Delhi to transform 25 luxury hotels into Covid-19 care centres

Staff at luxury hotels in Delhi are to start welcoming guests not with traditional garlands but with a medical gown.

Amid growing concerns that there are not enough hospital beds to cope with the rising number of cases, the Delhi government has become the first in the country to requisition its hotels. Starting this week, 25 establishments will be repurposed as emergency Covid-19 care centres for patients with mild to moderate symptoms. In a sign of how overwhelmed medical staff are becoming, hotel employees are being trained in case they have to administer some of the care.

Some employees have suggested they feel unable to decline the new role, despite having major reservations. Hotel staff are anxious about the prospect of transforming their hospitality skills into hospital care. When Kannu Sharma, who usually trains hospital support staff, began training 75 employees in the Suryaa hotel ballroom last week, all he could see was row upon row of terrified eyes staring out at him above face masks.

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“They are frightened about their safety, about taking the virus back to their families and whether they can cope with the stringent sanitisation and disposal of biomedical waste,” said Sharma.

It was only when he reminded them that doctors and nurses would always be around – in case they struggle with putting on the PPE or forget how to categorise the waste – that the tension in the room dissipated.

Each hotel will be linked with the nearest Covid-19 hospital. Sharma works at Holy Family hospital, just a few metres away from the Suryaa. The hospital is identifying the medical team that will work at the hotel.

Every day, new stories emerge about hospitals turning patients away. City authorities urgently need to add more beds to the current total of about 9,000.

Delhi’s chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, has predicted that the capital needs 150,000 beds by the end of July, when cases are estimated to rise to half a million. Even if another 15,000 beds can be used in hotels and banquet halls, the city will still be short but he believes that at least it will relieve the pressure on hospitals by allowing them to focus on serious cases.

Ref: theguardian