'Hotel Staff At Risk From Quarantined Guests'

The government was urged on Friday to provide protective gear to hotel staff to prevent outbreaks of coronavirus, as some 1,800 people who have returned from overseas stay in hotels in the city for their mandatory 14-day quarantine periods.

The Hong Kong Hotel Employees Union said at least 36 hotel guests have been confirmed to have the infection during their stays.

Speaking on an RTHK’s programme, the union’s chairman, Alex Tsui, said some patients were asked to stay in the hotels for one or two more days even after they were confirmed to have Covid-19, because public hospitals needed time to arrange isolation beds for them in view of the rising demand.

Tsui said the government did not provide the hotels with any protective gear. He said staff who have to serve customers in quarantine are very worried they might get infected.

“Many of them don’t have any protective gowns. Some staff complained they were given face masks that could only block pollen, instead of surgical masks,” he said.

Tsui also said that hotel staff have been asked to take no pay leave of between four and 14 days each month, as the occupancy rates of many hotels drops to 10 to 20 per cent amid the coronavirus outbreak.

About 500 staff of InterContinental Hong Kong have been laid off as the hotel will be closed from April 20 for renovations.