Hotels for Hope | THE VIRAL Journal, Part 11

By Linda Coonan

According to the American Hospital Association, the United States has just 924,107 staffed hospital beds, and more than two-thirds are typically full. In fact, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) statistics show that the nation has only 2.8 hospital beds per 1,000 people. 

These numbers underscore a growing concern that there are precious few beds available for the number of expected coronavirus cases in the coming weeks.

The US Army Corps of Engineers announced Friday it was working to create more than 10,000 hospital beds in hard-hit New York City by converting hotel rooms and college dormitories into makeshift care facilities. It's considering similar initiatives in California and Washington.

Chicago will would set aside 1,000 rooms in five hotels to isolate people who are mildly ill with Covid-19, fear they've been exposed or are awaiting test results. That number will increase to 2,000 by the end of the week.

Hotels around the world have seen occupancy rates plummet in recent weeks. The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) estimates that, since mid-February, US hotels have lost $2.4 billion in room revenue. Worse still, they're on pace to lose more than $200 million in room revenue per day going forward with world travel shutting down. 

That's why the association just launched Hotels for Hope, a national database to connect hotel properties with the health community to help them meet their growing demands.

"We have a lot of vacant hotels right now since there are no customers, so we thought that if we could present to elected officials and healthcare professionals a list of hotels in their local area that are willing to participate that it would really help everybody," AHLA president and CEO Chip Rogers told CNN. 

Everyone is pitching in even though they are themselves facing extreme financial hardships. This is a very positive sign and warms weary hearts.

Stay warm,

Fairy Queen Mum

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