Hospitality chains across India, such as domestic majors Indian Hotels Company and EIH, and global firms like Hyatt and Radisson Hotel Group, are taking a slew of measures, including checking temperature of guests and staff, and undertaking additional hygiene procedures to control the spread of coronavirus.
“In light of the current situation, we have implemented additional precautionary hygiene measures across our hotels based on the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare advisory and guidelines for prevention and transmission,” an IHCL spokesperson said in a statement.
This includes:
- Training associates as per the protocol prescribed by the Government of India
- Sanitisation of all areas
- Increased access to alcohol-based hand sanitizers at prominent locations and body temperature checks for everyone visiting premises using non-invasive laser thermometers.
- Hotels are notifying local authorities on travellers coming from affected countries.
EIH that runs hotels and resorts under the Oberoi and Trident brands said it has implemented a guest check-in declaration form at all hotels. This form identifies guests who have travelled to any of the high-risk countries in the past 14 days or have symptoms associated to the virus. “The temperature of each guest is being checked and recorded at the time of check-in. If any of the parameters are not normal, the guest is being requested for a medical examination before completing check-in formalities,” EIH said in a statement.
For hotels located in remote locations or with little to no non-resident business, entry to the hotel is being restricted to hotel guests, it added. “In our hotels located in key cities across the country, non-resident guests are being requested for their temperature readings before entry,” the statement said. Thermal imaging cameras are being procured to monitor the temperature of each person entering the hotel premises. This should be in place in the next few days in hotels located in key cities across the country, it added. Corporate office colleagues have all been advised to work from home to the extent possible. The colleagues have also been requested to stay at home under self-isolation for a period of 14 days if they show signs of any of the symptoms or have come in contact with someone from a high-risk country, the statement said.
“All precautionary procedures and protocols are in line with the recommendations made by the World Health Organization, US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and local authorities in each country,” the spokesperson said. Radisson Hotel Group also said: “Our hotels have adopted the World Health Organization standard recommendations to reduce exposure to and transmission of a range of illnesses, which include hand and respiratory hygiene, and safe food practices.”
“Detailed standard operating procedures and environmental tool kits have been rolled out across our hotels with tier-wise break up of sanitation procedures and methodology. A large number of our hotels are already implementing temperature checks and we are encouraging this practice wider, it added.
The group continues to stay vigilant, stepping up precautionary and hygiene measures with increased cleaning and sanitizing frequency, the statement said. Embassy Group Hospitality Business Head Sartaj Singh said that both “our hospitality partners Hilton and Four Seasons are world leaders of stature. They are bringing in global best practices to ensure that the well being of our guests, our visitors and our staff is protected and we are suitably geared to meet any eventuality arising from the COVID-19 crisis”.