How do the super-rich socially isolate themselves?

In the context of the Covid-19 outbreak worldwide, social isolation is a measure applied by most countries to prevent the spread of the epidemic. To self-isolate, most people will stay at home and limit contact with the outside. Meanwhile, many super-rich people choose bunkers, yachts,private islandsTo stay during this time, even book entire hotels or rent entire towns to self-isolate. Many wealthy people have equipped their shelters with medical facilities and supplies and hired doctors and nurses to increase safety.

Shelter

Clyde Scott, CEO of Rising S Company, a provider of underground bunkers and bomb shelters, said demand has quadrupled compared to the same period last year. Although the company is based in the United States, Scott said he has received calls from all over the world, including countries that have never had customers before, such as Croatia. He said the average cost of a bunker that customers are looking for is about $150,000.

Larry Hallm, owner of Survival Condo, another US-based shelter provider, also said that the number of customer inquiries has spiked due to the Covid-19 outbreak. He said that while the company used to have to work hard to convince people to use its services, now the shelters are a big concern for customers, with some even buying a bunker without even seeing it first. Although he has received many inquiries from the Middle East, the UK, Japan and France, his customers are now mainly Americans working in a variety of professions, including doctors and engineers. The price of Survival Condo's shelters ranges from $500,000 to $2,400,000 and includes many amenities such as an indoor swimming pool, a gym and even a climbing wall.

Private island

Instead of bunkers, some other rich people choose private islands to avoid the Covid-19 epidemic.

Gladden Private Island, just off the coast of Belize in the Caribbean, is popular for its “absolute privacy.” Staff stay on a separate small island nearby and turn on red lights on the larger island as a signal to guests when they pass. Renting the entire island for two people a night costs $2,950. “This is probably the safest place on the planet for anyone who wants to get away from this horrible virus because it’s 20 miles from the mainland,” said Chris Krolow, CEO of Private Islands.

Another Caribbean location is Blue Island in the Bahamas. What makes this island special is that it has an airstrip for wealthy clients to land their private jets. The price to buy the 2.8 square kilometer island²This is $70 million. Krolow also said he received many calls last week from people with yachts, circling the islands trying to find a safe place to stop and willing to pay the fee.

Private planes and yachts

Other families are opting for private jets or luxury yachts for extended holidays. Jonathan Beckett, CEO of brokerage Burgess Yachts, has seen a surge in demand for luxury yachts as the super-rich seek refuge from the Covid-19 pandemic. “People are looking for ways to weather the storm, and a yacht at sea in good weather conditions is not a bad idea for social isolation,” Beckett said.

He added that there was growing interest in yachts as an alternative to escape-the-coronavirus cruises to destinations such as Alaska, the South Pacific Islands, and the tip of Chile. “One family booked a yacht for nine weeks, and we also had two long-term charters for 39m and 70m yachts. Our clients are arranging for their children to be educated on board, with cooking lessons from the chef and engineering lessons in the engine room while they are with the crew,” Mr Beckett said.

Yachts over 34m long can hold enough food supplies to last for several months without having to dock, avoiding the risk of infection. However, the cost of chartering a yacht to escape Covid-19 is very expensive, can reach millions of dollars. The super-rich will have to pay about 116,000 USD/week plus crew costs and other contingencies for a 45m yacht, up to 582,000 USD/week for a large yacht.

Most yachts over 300 feet are equipped with a small hospital or clinic. Nurses who want to work on board must have an ENG1 medical certificate. In addition to the hired medical staff, crew members are also trained in basic first aid. Many superyacht owners now equip their mini-hospitals with the latest equipment such as decompression chambers, oxygen chambers, and defibrillators. Superyachts are also equipped with remote monitoring systems so that doctors on land can monitor the situation and detect signs of danger in time.

In addition to yachts, demand for private jets has also surged amid airline suspensions and border closures. FlyEliteJets, a London-based private jet broker, said it has seen a recent surge in requests, with 270 requests for a five-day trip, compared to about 30 bookings a week. “In the past week, people have been panicking as the virus has spread and saying, ‘Get me out of here now, no matter the cost,’” said Christopher Williams-Marton, CEO of FlyEliteJets. The inability of commercial airlines to operate services due to the pandemic has made the service that private jets provide no longer considered “too expensive to use.”

PrivateFly, a UK-based jet charter company, said that in the past two weeks, as the Covid-19 pandemic worsened, demand for private jets to evacuate relatives and families among the super-rich increased sharply. Customers were willing to pay $180,000 for one-way flights from Europe to Canada and South America on mid-sized private jets, and $233,000 for flights to the Gulf.

Rent the entire hotel, resort and town

Blantyre Country, a luxury resort in the Berkshires that opened last year, is now accepting guests to book the entire property for $38,000 a day. “Even though we are closed for the winter, we still get calls from regulars wanting to book the entire property. Family travel is on the rise and we are one of the options,” says manager Stephen Benson.

The Cape Arundel Hotel in Maine is also offering a similar deal, offering the entire hotel and 14 rooms for a week for $19,500, with ocean views, weekly housekeeping, and meals included. To ensure the safety of staff, all check-ins are done online and meals can be prepared in advance. “This is a new package we’re offering for April. We’ve seen a lot of people going to their summer homes in the area and avoiding the city since the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Justin Grim, CEO.

Meanwhile, some wealthy families have even rented or bought large areas or entire towns in the countryside to avoid the Covid-19 epidemic. For example, a man named Brent Underwood is self-isolating in an abandoned town called Cerro Gordodo (Inyo County, California, USA) which he bought in 2018 for $1,400,000. He initially bought the town for the purpose of developing his business, and has now self-isolated here since March 2020.

He lives in a house built in 1871 with two bedrooms and one bathroom, but the water doesn’t work. The nearest grocery store is about 30 miles away. In an emergency, Brent Underwood can turn to a small town of 20 people, located 9 miles away from Cerro Gordo. During his self-quarantine, Underwood explored and repaired several houses in the town, finding some items from the 19th century.

The information above shows the social division in the US, when 3.3 million people registered for unemployment in just 1 week from March 15-21. Many people do not even have enough money to leave the house, let alone leave the state or rent an entire hotel. In addition, wealthy people leave their homes despite self-quarantine recommendations, leading to the risk of becoming "super-spreaders" if they come from hot spots like New York and bring the virus elsewhere. The large gatherings also overload towns in many ways. On the island of Nantucket in Massachusetts, many wealthy people flocked to their summer homes earlier than expected, causing local authorities to advise them to stay away because the island only has 1 hospital and 14 beds.

Ha Le