are being asked to deliver food and drinks orders to outside their room, with occupants told to only take the food when the corridor is clear. A container should be provided for dirty cutlery.
Occupants are asked to secure their dirty linen and towels in a laundry bag and leave it in their room for a minimum of 72 hours before collection.
Rooms should only be entered and cleaned after the end of the isolation period, with increased disinfection of “special areas” such as door handles, light switches, tables and counters, TV buttons and remote controls, and bathroom areas.
Pictured: Food should be left outside hotel rooms for collection by self-isolating individuals.
On privacy, the guidance states: “Individuals in isolation must have their rights with respect to their protection of their personal health information maintained.
“This means that, information about the individual's health situation should only be discussed with those staff members directly involved with assisting quarantine. In practice this may include relevant laundry and catering staff.”
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.