Need to Quarantine? A Free Hotel May Be an Option

During the pandemic, hotels in many major cities are offering rooms to quarantine for healthcare workers and people experiencing homelessness. Many people don't know that this option is also available to anyone who might be at risk of contracting COVID-19 from roommates, according to a feature in Cond� Nast Traveler.

Mitchell Z., an animator based in Queens, explained that he lives with a couple, and "one tested positive the day after Christmas." Shortly after, Mitchell tested negative but was still concerned about the risk of exposure. A friend told him about the COVID-19 Hotel Program, which provides free rooms for self-isolation for up to 14 days. Among those who qualify are people whose health and well-being are at risk and those who live in spaces with other people where social distancing is not possible – such as sharing a room or a bathroom.

Mitchell said the intake process was quick: "You call the hotline, someone asks questions, and a taxi picked me up that night." He quarantined for 14 days at LaGuardia Plaza Hotel in a private room with a TV, three free meals per day, and two daily visits from nurses for health and temperature checks. Those self-isolating are required to stay in their rooms but are provided with two 15-minute breaks every day to go outside.

Of course, an essential part of maintaining health through self-isolation is finding ways to make quarantine enjoyable and less lonely. Over the 14 days, Mitchell "did a bit of drawing, some reading, I spent a lot of time with my laptop hooked up to the TV and watched YouTube videos and movies. I took long baths, and I guess I did a fair amount of sleeping. I tried to treat it as much as a staycation as I could."

The New York City program designates specific hotels for two groups of people: Those who have tested negative but are at risk because they live with roommates who have tested positive, and those who test positive but wish to separate themselves from roommates. Cond� Nast Traveler reports that, according to New York Health and Hospitals, about 8,000 people have participated in the program as of January 21. The program expects to hit 10,000 by the end of February.

Many major cities throughout the U.S. currently offer similar isolation programs, including Chicago, Baltimore, San Francisco, Seattle, and Miami, among others. The Private General Isolation Rooms program in Chicago is primarily for those who have tested positive but with a relatively mild case. Similarly, The Lord Baltimore Hotel is functioning as the Triage, Respite, and Isolation Center, for people with "known or suspected COVID-19" and are unable to self-isolate where they live.

San Francisco's COVID-19 Alternative Housing Program serves a broad swathe of people, whether COVID positive or negative, whose health is at risk because of living conditions or homelessness. The San Francisco program also has designated locations for essential workers recovering from positive diagnoses. In the state of California, Project Roomkey is set up to assist people at risk due to homelessness.

Hotel programs similar to that of New York City, for those either isolating (COVID positive) or quarantining (vulnerable populations), are also offered in the Greater Seattle area and in Miami-Dade county.