With many asymptomatic COVID-19 patients preferring to be under medical care, more city hotels have tied up with leading hospitals to run COVID-19 Care Centres.
Around 1,500 rooms in hotels, including Ginger in Vadapalani, Taj Club House, Clarion President Hotel and Regent Central Deccan, have been converted into rooms for those needing quarantine. Hospitals provide doctors and nurses on the premises 24X7, and patients are also put on a proper diet, as prescribed by the doctors. Their medication, too, is supervised. Patients are sent from hospitals to hotels based on their condition.
Clarion President Hotel, which had given an entire block for quarantining patients last year, has started extending a helping hand this year too with 150 rooms. S. Madhan Raj, manager-operations, said they were the first to get approval from the Health Department to start a facility in association with a hospital last year.
“Our managing director Aboobucker felt he had to do his bit for society, since many people were not sure about home quarantine last year. Since we served around 1,500 isolated persons last year and there was a need this year as well, we started the facility from mid-April. Our staff are well-aware of the protocols to be followed and we ensure the patients’ safety with good high-protein diet and regular health checks,” he said.
At Hotel Deccan Plaza, 50 rooms have been blocked for patients who require isolation. Here too, the patients come after being referred by a hospital. “They come here after the treatment is over and do not need emergency medical care. However, we do have doctors and nurses on the property and follow all safety protocols. People who prefer pure vegetarian food prefer our hotel,” said R. Gowrishankar, general manager.
Another hotel in T. Nagar, which did not want to be named, has leased out its rooms to a medical care provider. “We have outsourced everything, from housekeeping to pest control, maintenance and even security. The only service that we provide is food preparation, which the medical care provider serves to the guests,” a hotel source said.
Staying afloat
Industry sources said hotels were able to stay afloat by turning into COVID-19 quarantine centres. “We are able to manage with minimum losses and we can also continue to employ our staff, since human resource is an important quotient in hotels. Since we are allowed to take in guests, we have to pay power bills and water taxes,” said a hotelier.
Some hotels are also hosting doctors and other frontline workers.
Those that are taking in guests are also getting people who have COVID-19 patients at home or in their apartment complex and need to stay away from them. ITC Grand Chola and Green Park Chennai have isolation packages for such non-COVID-19 patients.
Last year, hotels were kept shut for a great part, and were only used to house medical personnel.
When the lockdown was lifted, staycations and work-from-hotel concepts worked well.
