70 Covid-19 cases in 2 Penang, Langkawi hotels

GEORGE TOWN – A total of 70 Covid-19 cases were recorded in two reputable hotels, one each in Penang and Langkawi.

Of the total, 20 cases were from the hotel in Penang and 50 from the Langkawi one.

It is believed that the infections were spread by hotel staff and not patrons.

Langkawi district health officer Dr Mansor Ismail told The Vibes that the five-star hotel in Langkawi will shut down for two weeks starting tomorrow.

“It has successfully evacuated its guests to allow staff and close contacts to be quarantined.

“All in-house guests do not have any Covid-19 symptoms,” he said.

Dr Mansor assured that the cluster is regarded as a workplace cluster that started from the engineering department, with the first case recorded on September 24.

The infection spread to several other departments, including the food and beverage and housekeeping departments.

The affected hotel in Penang will also close temporarily from today until further notice. The staff will be quarantined and the hotel will undergo sanitisation.

Penang health exco Dr Norlela Ariffin told The Vibes that the issue is not about hotel staff getting infected, but how the infection started.

“There are many other locations with this kind of spread, even when they observe the SOPs.

“It is when the staff have meals together that’s the problem. They will remove their masks, sit together and chit chat during mealtimes,” she said.

She also said the same has been reported even at vaccination centres, when volunteers and staff would sit together and have meals during break times.

She recalled two local enforcement officials spreading the virus to 47 others at a vaccination centre just from having their meals together.

“I will discuss the matter with the district health officer and investigating the source of the infection.”

Dr Norlela said when Komtar recorded a high number of cases, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow advised all staff to have their meals at their desks instead of gathering for meals in a bid to reduce the risk of infection. – The Vibes, October 4, 2021