In the fight against Covid-19, frontline healthcare workers are not only at increased risk of contracting the virus, but also of bringing it home to their families. Many healthcare workers are already choosing to stay in garages or other housing away from their families in order to protect them, especially if members of their family unit have pre-existing health conditions or are otherwise vulnerable.
But there may be some relief on the horizon – today, the NSW government offered to foot the bill for frontline health workers who are choosing to self-isolate away from their families during the pandemic.
On Tuesday, April 7, the NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian announced that $60 million would go towards providing doctors, nurses, paramedics and medical staff the option of staying in alternative accommodation – hotels, motels and the like – as the coronavirus crisis unfolds. In the same package is additional funding for research into building a viable vaccine against the virus.
It’s also been reported that housing giant Airbnb has started making plans to house health professionals during the crisis. While renting out an Airbnb has not been entirely outlawed in NSW, any use of the service must comply with the general, nation-wide ban on non-essential travel. Basically, your Easter holiday has been called off – in fact, leaving your house for any reason other than these 16 reasons has been called off.
In other news which eases the burden on frontline healthcare workers, the City of Sydney has also done away with parking fees to introduce free parking near hospitals in its government area. Good move, we say.