coronavirus

South Florida Property Owners Offer Free, Affordable Rentals for Family of Doctors, Nurses Fighting COVID-19 Pandemic

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Doctors, nurses and other first responders have been the first line of defense against the spread of the novel coronavirus in Florida. And, as those health care workers continue to put their lives on the line to fight the pandemic every day, local property owners are volunteering to help protect their families.

After learning about the death of two South Florida medical professionals over the last week, the medical community has been looking for ways to protect their loved ones.

One local nurse told NBC 6 that she is paying for a hotel room each night to keep her family safe.

“I feel uncomfortable going home to my immune compromised parents,” the nurse says. 

Tom Martinelli, public policy regional director with Airbnb, says he has been hearing similar complaints from health care professionals.

“Time and again what we have heard is that they need facilities, isolated accommodations, in order to not bring that home with them,” Martinelli says. 

In order to combat the issue, Airbnb has launched a new program to help 100,000 health care professionals find free or subsidized housing.

So far, thousands of short term rental hosts have volunteered to help.

“We are investing millions into this program because our mindset is to do all that we can in this moment by working directly with our community to make this housing available,” Martinelli says.

Airbnb hosts can opt into the program through the company’s open homes platform.

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