Greece’s hoteliers are angry at the government following a ministerial decision obliging them to create special “Covid-19 rooms” that is isolation rooms within their facilities to host cases of coronavirus Covid-19, patients who do not require hospital care. The ministerial decision comes less than a week before the country opens to more tourists and apparently without previous consultation with those involved, that is the hoteliers.
The Joint Ministerial Decision signed by the ministries of Finance, Health and Tourism stipulates that accommodation facilitieswith
- up to 10 rooms will have one isolation room
- up to 50 rooms two quarantine rooms
- over 50 rooms the number of quarantine rooms must equal to 3% of the capacity.
The decisions triggered an outrage with critics accusing the ministers involved of throwing the ball of responsibility to hoteliers’ yard. They underline that they have neither the capacity nor the trained personnel to deal with COVID-19 patients. And that they are not willing to do so for obvious, financial reasons.
That is, without training and without the required strict supervision required by a case to avoid its dispersion throughout the island.
The Health and Tourism ministers’ plan to establish “quarantine Hotels” in every touristic region apparently has failed. The government failed to fix the price for such hotels that the state would rent, the hoteliers are not willing to play games at their own expenses.
Nikos Chalkiadakis, president of the Hotel Owners Association of Heraklion, Crete, stressed that what ministerial decision stipulates for Covid-rooms is theoretical possible, but practically impossible.
“It is a big issue to ensure that the Covid-19 tested positive tourist will keep the quarantine and stay in his room. We cannot become gendarmes. If we had Covid- hotels, the tourist could go to the pool or the bar. Now he has stay in the room. ”
Chalkiadakis stressed that only three hotels in Heraklion – one in Malia and two in Heraklion – responded to the government call for Covid-19 hotels, however, he underlined that these hotels “are old, not renovated and do not meet the requirements.”
The president stressed that the management of “imported” coronavirus cases needed to be properly, because “these people will be our ambassadors.”
Hoteliers associations on Crete have reportedly rejected the ministerial decision as “absolutely wrong.”
Also the hoteliers in Magnisia with Volos and Pilio, have reportedly turned down the decision urging the government to withdraw it. They worry that the “covid-19 rooms” will scare tourists.
The president of SETE reportedly said that the proposal for quarantine rooms should not be mandatory as not all of the hotel units have this capability.
Speaking to Open TV last Friday, hoteliers on Cyclades islands complained that the so-called “quarantine hotels” are just a few and even fewer the doctors willing to work there or to be hired by normal hotels as another ministerial decision provided in the context of “health protocols in hotels.”
“We only have one rural doctor, there is no quarantine hotel. There is another doctor who is one of the Doctors of the World. That is, there are two doctors for the whole island, “Antonis Agas, who is active in the hotel industry on the island of Folegandros said.
“The deadline for quarantine hotels expired on Thursday (June 18). We are currently without a quarantine hotel,” said Mania Ambatzi, president of the Paros Hoteliers Association.
Athenasios Exadaktylos, president of the Panhellenic Medical Association, explained that for a hotel with 40 rooms capacity to turn into a quarantine hotel the cost is some 12,000 euros per month including the cost for the staff that needs to be hired, so at least 10 people.
Who would want to get involved in such a process?” Exadaktylos told Open TV.
According to local media on Crete, the state pays to “quarantine hotels” 10 euros for each unused room and 30 euros for a room that is used, incl accommodation and food.
While some 200 doctors seem to have shown interest to be hired by hotels, there is reportedly an issue with their wages.
Defending the Joint Ministerial Decision, Minister of Tourism Haris Theoharis heralded that it offers “a double protection network, that includes the temporary operation of 3% of hotel rooms, as isolation rooms for possible cases, while at the same time there will be quarantine hotels.”
Σήμερα στην @ERTsocial | Προωθείται ένα διπλό πλέγμα προστασίας, το οποίο περιλαμβάνει την προσωρινή λειτουργία του 3% των δωματίων, ως δωμάτια απομόνωσης για τυχόν κρούσματα ενώ ταυτόχρονα θα υπάρχουν και τα ξενοδοχεία καραντίναςhttps://t.co/opGJXWwWzn
— Harry Theoharis (@htheoharis) June 23, 2020
Several Greeks urged him to resign as soon as possible.
