Older Brits ‘could be moved to hotels to protect them against coronavirus’
OLDER Brits could be moved into hotels to protect them against Covid, under plans considered by Government scientists.
Offering “accommodation outside the home” may be the only way of protecting vulnerable adults from an infected family member, according to a report.
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The proposals cover high-risk individuals living in cramped properties where self-isolation is difficult.
It continues “such provision could be cost-effective if it prevents transmission to individuals from low income households at high risk of severe outcomes from Covid.”
The suggestion to stick Brits in hotels is revealed in papers presented to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).
It says such a policy could “decrease the number of deaths and hospital admissions if applied to high risk households containing clinically vulnerable people”.
Infected 80-year-olds are 2,000 times more likely to be killed than 20-year-olds with coronavirus, according to an analysis of UK deaths.
Professor Robert West, a member of the government's SPI-B behavioural science advisory group, helped write the paper.
Speaking in a personal capacity, the University College London expert said: “It's something that was being looked at, and could be looked at.
“There would have to be quite a high threshold and it would of course be voluntary.
“At a certain point in the peak of the pandemic and during the lockdown there were a lot of hotels sitting empty.
“So in a way, in those sort of situations it might be more feasible.
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"But the situation now is very different.”
The paper also says cramped households would benefit from “pre-packed food” to limit time spent in the kitchen cooking and prevent mingling.
Experts also warn open-plan living may make it much harder for those with the bug to self-isolate from others.
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