The Taipei City Government yesterday said that it is collaborating with two hotels that are providing 40 rooms to meet quarantine needs amid the COVID-19 epidemic.
Taipei has a considerable need for home quarantine, as it has the highest concentration of residents returning from level 3 countries such as South Korea and Italy, as well as international visitors, Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) said after presiding over a disease-prevention meeting at Taipei City Hall.
The city is communicating with a third hotel in the hopes of setting aside more rooms for people who need to be quarantined, city deputy spokesman Tai Yu-wen (戴于文) added.
Photo provided by the Dihua Commercial District Development Association
The city said that it has completed a standard operation procedure guide of more than 60 pages on what amenities to offer, how meals should be delivered, how housekeeping should be conducted, how people displaying pneumonia-like symptoms should be hospitalized and how rooms should be disinfected, adding that other cities and counties have asked how they could set up similar facilities.
Taipei Depart of Information and Tourism Commissioner Liu Yi-ting (劉奕霆) said that as of yesterday, at least 20 Taiwanese businesspeople, students from China, Hong Kong and Macau, and residents who have returned from Italy or South Korea had checked into the hotels.
All of the occupants were ordered to quarantine themselves at home, but do not have a fixed residence in the nation or live with family members, he said, adding that they would have to pay the bills themselves.
Asked whether the central air-conditioning at hotels could cause COVID-19 to spread if any of the occupants was carrier, Liu said that the virus is spread through saliva or droplets, not through the air.
Both hotels cooperating with the city had been inspected by the Taipei Department of Environmental Protection and Taipei Department of Civil Affairs beforehand to ensure that they conform to regulations, he said.
Regarding a case in Hong Kong in which a pet dog was found to have a low level of the virus, Huang said that Taipei requires the pets of people under quarantine to be quarantined as well.
It would quarantine the pets of people ordered to monitor their health at home if needed, he added.
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