Hotels adopt precautionary measures against COVID-19

By Kodjo Adams, GNA

Accra, March 12, GNA - Mr David Eduaful, the Executive Assistant Manager, Labadi Beach Hotel, on Wednesday said it had trained its staff as part of precautionary measures against any possible outbreak of the coronavirus.

“We engaged the services of a Physician to train our staff and place notices around on what to do including a wall-mounted hand sanitizer dispensers at the entrances and vantage positions for staff and guest of the hotel,” he said.

Mr Eduaful in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) said the Hotel also had a nurse on sight in case of emergency, stressing that these measures were put in place during the Ebola outbreak in 2014, which had been activated again.

On the impact of the COVID-19 on the hospitality industry, Mr Eduaful said most organization especially international conferences had been cancelled.

“This is affecting our operations in terms of revenue. We hoping that the disease would be controlled as early as possible. People are not traveling because of the shut-down on international conferences.

“We urged government to come to our aid and cut down income taxes as in the case of the United States,” he said.

Other major hotels hit by the cancelation of conferences and reduction in patronage are beginning to lay-off workers as part of measures to reduce cost of operations.

GNA observed during a tour of some of the Hotels, that most of the hotels have put in place public educational notices at vantage locations, encouraging patrons to wash their hands with sanitizers.

Some have wall-mounted hand sanitizing dispensers were placed in and near germ hotspots to improve the health of workers and guests, while others used infrared thermometer to check the temperature on the forehead of guest.

The Ghana Tourism Authority would meet hoteliers today March 12, for a training on preparedness for the pandemic.

A study featured in BMC Infectious Diseases found that office workers who were encouraged to use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer at least five times each workday were about two-thirds less likely to get sick than those who continued to just wash their hands.

There are around one million Chinese people living and working in Africa and many Africans visit China as students, tourists and business travelers.

Globally, travel related business such as hotels, airlines, luxury and consumer goods have already suffered due to the travel ban into and out of China.

Further, the epidemic is threatening African airlines, with a considerable decrease in the number of flights across the world. If the travel ban continues, it could have a detrimental effect on airlines that serve some of the world’s busiest air routes.

GNA

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