Indonesia partners with hotels to house medical workers

Medics from RSUD Tarakan and RSUD Pasar Minggu arrive at city-owned Grand Cempaka Business Hotel in Central Jakarta. The Jakarta administration has prepared four hotels with a total of 481 rooms and 773 beds as accommodation for medical workers. (HO/Pemprov DKI Jakarta)

JAKARTA — The government has teamed up with several hotels to accommodate doctors and other medical workers on the frontline in the battle against COVID-19.

Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Wishnutama said the ministry had cooperated with Accor Group, a French multinational hospitality company with hotel brands such as Fairmont, Raffles and Pullman, for the first phase of the program, which is set to accommodate 1,100 medical workers in Jakarta.

As medical workers are at a high risk of contracting the disease, putting them up in dedicated accommodation can reduce the risk of infection for their family members or housemates.

“Accor Group [will] provide facilities for hospitals in Jakarta, namely Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital (RSCM), the Gatot Subroto Army Hospital [RSPAD], the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital and Persahabatan Hospital,” Wishnutama said at a press conference on Thursday.

All of the mentioned hospitals, except for RSCM, are designated referral hospitals for COVID-19. While he did not specify which hotels would be used, Wishnutama said the ministry would pay the hotels at rates below the market price.

He said the partnering hotels would be routinely disinfected and sanitized, adding that social distancing rules would also be applied in places such as elevators. The hotels would also ensure minimal direct interaction between their staff and the medical workers in the provision of food, housekeeping, laundry and other services.

Medical workers staying at the hotels would also be required to wear protective gear, be sprayed down with disinfectant and have their body temperature monitored.

Wishnutama urged other hotels and hotel chains to participate in the program if they met the ministry’s requirements. The hotels have to be in the vicinity of the referral hospitals and must not have terminated their employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This collaboration is not only an effort to handle [the COVID-19 crisis] but also helps maintain the hospitality and transportation industry, which is an important part of the tourism sector,” he said. “The government urges all elements, including tourist industry players, to help […] Indonesia stop the spread of COVID-19 together.”

Previously, the Jakarta administration had prepared four city-owned hotels with a total of 481 rooms and 773 beds as accommodation for medical workers.

As of Saturday, Indonesia has confirmed 1,155 COVID-19 cases, with 102 deaths.