Hotels around the world light up rooms in heart to thank healthcare workers – but not everyone is impressed

Healthcare workers are on the frontline of the Covid-19 pandemic, and around the world, people have come up with inventive ways to thank them.

In the UK, Spain and Italy, people are clapping for them, and there are initiatives underway to sew scrubs and protective equipment for doctors and nurses.

Earlier this week, ABC News shared footage of hotels around the world which were illuminating empty rooms in the shape of a heart, to say thank you to healthcare workers.

While a handful of people thought that the gesture was sweet, others pointed out that there was no real meaning behind lighting up various rooms in a heart. Some accused it of being a PR move, while others asked whether those hotel rooms couldn’t be put to better use.

Some users on social media pointed to the creation of open-air shelters for homeless people – which were being constructed in cities such as Las Vegas, where hotels had lit up rooms in a heart. Many asked if it was inefficient to light up rooms in a heart rather than housing homeless populations who had nowhere else to go.

Others pointed out that it seemed like a way that hotels were demonstrating they had more resources and space than they knew what to do with, and that they should be using this space for more necessary reasons instead.

Another Twitter user suggested that healthcare workers should be able to stay in the vacant rooms too – particularly as many workers in healthcare have found themselves in difficult housing situations because they live with vulnerable people and roommates.

Others also pointed out that hotels lighting up empty rooms are using electricity for no reason – and that if they were going to use the rooms, then they should make sure populations who need them can use them.