Government is aware of 36 hotels across the state operating as quarantine facilities for various hospitals, top sources said there are an estimated 15 more in the city which are offering quarantine services on their own without the knowledge of the health department. Hotels operating as COVID care centers in the city are located in Gachibowli, Begumpet, Secunderabad, Somajiguda, Madhapur, and Lingampally among others.
Usually, hotel owners enter into agreements with major hospitals to operate these services. In such cases, the hospital places nurses at these centers, offers ambulance in case of emergency, and even offers an assured bed if the patient turns serious. However, there are hotels that have tied up with charitable organizations and others that are offering the service on their own.
Meanwhile, state health authorities have issued a directive to hospitals that have tied up for quarantine facility with hotels to ensure fire safety precautions. “...Yesterday a fire accident occurred in a hotel (COVID care center) in Vijayawada which resulted in the loss of life. In view of this, as a mandate, all hospitals/ COVID care centers are instructed to see that COVID care centers (hotels)...follow all fire safety norms. Any violation of fire safety norms will be viewed seriously,” read the order.
However, when it comes to the hotels which are running as care centers without the state’s knowledge, there is no one to check necessary permissions. “Some small hotels are running isolation services on their own and may not even have the necessary permissions from the health department. While they are offering services as they would to any other hotel, the only difference is that their staff would be taking basic precautions such as wearing masks, PPEs while serving. Given there are no food restrictions for Covid-19, it is easy for any hotel to turn into a quarantine center,” said a hospital source.
“After having incurred loses for so many months, hotels are keen on operating as COVID care centers,” said the source and added that there is no one to take responsibility to check such hotels While tying up with hotels, hospitals largely bank on the fact that an operational hotel will have been given the license after due checking by the government. “We do not run our own checks because basically any hotel which has been permitted to operate in the city would have been got all relevant approvals at the time of getting permission and yearly checks. We do ensure that we tied up with prominent and bigger hotels for the purpose,” said a senior official from a corporate hospital which has branches in several locations in the city.
News Courtesy: ET
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