The super-rich are splashing their cash on private jets, disaster bunkers and private doctors as they prepare to self-isolate amid a growing coronavirus crisis.
Wealthy people are arranging to flee to overseas homes or hide in underground bunkers in countries which have so-far avoided significant outbreaks of the virus.
Doctors in private clinics have also reported a ‘huge demand from very wealthy people asking if they can pay for private testing’ for COVID-19 after the NHS said it would only screen people who have a ‘high chance’ of infection.
Those at risk include people who have been in close contact with a confirmed case or who have recently travelled to a high-risk nation, such as China, Italy, South Korea and Iran.
A former US Army munitions bunker which developer Robert Vicino repurposed into a doomsday community for civilians called Vivos xPoint, near Edgemont, South Dakota
Some have even hired private doctors and nurses to treat them and their families should they become infected with COVID-19 – which has killed 4,600 people worldwide amid 126,000 global cases.
There has also reportedly been a surge of interest in the construction and hire of underground doomsday bunkers designed to withstand ‘virtually any catastrophe’, the Guardian reported.
Robert Vicino, the founder of Vivos Group which creates such shelters, said he has seen an increase in sales and queries since coronavirus emerged in China late last year.
The firm previously repurposed a series of former US Army munitions bunkers near Edgemont, South Dakota, into a doomsday community for civilians called Vivos xPoint.
There has reportedly been a surge of interest in the construction and hire of underground doomsday bunkers designed to withstand ‘virtually any catastrophe’ (Pictured: Bunkers in South Dakota)
Pictured: Lyle Goodman closes the door on a former US Army munitions bunker, which were transformed into 575 concrete doomsday bunkers in 2018
These 575 concrete bunkers, which start at £27,000 each for a 99-year lease, are believed to be able to hold around 5,000 people in total, making the complex ‘the largest survival community on earth.’
Mark Ali, chief executive of the Private Harley Street Clinic in London, said the outbreak of coronavirus has ‘led to a huge demand from very wealthy people asking if they can pay for private testing’.
But Mr Ali confirmed the clinic, in Marylebone, has been unable to offer screening for the virus as ‘the NHS has said all tests should be done centrally’ and be carried out by the NHS and Public Health England (PHE).
An insider at another Harley Street clinic, however, claimed their practice has arranged for clients to be screened for the virus overseas or for samples to be sent abroad for testing.
The super-rich have also been chartering private jets as they attempt to avoid exposing themselves and their families to the virus on flights
Alongside arranging private screenings for the virus, the super-rich have also been chartering private jets as they attempt to avoid exposing themselves and their families to the virus on flights.
‘Over the past few weeks, there’s undoubtedly been a rise in demand for short notice on-demand charter relating to the coronavirus Covid-19,’ Adam Twidell, chief executive of private jet booking service PrivateFly, said.
‘Many are from groups which include elderly passengers or those with health conditions that make them particularly concerned about exposure to crowds on airline flights.’
He added others have been arranging flights away from Europe ahead of potential countrywide quarantines. Italy, which is Europe’s worst-hit nation, put in place such measures earlier this month amid 12,462 cases and 827 deaths due to COVID-19.
Coronavirus, which has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation, has infected 126,000 people worldwide, with around 4,600 deaths reported as a result of the virus.
More than 80,000 of these cases, and 3,000 deaths, have been found in China alone, with 9,000 cases across Iran and 7,000 in South Korea.