Lau speaking at the dialogue session.
SIBU (Jan 16): More hotel operators here are urged to offer their hotels to open up as quarantine centres as Sibu will eventually have to allow flights to outside Sarawak to resume before there is herd immunity for the whole population.
In making the earnest call, Senator Robert Lau Hui Yew said thus far there were three hotels in Sibu being used as quarantine centres.
“They are Premier Hotel, Kawan Hotel and Sarawak Hotel with a total of 309 rooms,” he stated in his address at a dialogue session with the Sarawak Central Region Hotels Association held at Tanahmas hotel here yesterday afternoon.
Also present were Assistant Resident of Sibu Division Wong Hee Sieng, Managing Director of Borneo Medical Centre (BMC) Dr Peter Tang and general manager of Premier Hotel Tony Hii.
The dialogue session was organised with the hoteliers to share what is required of a hotel used as quarantine centre for person under surveillance (PUS).
Lau said the purpose of the dialogue is also to allow hoteliers to get a better understanding of the requirement needed from hotels.
After the dialogue, he revealed that three more hotels with a total of more than 400 rooms had in principle agreed to become quarantine hotels for PUS patients subject to acceptance of the terms by the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC).
“These additional rooms should be available to take in returnees from outside Sarawak when Movement Control Order (MCO) on Sibu is lifted,” he added.
Earlier at the dialogue session, Wong said there will be need for hotel rooms for use as quarantine centre for PUS when the MCO is lifted on Sibu in order for flights from outside Sarawak to resume.
He said currently there were no flights into Sibu during the MCO except for internal flight.
PUS are people who return to Sarawak via Sibu Airport, he said, adding they will undergo 14 days quarantine.
He said Premier hotel has been the quarantine hotel since the first day of MCO in March last year until now.