Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Hospital and hotel staff can use in-house quarantine

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Employees of hotels as well as hospitals can choose to stay in their work premises to fulfil institutional quarantine rule, according to the Relief and Shelter Operations Sector.


This is besides the announcement that labour camps can provide quarantine facility to workers provided the sponsor takes the responsibility for the same. However, strict monitoring of people in quarantine should be carried out and the managements will be held responsible for any breach of quarantine rules set by the authorities.


An exit alarm should be installed at hospital and hotel premises where the staff is quarantined, and any attempt to break the isolation will be construed as an act against the quarantine rule. Besides, regular checks are conducted by health authorities to ensure that the rules are strictly maintained.


“We have been advised that our staff coming from abroad can be quarantined in one of our rooms with strict Covid-19 protocols,” a representative of a private hospital said.


Earlier, the Ministry of Health (MoH) had clarified on the formalities that a person should follow upon his arrival at the Sultanate’s airports.


Accordingly, a person above the age of 15 who arrives at the international borders of Oman needs to take a PCR test at the arrival terminal, wear the tracking bracelet on the hand following which he/she should be quarantined at any hotel.


DEMAND


The quarantine centres in Muscat are full with an ever-increasing number of inbound travellers and additional requirement for quarantine rooms are pushed to other governorates, according to hoteliers and those who run quarantine centres.


“We are receiving a good number of people needing institutional quarantine and at times, and they are above the capacity so we outsource them to quarantine centres in interiors,” said a representative of a leading quarantine centre.


Based on the increasing demand for institutional quarantine, some star hotels have changed their business model and instead are offering a double room to a single person who might not be able to afford it. They have divided it into a 3-bed sharing model with each one being charged RO 80 or so including airport transfer, second PCR test and bracelet removal packages or without them.


“But, once any one of the three is diagnosed positive, we will shift him/her to a single room keeping the remaining two in surveillance. This is to follow the quarantine rules,” a five-star hotel representative told the Observer.


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