COVID-19: Occupants pleasantly surprised with quarantine facilities

KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 -- Malaysians who have been repatriated and quarantined to curb the COVID-19 are pleasantly surprised with the comfortable quarantine facilities complete with basic amenities.

Tourist guide, Edwin Yeoh, 36, said he was shocked when told he would be taken to a five-star hotel to be quarantined upon arrival at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) from Mexico last Sunday.

“Upon arriving at the immigration, we are required to fill in a health declaration form as well as have our body temperature checked, the situation there (airport) was under the tight control of the police, military and immigration officials with social distance being observed.

“After that, we were told we would be sent in groups to a five-star hotel in a bus for a 14-day quarantine, there were about 28 people in the bus with me.

"Although ready to be quarantined, we did not expect to stay in a hotel and be given our own rooms, besides being provided with mineral water, toiletries and meals three times a day," he told Bernama.

Yeoh and the other Malaysians staying at a hotel in Subang Jaya during the quarantine were not allowed to leave the room and food provided by the hotel was placed outside the door.

“We are also not allowed to receive food deliveries while our laundry and room service have to be borne by us and daily health department officials would contact us to update our health status.

“On the first day after checking into the hotel, all the occupants will need to undergo COVID-19 screening and if anyone among us test positive, they will be taken straight to the hospital,” he said.

Overall, he is very pleased with the facilities provided by the government and his personal health is now good.

“We understand that during the quarantine period, there was no housekeeping service and after checking out, our room would be disinfected,” he said.

Meanwhile, a Malaysian student in Indonesia who just wanted to be known as Pavithamuhan, 22, said he appreciated the assistance provided by officials of the Health Ministry and National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) during the quarantine process at the Aminudin Baki Institute, Negeri Sembilan.

In a tweet he said he often handed out thank-you notes to staff who sent food and collected garbage in front of his room.

“The quarantine centre at Aminudin Baki Institute is managed by the National Security Council (MKN) and Nadma. They all deserve high appreciation,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dorsett Hospitality International vice-chairman Datin Jasmine Abdullah Heng said they have five hotels serving as quarantine centres with more than 1,000 rooms allocated for Malaysians returning from overseas.

“At the Dorsett Grand Subang for example, we have provided about 290 rooms for those under quarantine as well as for Health Ministry officials and law enforcement personnel who have been caring for them,” she said.

She said that during the 14-day quarantine, they were not allowed to provide accommodation to outsiders for the safety of occupants.

“We are given a buffering period after the end of the quarantine, namely two to three days to carry out the decontamination process to ensure the hotel is completely clean and free of germs before being reopened to the public.

“Although during the COVID-19 outbreak, the hotel industry was hit hard due to the lack of tourists but the government's move to use hotels as quarantine centres has given the sector some relieve,” said Jasmine who is also a board member of the Malaysian Association of Hotels.

Last Sunday, the government declared 63 additional premises comprising training institutes and five-star hotels as quarantine centres, in accordance with the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342).

-- BERNAMA