The City and its partners are beginning to look for spaces where large amounts of COVID-19 patients could potentially be quarantined if the surge that is expected does materialize.
City Manager Tom Ambrosino all options are on the table and they are looking at everything and anything – from school cafeterias to large open spaces to hotels.
“Like every city and town, we’ve been asked to think about potential places to quarantine,” he said. “It could be existing buildings that are empty. It could be large open space areas which could be scaled up.”
In year’s past during snow emergencies or large power outages, the public schools have been a place of refuge, including the cafeteria at Chelsea High School and that is certainly also a possibility.
“Everything is a possibility at this point depending on the severity of the situation,” he said.
As he looked out his window in his office at City Hall, Ambrosino told the Record that hotels aren’t off the table – and he said he believes the Encore casino should even be up for discussion.
“I look out my window here at City Hall and can see a perfect spot – that large casino hotel that is empty right now,” he said. “It seems like a great spot to quarantine about 600 people.”