GEORGE TOWN – In a bid to stay afloat during the pandemic, several Penang hotels have voiced their interest to be converted as Covid-19 patient quarantine and treatment centres (PKRCs) for low-risk cases.
Yeoh Soon Hin, the state executive councillor for tourism and creative economy, said it has received applications from interested hotels after the state relayed the idea to the state-level National Security Council and Health Department.
The hotels are now awaiting further updates on the matter from relevant authorities.
“The global spread of the pandemic has impacted the tourism sector which sees the hotel industry with huge operating costs struggling to maintain their operations.
“Foreign countries including Thailand have implemented this measure by converting hotels into low-risk centres to ease the current capacity shortage in PKRCs, and at the same time keep hotel operations going,” Yeoh said.
Hotels that comply with Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990 (Act 446) can apply to become temporary accommodations for workers through the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry.
However, for administrators of the Bahang Bay Hotel at Teluk Bahang, those who wish to operate as PKRCs should beware that taking in low-risk Covid-19 patients will not be a walk in the park.
Since its opening in July last year, Bahang Bay Hotel has served as a quarantine centre for international air travellers that test negative for the virus.
Its assistant director of sales and marketing, Mariana Omar, describes the responsibility of managing a low-risk Covid-19 treatment and quarantine centre as a “battlefield”.
“It’s like you are facing your enemy. I cried when I conducted my first check-in for a person under surveillance,” she recalled, saying that she has to be resilient in her position.
“However, it has proven to be a good experience for me,” she said, adding that she was afraid due to the high-risk of infection she and her colleagues face.
Mariana also said that she and her colleagues initially faced stigma for being in close contact with virus patients.
“When the locals at Teluk Bahang got to know that we are functioning as a quarantine hotel, they avoided the staff who work here like the plague because they were scared that we would spread the virus around.
“But it is a good thing that the government has managed to educate fellow Malaysians and they are now more open and happy that we are playing our part in supporting the government and the fight against Covid-19,” Mariana added. – The Vibes, February 11, 2021
