The hotel in San Carlos where cruise ship passengers received care for the coronavirus is vacant and may be used by the state as an alternate care site for people with COVID-19, city officials said.
“They’re going to keep it ready in case they need it,” Mayor Ron Collins said of state officials.
The state, in early March, sent passengers of the Grand Princess cruise ship to the 120-room Fairfield Inn on Skyway Road.
Councilman Mark Olbert said some residents were taken aback by the state action but most supported the city.
For every angry email he received, Olbert said, 10 messages asked how people could help out.
“This is a great community,” Olbert said.
Asked about the future of the Fairfield Inn after the coronavirus ends, the councilman said “I’m not a hotel expert.”
The Fairfield Inn became a coronavirus care site after the Grand Princess docked in the Port of Oakland and state officials sought a way to move passengers into quarantine sites.
Eric Lamoureax, acting deputy director of response for the California Office of Emergency Services, had said San Carlos was chosen in part because of its proximity to the San Francisco International Airport.
Iliana Rodriguez, Deputy San Mateo County manager, had said of the San Carlos lodging that, “this is a humanitarian event.”
San Carlos in a statement said it was highly unexpected when city staff was notified that Grand Princess passengers would be housed in San Carlos while receiving care to help them recover.
“We find ourselves in the position to temporarily house patients, stranded far from home and isolated,” the city said. “And so it is our duty, not just as San Carlans but as fellow human beings, to embrace our core principles of fostering a safe, welcoming, inclusive community that values family, diversity, and safety.”
“These are difficult times but San Carlos is a resilient community and we will get through this together,” the statement added.
(650) 344-5200 ext. 106
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