Aarhus municipality has 20 places ready for infected people who cannot isolate themselves at home.
If you are infected with corona, you must be quarantined! This is how it is – and if you have no opportunity to isolate yourself from the outside world, then Aarhus Municipality will come to your aid.
This was promised by the city’s mayor, Jacob Bundsgaard (S), at a press conference on 6 August, when the corona situation developed in Aarhus.
Now the first isolation guests have checked in at Hotel Guest Apart in Skejby, with which the municipality cooperates in order to help coronary citizens to self-isolate.
But it is only intended for people who have no other options, emphasizes Hanne Linnemann, chief of staff for the social and health professional staff in Aarhus Municipality.
– The vast majority of infected citizens can easily isolate themselves in their own home, but where the home is designed so that you can not isolate yourself and keep your distance from other residents, it is the municipality’s obligation to provide an isolation facility, she says.
– It can be students who live several in an apartment, where the division of space makes it difficult for everyone to be there and at the same time limit the infection. Or it can be large families who live, so it can be difficult to keep the necessary distance, says Hanne Linnemann.
In addition to the agreement with a hotel chain, Aarhus Municipality also has vacant municipal buildings.
– We can gradually use them if there is a need for it, Hanne Linnemann explains.
But even though a hotel room at the municipality’s expense may sound like pure holiday relaxation, it is a stay with strict restrictions , Hanne Linnemann emphasizes.
– When you arrive at the hotel, you are in isolation. This means that you have to stay in your room. You can not go for an evening walk if you feel like it.
Isolated from staff and guests
It is Hotel Guest Apart in Skejby that helps Aarhus Municipality to get citizens in isolation. Here, holiday apartments with kitchen and bath are reserved for quarantined corona patients.
– The actual check-in process is digital, so we avoid contact in any way where the staff could be infected, explains hotel director Niels Bonkegaard.
Guests also stay isolated in their rooms during their stay, so meals must be eaten in the room.
– You can buy food here on site, because we have our own restaurant. Of course, we do this on one-time service that can be deposited correctly. You can also find an opportunity yourself and order it from outside, he says.
As such, Hotel Guest Apart does not monitor whether guests comply with the quarantine rules, or whether they show up for the breakfast buffet or go for an evening walk, explains Niels Bonkegaard.
– We are employed to run a hotel, and we keep an eye on the guests, as we would otherwise do. But that is a hypothetical question, because we have not seen anyone break the quarantine. And you are welcome to go out on the balcony and breathe fresh air.
Must be left empty after quarantine
To take care of the staff, no cleaning is done during the stay, and the National Board of Health requires that the rooms be left empty for at least 48 hours after the quarantine guests’ departure before the hotel staff enters.
– And if we can let them stand even longer, in relation to our daily operations, then of course we do, says Niels Bonkegaard.
He does not want to comment on whether corona quarantine guests are good business for the hotel, but believes it is an important effort for the entire industry .
– It is in the interest of many industries to get corona eliminated , and it is in particular in the interest of the hotel industry, so whatever we can help with, we are happy to be available, says Niels Bonkegaard.
– It is a different experience, and we become a richer experience.
At the moment, Aarhus Municipality has 20 places available to put people in isolation.
This morning, eight citizens were in isolation in one of Aarhus Municipality’s hotel rooms, and Hanne Linnemann expects an ongoing replacement, because the isolation will basically last seven days. If you are then asymptomatic, you can return home again.
Source: dr.dk
