Students with corona will soon be sleeping in quarantine hotels

With some hesitation, mayor Den Oudsten agreed with the proposal of Student & Starter on Thursday. The council party asked him to investigate whether hotels in Utrecht would be willing to accommodate students and other citizens of Utrecht who are also difficult to quarantine.

Councillor Tessa Sturkenboom said to be very worried about the student houses where students are now forced to 'quarantine'. According to her, many students have to stay at home several times in a row for longer periods of time, "since you live in a house with fifteen others and the next housemate has tested positive". Sturkenboom: "The human psyche just can't cope with that.”

Den Oudsten initially said that the figures for this are not yet disturbing enough and that he had the impression that students often go elsewhere when they are sick. Moreover, no such request had yet been made from the student umbrella organisations and the educational institutions. But when several council parties indicated to support the proposal of Student & Starter, he changed his mind.

No pop-up park
In the same meeting it turned out that a covered meeting place where students can meet each other is not possible for the time being. Such a 'pop-up park' where, for example, you can have a drink and play a game, was one of the proposals in a plan that the student umbrella organisations launched last week. Student & Starter had called on the mayor in a motion to discuss this with, for example, the Jaarbeurs and the Werkspoorkathedraal.

The mayor thought the plan was "fun and creative", but said that he could not grant this wish. After all, the new corona measures prohibit large-scale meetings. Student & Starter showed understanding for this arrangement, but expressed the hope that the indoor student park can be realised in the near future.