As the coronavirus pandemic continues in Boston, many health care workers do not want to go home to their families and risk spreading the virus to them. Several colleges and hotels in the City have offered rooms to these workers to provide them a safe place to go after their shifts.
Northeastrn University is one of those colleges, and has provided 135 single rooms with private bathrooms in kitchenettes in its West Village dormitory for “first responders who live with someone who might be at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19, such as older adults and people who have serious underlying medical conditions,” according to a recent News @ Northeastern article.
“In times of crisis, we must join together as one community and offer each other support an assistance,” Joseph E. Aoun, president of Northeastern University, told News @ Northeastern. “We are honored to provide safe space for first responders, and we stand ready to offer additional help to the state and city as needed. I applaud Mayor Walsh for his leadership through this difficult time.”
Northeastern has prepared the rooms by sanitizing and cleaning them, and storing any remaining items that belong to students.
“It’s just the right thing to do,” John Tobin, vice president of city and community affairs for Northeastern, said in the article. “Northeastern’s an integral part of the City of Boston, and we’re partners with the City of Boston. That means in good times, and that means in bad times.”
In the article, the Boston Police Department expressed its gratitude to Northeastern for offering this housing for its officers so they do not have to expose their at-risk family members to this virus.