TACLOBAN CITY — At least 21 hotels in Eastern Visayas are ready to be used as quarantine facilities if there will be a spike of COVID-9 cases in the region due to Omicron variant, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said on Friday.
Considering their experience in managing quarantine hotels, these accommodation facilities are prepared to shift their operations from accepting guests to housing returning residents, DOT Eastern Visayas regional director Karina Rosa Tiopes said.
“It would be okay for them to revert into quarantine hotels since no tourists would check in if COVID-19 cases will go up. I’m sure they will be prioritized by their local governments and the Department of Health (DOH),” she told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) in a phone interview.
At the height of the pandemic last year, 21 hotels in the region were used as quarantine facilities for suspected carriers of COVID-19. Most of these hotels are in the city, the regional capital.
Currently, only one hotel remains as a quarantine facility and it is located in Ormoc City.
In preparation for the reuse of quarantine hotels, the DOT has been advocating to prioritize hotel workers in the administration of booster shots against COVID-19.
At least 94.7 percent of hotel workers are now fully-vaccinated, Tiopes said.