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Cebu hotels, resorts adopt protocols to prevent nCoV spread
Hotels and resorts in Cebu have started adopting strict protocols to prevent the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).
Guests entering hotels, for instance, need to have their body temperature checked via a thermal gun, according to a report by James Agustin on GMA News' Unang Balita on Monday.
Those who have fever will be brought to a nurse station as what happened to a Chinese tourist on Sunday.
The said guest was asked about his travel history. Upon rechecking, his body temperature registered normal.
It turned out the guest walked from the mall back to the hotel under the heat of the sun, which caused his body temperature to rise.
Guests with fever and with flu-like symptoms will be brought to the isolation area and will be asked about their travel history.
If a guest with such symptoms has traveled to China in the past 30 days, the hotel will call the Department of Health (DOH) to assess the guest's health condition.
Meanwhile, since last week, booking cancellations in many hotels and resorts in Cebu reached 15 to 20%.
Many of those who canceled their reservations were Chinese tourists although there were also local tourists.
According to Carlo Anton Suarez, president of the Hotel, Resort, Restaurant Association of Cebu Inc. (HRRACI), usually they get many bookings from Chinese tourists around this time until February 10 or 15.
"Punuan talaga 'yan sa mga hotel. Ngayon with this virus, there are cancellations. Most of our members are complaining. We hope this virus will be eliminated soon," he said.
Meanwhile, the DOH Region 7 has yet to give an update regarding the contact tracing they are conducting in Dumaguete to identify those who had close contact with the two Chinese tourists who tested positive for nCoV. One of the said Chinese tourists died on Saturday, becoming the first death due to nCoV outside China. —KG, GMA News
