COVID-19 Task Force Confirms Hotels For Quarantine And Vacations Must Be Separated

JAKARTA - The Head of Health Handling of the COVID-19 Task Force, Alexander K. Ginting, emphasized that hotels used as COVID-19 quarantine facilities and those used by the public to stay during holidays must be separated.

"Those who are quarantined cannot be in the same location as those who are not quarantined. There cannot be one entrance," said Alexander in the Thursday News Productive Dialogue which was followed online in Jakarta, Thursday.

Alexander said the separation must be done to prevent the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in healthy people, especially due to the new variant of Omicron.

Although hotels have different capacities and buildings, he suggested that if the hotel only has one main building and one door for entering and exiting the same, it is better for the hotel to be dedicated as a place for people to quarantine.

"If this is indeed dedicated to quarantine, it must be dedicated to quarantine," he stressed.

On the other hand, if the hotel consists of several buildings such as the right and left wings, the hotel still has to separate visitors, although this can be conditioned by determining which building will be used for quarantine or a regular lodging room.

The same thing is also expected to be applied to hotels that have several inns managed by the same party.

“It is allowed even though they are still the same brand. But of course this is different, therefore it must be understood by the public. So, don't see that the hotel is one, then the entrance and exit are only one," he said.

Separately, the Coordinator of the Expert Team and Spokesperson for the Government's COVID-19 Handling, Wiku Adisasmito, said that to support the prevention of transmission more optimally, quarantine facility managers must provide health facilities that comply with standards.

The health standard in question is to carry out disinfection and carry out routine maintenance of the cleanliness of infrastructure facilities.

In addition, if the place is really willing to become a quarantine facility, it is hoped that the management will also carry out regular health checks, especially for at-risk populations.

"This includes providing an information hotline with a high response time and conducting strict quarantine surveillance," he stressed.