Coronavirus: Pub offers free rooms to people who can’t self-isolate at home

‘My mum needs to self-isolate at home alone, and we wanted to offer rooms to people in the same situation,’ says pub owner

A pub in Greater Manchester is offering free rooms for people who need to self-isolate but cannot do so in their own homes.

The Flying Horse Hotel, a hotel and pub located in Rochdale, is aiming to remain open as long as possible, stating that it is taking its hygiene procedures “very seriously” in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to advice given by the British government, if a person is showing symptoms of the virus, then they and their household should remain home for 14 days.

On Monday during the government’s first daily press conference regarding Covid-19, it was stated that people within at-risk groups will soon be asked to self-isolate for 12 weeks as a safeguarding measure.

However, if a person lives with someone who falls into this category, they could pose a risk to them by continuing to live with them.

It was this frame of mind that led Ben Boothman, who owns the Flying Horse Hotel, to offer free rooms to people who are unable to self-isolate at home.

“My mum needs to self-isolate at home alone, and we wanted to offer rooms to people in the same situation,” Mr Boothman said.

“If you think you are going to put someone in your household in danger, then do get in touch. We can’t have people who are at risk themselves, but we can help in this way, by allowing them to isolate alone.”

In a statement shared on Facebook, the institution’s staff stated that they are facing “trying times” that will cause their business to “suffer”.

“Yes we, the Northern people of Britain, are faced with some trying times and no doubt business will suffer greatly, if not fail, and we may lose some of our most vulnerable loved ones but it’s important we keep a level head and carry on regardless!” they wrote.

“Not because we don’t care, not because it may save the pubs (that ship may have already sailed) but because it’s what we have done for generations!

“You see what Boris doesn’t appreciate is that us northerners are made of sterner stuff! We will endure, we will carry on, we will take care of each other and this will not dampen our spirit!”

Boothman criticised the prime minister’s call for the public to avoid mass gatherings such as going to restaurants or pubs, saying that while his pub could budget for being closed, it cannot budget for simply “being quiet”.

“It’s foolish. This is going to see so many businesses closed down. We can budget for being closed, but we can’t budget for being quiet indefinitely,” he said.

“Like many people, we put in a normal weekly order for food. Yesterday, a night when we would have normally served 30 or 40 meals, we served three.”

Boothman stated that they “need a plan” so that “we can know what we are doing and to reassure our staff”.