Homeless people in Australia could be moved to five-star hotels in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
The West Australian Government is getting ready to house homeless people at the Pan Pacific hotel in Perth for the ‘Hotels with Heart’ pilot.
There will be a one-month trial of 20 homeless people unable to self-isolate during the looming virus threat.
The cheapest room at Perth’s Pan Pacific hotel costs $170 per night, while the most expensive rooms go for $260 per night.
The initiative could be expanded to also house victims of abuse and domestic violence and people with mental health problems if everything goes by plan.
In total, 120 hotel rooms would be used.
Community Services Minister Simone McGurk said that the government understands that some groups of people are more vulnerable to coronavirus than others.
‘The Hotels with Heart pilot learns from similar initiatives happening interstate and around the world, including in the United Kingdom, America and Canada,’ she said.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom has decided to convert hotels and offices into emergency spaces to protect the homeless from COVID-19.
Louise Casey, hired by Prime Minister Boris Johnson a month ago to help out with the problem of homelessness, was scheduled to get to work after Easter but growing concerns on homeless people’s vulnerability to the virus led her having to start immediately.
The strategy to keep the homeless safe follows Califrnia’s decision to allow vacant hotels to be turned into homes for desperate people vulnerable to COVID-19.
Technically, protecting Britain’s homeless by offering spaces for self-isolation means that up to 45,000 “self-contained accommodation spaces” must be found as soon as possible.
Empty hotels have been scheduled as a quick solution because they have separate cleaning facilities and rooms, and can be rented by the government using funding meant for tackling the COVID-19 threat.
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