Name: Swiss hotel providing coronavirus tests for $500 as part of quarantine package
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Swiss hotel providing coronavirus tests for $500 as part of quarantine package

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close This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To orderpresentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distributionto colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire aboutpermissions/licensing, please go to: We understand the restrictions on travel during the coronavirus pandemic. But like you, we dream of travelling again, and are publishing these stories with future trips in mind.Hotels are starting to advertise quarantine packages to guests as the pandemic spreads around the world. One such hotel is even providing coronavirus testing — though you’ll have to pay extra for it.Le Bijou Hotel &amp; Resort in Switzerland, made up of repurposed luxury apartments, advertises them as “quarantine apartments” on its COVID-19 service page.A 14-day stay in one of these apartments costs between $12,000 (U.S.) to $14,000 per day, not counting extra measures people may like while quarantining, Alexander Hübner, CEO and co-founder of Le Bijou, told USA Today. Guests can pay $800 to have health checks from a nurse or doctor twice a day, and pay $500 for a coronavirus test in conjunction with private clinic Double Check Zurich.“You don’t need to expose yourself to infected patients and hospital infections: together with our health-care partner Double Check, we provide medical checkups and coronavirus tests inside your Le Bijou apartment,” the statement on Le Bijou’s website reads.Skift and The Points Guy have noted other coronavirus packages at various hotels, including Thailand’s A-One Hotels Group and Australia’s Novotel Sydney Brighton Beach.The virus mainly spreads person to person, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So, the more people you’re around, the more likely you are to get it. The agency recommends staying two metres from other people as the disease can be passed through respiratory droplets created when someone who has COVID-19 coughs or sneezes.Is it safe to quarantine or ‘shelter in place’ at a hotel or vacation rental?In the U.S., certain states are invoking “shelter in place” orders, asking their residents not to leave their homes except for essential items such as food and medicine amid the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the country and world.But what if you are at a hotel or vacation rental when such an order comes? Is it advisable to go to a vacation rental to wait it out?The answer is ultimately up to your judgment, but advice from the hospitality industry and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should give you a sense of what you need to do to keep you and your family safe.David Sherwyn, a hospitality professor at Cornell University, says hotel companies are doing everything they can to make their environments and safe as possible. Some have even hired infectious disease consultants to advise them on the best way to keep hotels safe.“For people who are self-quarantining, (workers) are leaving towels at the door and not going in,” Sherwyn explains.Hotels are also limiting or shutting down open spaces and ensuring surfaces are scrubbed with antibacterial solutions in an effort to improve cleanliness.Is the situation ideal? Probably not. But it may be a better option to hunker down than to travel further. JOIN THE CONVERSATION Q:Anyone can read Conversations, but to contribute, you should be registered Torstar account holder. If you do not yet have a Torstar account, you can create one now (it is free)Sign InRegisterConversations are opinions of our readers and are subject to the . The Star does not endorse these opinions.Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. Allrights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content isexpressly prohibited without the prior written consent of TorontoStar Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies ofToronto Star articles, please go to:

close This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To orderpresentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distributionto colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire aboutpermissions/licensing, please go to: We understand the restrictions on travel during the coronavirus pandemic. But like you, we dream of travelling again, and are publishing these stories with future trips in mind.Hotels are starting to advertise quarantine packages to guests as the pandemic spreads around the world. One such hotel is even providing coronavirus testing — though you’ll have to pay extra...

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Swiss hotel providing coronavirus tests for $500 as part of quarantine package

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