Luxury hotels empty floors for those from virus-hit countries

An entire floor dedicated to those in quarantine, round-the-clock medical teams, a separate waste management team — the Aerocity hotel offering paid services are

An entire floor dedicated to those in quarantine, round-the-clock medical teams, a separate waste management team — the Aerocity hotel offering paid services are leaving nothing to chance as they face the challenge of balancing hospitality and taking precaution to prevent any further spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus disease Covid-19.

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Three hotels near Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) on orders from the Delhi government, are offering 182 rooms for ‘Category B’ or ‘moderate risk’ (an asymptomatic passenger coming from a Covid-19 affected country and/or having other diseases and/or over 60 years of age) passengers at a flat rate of ₹3,100 (plus taxes) each per day. It includes breakfast, lunch and dinner; two bottles of mineral water per day; tea and coffee and facilities such as WiFi and TV.

The hotels - The IBIS, The Lemon Tree Premier and Red Fox - saw a rush on the first day with more than 100 passengers arriving late Monday night. By Tuesday afternoon, however, the number of quarantine rooms being used came down to three. Out of the three, two are Chinese nationals and the third is an Indian.

“The sixth floor of The IBIS is the quarantine zone and all the three passengers are staying there. Our first task is to check the vitals of the person and then record his/her previous history. Out of the three, a 30-year-old man from Shandong in China has fever. He has no previous history, but we are keeping him under strict observation,” said Dr Rajesh, who was part of the Delhi government’s medical team, comprising two more doctors from the south Delhi municipal corporation (SDMC), deployed in the hotel.

The medical team is operating in three shifts to ensure 24-hour presence. “There should be counselling sessions for doctors also. We face a lot of anxiety in dealing with cases like these,” said Dr Rajesh after conducting the preliminary medical procedures on the Chinese nationals.

Entry to the floor is restricted only to those certified by the Delhi government as ‘quarantine staff’. Senior functionaries of the hotel management said meals are being served by keeping the food trolley at the doors of their rooms to ensure minimum contact. The general room service is not available to these guests and they have been given a number to the control room which has been set up on the same floor to call for need. Rooms will be cleaned every alternate day by staff in protective gear, they said.

“We do not compromise with quality anyway. The rooms are like any other. Everyone on the sixth floor has to wear personal protection kits and the guests are not allowed to roam in the corridor or come to the lobby. Dedicated entry and exit routes, including lifts and stairs, have been given to the guests as well as the staff attending to them,” said a hotel functionary.

But the hotel staff also had dilemmas of their own. For example, they had a meeting only to decide whether it is safe to touch the luggage of the guests or not. “A lot of passengers checked out of the paid quarantine facility on Tuesday to shift to the Delhi government’s free facilities. One guest had 14 bags and we were confused how to handle it. The trainers deployed by the government for the hotel staff then told us that we would have to wear the complete protection kit even to carry their luggage,” another functionary said.

Food is being served only in disposal plates and clothes of the quarantined guests are being laundered separately.

“A separate room has been kept near the stairs on the sixth floor for disposal of protective equipment, eatables, disposable plates and other items – all of which are categorised as bio-medical wastes,” said a sanitation officer of SDMC.

Additional district magistrate (south) D Karthikeyan said at present, the facility at The IBIS is only being used because of the fewer number of passengers. All are being transported only in government buses from the airport to the facilities, he said.

“On Monday night, we had 102 guests in the hotel out of which 95 were screened as Category C passengers — asymptomatic people from Covid-19 affected countries but did not suffer from any other disease and were not over 60 — were asked to exercise self-quarantine at their homes. Four were shifted to the government’s free facility since they did not want to pay any further,” he said.

Karthikeyan said that other hotels in Aerocity have also been kept in standby for paid quarantine rooms in case there is a sudden community spread. “It is the first time that any hotel or even the city administration is doing something like this. So, we all are also learning with each passing day,” he said.

“ibis DIAL, along with other Aerocity hotels, are providing full support and assistance to the Delhi Government with regards to medical care and observation for Indian guests returning from abroad. As per legal requirements, the hotel is assisting the authorities to ensure the smooth and safe process of Indian travelers returning home. These returning Indian citizens will be accommodated on dedicated floors with the Government providing medical supervision and security. The safety and well-being of our staff and guests is our first priority and we are closely following the strictest hygiene and sanitation procedures and government requirements,” said a statement from The IBIS.