Hotels encourage COVID positive guests to remain in rooms and notify hotel staff

Please inform hotel staff if you have been confirmed to be COVID-19 positive, hotel operators reminded guests amid a growing number of COVID-19 cases they have received recently.

Some people in cities like Beijing and Shanghai decided to move to hotels for self-quarantine, in order to prevent their families from getting infected, leading to an unnecessary burden on hotel staff and risks of virus spreading because the hotel guests do not inform hotel staff.

As there is no mandatory requirement for negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test result when hotels receive guests, it is unlikely for them to obtain guests' exact health status.

"We hope guests stay inside their rooms if they are confirmed positive and contact hotel staff, telling the truth," a staffer surnamed Jiang of Huazhu Group, a domestic hospitality giant based in Shanghai, told Shanghai Daily.

"We will help arrange food delivery service and exclusive garbage handling service," she said. "We will provide more drinking water to these guests and stop room cleaning service to protect our staff. We suggest they leave their rooms only when their antigen tests turn negative, and a thorough disinfection will be conducted then," Jiang said.

Some hotels are using robots in replacement of humans for disinfection and food delivery service.

Many guests concealed their positive test result, which is very "embarrassing and tough" for hotels, said an insider surnamed Shi in the hospitality industry.

It is not a fair and safe option. High infection rates among hotel staff will threaten hotels' normal operations as some cannot provide regular catering services already, said Shi.

The practice is understandable giving consideration to the good environment and conditions of hotels, but it poses big risks for cross-transmission, said Yao Kunyi, a tourism expert on the experts' committee of the Shanghai Tourism Trade Association.