Hong Kong hotels have been told to set aside just eight or 3% of their rooms — whichever is lower — to house travelers who test positive for Covid, raising the risk of insufficient space for infected people after the city’s latest move to ease travel curbs comes into effect.
(Bloomberg) — Hong Kong hotels have been told to set aside just eight or 3% of their rooms — whichever is lower — to house travelers who test positive for Covid, raising the risk of insufficient space for infected people after the city’s latest move to ease travel curbs comes into effect.
The guidance has been disseminated to hotels participating in the financial hub’s travel quarantine program, said Mael Vastine, director of operations for Hong Kong at Ovolo Hotels. Starting from Nov. 1, incoming travelers who test positive can choose to isolate for at least a week in the hotel they’ve booked rather than be transferred to the city’s spartan and uncomfortable facilities.
H.K. to Stop Moving Travelers With Covid to Quarantine Camp
While the change ostensibly addresses the dread that returning residents and visitors have of the government-run camps, the small number of rooms to be set aside by hotels means many still face the risk of being sent to community facilities, said Winnie Chan, association manager at the Federation of Hong Kong Hotel Owners.
Between 100 and 300 new arrivals in Hong Kong test positive for Covid every day, despite getting a negative test result before boarding their flights.
The city reported 161 imported cases on Wednesday, including 95 who tested positive on arrival and during their stay in quarantine hotels. After the new policy takes effect, travelers can choose to stay in those hotels until they submit a negative test on both the sixth and seventh days of isolation, which is the criteria for release.
According to Wednesday’s infection data, each of the 68 hotels currently enrolled in Hong Kong’s travel quarantine program would need at least seven rooms at any given time for Covid-positive customers, though considerable uncertainty exists over the distribution of infections across hotels and time periods.
While the city has made a series of moves to ease travel in recent months, the elaborate rules that continue to be imposed is threatening efforts to revive its reputation as a global business hub, especially as rivals like Singapore fully revert to pre-pandemic norms.
Authorities are now inviting hotels to participate in a new round of the quarantine program which will run from November to February. Ovolo has decided to join, although many others may drop out, said Vastine. Since the shortening of the mandatory hotel quarantine stay from seven to three days in August, occupancy has plunged more than 50%, he said.
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