Five Sydney hotels turned into makeshift coronavirus hospitals
Five hotels across Sydney have been closed to the public and are instead being used to treat patients suffering from mild cases of COVID-19, with medics from the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital on hand 24/7.
NSW Coronavirus News
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Hotels have been turned into hospitals to manage the spread of COVID-19 and ease the pressure on actual emergency departments.
NSW Health is managing five hotels in Newtown, Summer Hill, Chippendale, Camperdown and Green Square, staffed around the clock by registered nurses from Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
The hotels are accommodating recently returned travellers who have either tested positive to COVID-19 or have symptoms, as well as people who might not be able to isolate at their own home.
“We recognise that sometimes if you've been a contact of a case, you then are required to self-isolate at home,” NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said.
“We know that not everyone lives in a circumstance where they've got a separate bathroom and separate bedroom so, in those cases, the options are the other person in the household goes out and stays with someone else or that person is put in a hotel.”
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Like travellers held in mandatory 14-day quarantine in hotels around Sydney, guests at hotel hospitals are mostly confined to their room and provided with three meals a day.
Dr Chant said hospitals including Royal Prince Alfred were also working with hotels for COVID-19 patients needing minimal care.
“It solves any infection control issues with them being at home and allows that care and then also there's a pathway should they get any deterioration in their condition,” she said.
NSW Health said the hotels, which are guarded by police officers, have the capacity to manage 315 people
The hotels and serviced apartments have closed their doors to the general public and only accommodate virus-related cases. If a patient’s condition deteriorates, they are transported to hospital immediately.
Praveen Ramchandani arrived at The Merchant hotel in Summer Hill on Thursday night after the 22-year-old tested positive to coronavirus.
The final year medical student, who had only mild symptoms, was in remarkably good spirits despite the diagnosis.
“I don’t feel too stressed out because other people have been through a lot worse than me,” he said.
At The Merchant, a “team of very nice nurses” checked in on him regularly and delivered breakfast, lunch and dinner to his room.
With the nurse’s approval, he is allowed to enjoy fresh air in the courtyard.
A care package, with his computer, DJ decks and home-cooked dinners arrived from his parents on Friday.
Mr Ramchandani was on a medical placement in Peru when the coronavirus outbreak started.
He spent two weeks in isolation in a hostel before forking out $5000 for a repatriation flight back to Australia on March 29.
He went straight into mandatory quarantine at the CBD’s Sheraton Grand and saw the silver lining — a kingsize bed, plush amenities and delicious food.
“You couldn’t open the window but it was a small price to pay for a hotel I will probably never get to stay in again,” he said.
After struggling to kick a sustained dry cough, Mr Ramchandani was tested for COVID-19 and received a positive result on Thursday night. He was relocated via a patient transport vehicle to The Merchant.
Queensland man Col Pirie flew into Sydney on April 4 after seven weeks working 15 hour-plus days on a major construction project in Asia.
He told authorities he had a cough and was taken to 28 Hotel in Chippendale, one of the five health hotels.
“In discussions with some of the NSW Health people, they said it is just a holding place and you will be moved to another place that’s more comfortable for a long term stay,” he said.
After he returned a negative result to a COVID-19 test, Mr Pirie was moved to The Urban Hotel in Newtown — another health hotel — but it wasn’t much better.
The room is tiny, the food is pre-packaged gluten free meals or juice poppers and he is finding it difficult to continue working in the cramped environment.
He said his colleagues who travelled back to Australia with him are staying in well-equipped quarantine hotels in other states.
Mr Pirie sent an email to NSW Health putting his case for accommodation that wasn’t a health hotel, considering he didn’t have coronavirus.
He hasn’t heard back.
People in the five health hotels cannot leave isolation until they are cleared of COVID-19.