Guests Forced Out As Hotel Used For Quarantine

Guests were being turfed out of a hotel in Kowloon City on Monday for it to be transformed into a quarantine centre as part of beefed-up health checks for people flying into the SAR.

From Wednesday, all air passengers will be required to stay either at a testing centre near the airport or at the Regal Oriental Hotel, until their coronavirus test results are in.

A government spokesman said with 80 percent of all recent coronavirus cases involving people who had flown back to Hong Kong, the key to combatting the epidemic is now preventing the virus from spreading from incoming travellers.

Since Sunday, flight passengers landing in the morning have been required to wait for their results at the testing centre at AsiaWorld-Expo before being allowed to go home and undergo a two-week quarantine, as long as the results came back negative.

From Wednesday, those landing at Chek Lap Kok in the afternoon or evening will be taken by coach directly to the Regal Oriental Hotel.

They'll be given electronic monitoring wristbands, and will not be allowed to leave their rooms, even to walk around the hotel.

Anyone who violates the order will be subject to six months in prison and a HK$25,000 fine.

Food will be provided, and they should only have to stay in their rooms for one night before their tests results are back.

Those who test negative for Covid-19 will be allowed to serve out the rest of their 14-day quarantine at home. If they test positive, they, along with any close contacts, will be taken straight to hospital.

Civic Party lawmaker Kwok Ka-ki, who's also a medical doctor, said this arrangement should have been put in place much sooner.

"It's a delayed and irresponsible decision. We have been waiting for weeks, even months, for the government to elevate the levels of quarantine particularly in using a lot of hotels which have now a lot of vacant rooms to be used as a quarantine centre," he said.

Existing guests at the Regal Oriental Hotel have been told to check out and staff told reporters they aren't taking any new bookings until August.

Large water barriers have been set up outside the hotel - after some previous quarantine sites were firebombed.

A hotel guest surnamed Leung said he had planned to stay there until May as his flat is being renovated. But he said he was told by staff to leave by midday on Monday. He said the hotel had offered to let him stay at other hotels under the same group. But he had rejected the offer as he wants to be near his workplace.

Leung said he doesn't mind cooperating with the government to fight the pandemic, but he wasn't given enough notice of the eviction.

Some residents living near the hotel said they are unhappy that they were not consulted about the plan. They expressed worries about infection risks.