The City of Langford has teamed up with United Way Greater Victoria to launch a new campaign that will provide free hotel rooms for health care workers seeking accommodation away from their families.
The municipality is providing up to $20,000 to spearhead the initiative, called ‘Langford Cares’, and United Way will be raising funds to match that amount.
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“Frontline workers, especially those working at our hospitals are working long hours fighting the pandemic,” said Langford Mayor Stew Young in a statement.
“They need somewhere comfortable, safe and quiet to get a proper night’s rest after a long day. The City of Langford is showing our support and hope that anyone who is able can also donate to this campaign.”
The rooms themselves will be at the Four Points by Sheraton Victoria Gateway located at 829 McCallum Road.
According to a City of Langford spokesperson, the hotel is supporting the campaign by providing rooms at a deeply discounted rate fo $70 per night.
Organizers of the campaign hope to accommodate as many health care workers as possible by providing rooms on a case by case basis.
This initiative is a part of United Way’s ‘Local Love in a Global Crisis‘ campaign and was launched in response to please from health care workers seek alternative places to stay due to fears of bringing the virus home to their families.
Front-line healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, hospital employees and paramedics, as well as RCMP officers, wanting to take advantage of alternative accommodation should send a request directly to langfordcares@langford.ca.
According to the statement from the City of Langford, all enquiries will be responded to within 24-hours.
Those who wish to donate to the United Way campaign that adds to this fund can do so at https://uwgv.ca/donatecovid19westshore/.
See all the latest updates about the global COVID-19 pandemic on Vancouver Island
The BCCDC has set up a 2019 novel coronavirus telephone information line at 1-833-784-4397 for those who have questions about this disease.
Anyone concerned that they may have been exposed to, or are experiencing symptoms of the novel coronavirus, should contact their primary care provider, local public health office, or call 8-1-1.
The Province has also created the 1-888-COVID-19 line to connect British Columbians needing non-medical information about the coronavirus pandemic.
As of the time of publication, the total number of COVID-19 patients worldwide has risen to 1,412,356.
Over 81,000 people have died from the illness and 301,166 have made a full recovery.
