13 Gurugram hotels for free isolation of milder coronavirus patients

GURUGRAM: With the number of asymptomatic Covid patients on a rise in Gurugram, the district administration has converted 13 hotels into free isolation centres, especially for those who can’t afford to pay for quarantine. Currently, a total of 655 rooms are available in these hotels, of which 30 have already been occupied.
Officials said that unpaid facilities have been created as there are hardly any takers for 165 rooms that have been reserved in two hotels as paid isolation centres. And with a new team of officers taking over the charge to supervise the isolation centres, there are plans to reserve 2,000 more rooms in various hotels across the district as both paid and unpaid quarantine facilities.
“As soon as we receive information from the health department about an asymptomatic person, we inform the hotel staff and share the details of the patient. The meals are provided to the patients. We have also given PPE kits to hotel staff and our team of doctors visit them regularly,” said a senior official.
“We are going to reserve at least 2,000 more rooms in other hotels as paid and unpaid isolation facilities since the cases are increasing. Patients who can afford to pay for paid isolation centres can go to the paid centres and those who cannot are being sent to the unpaid facilities, and the government is bearing the cost. These are all asymptomatic patients since those with symptoms are admitted to the hospitals,” he added.
These hotels have been directed to ensure that their staff wear protective gear and masks as well as regular sanitisation of their premises. Their thermal scanning also has to be done since these patients are asymptomatic and in case they develop symptoms, they have to be shifted to hospitals for treatment, officials said, adding that one doctor has been deployed at each isolation facility.
“We have been given strict directions to make sure that our housekeeping and other staff wear gloves, masks and PPE kits. We leave food outside the rooms for the patients. As soon as we receive a call from the authorities, we keep rooms ready,” said Sachin Gujjar, a staff member of Him Jyoti hotel.