Coronavirus: Hong Kong adds 1,500 quarantine rooms ahead of Christmas holidays as 5 more hotels join approved list

Government increases number of approved facilities to 40 hotels providing total of about 11,500 rooms, taking effect on December 1

City confirms two new imported Covid-19 infections on Tuesday, both carrying the L452R mutant strain

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The Dorsett Wanchai is among the Hong Kong hotels the government has designated to handle quarantining arrivals. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 12:23pm, 19 Oct 2021Updated: 11:05pm, 19 Oct 2021

Hong Kong officials have added five hotels to the government’s approved list of coronavirus quarantine facilities, ramping up room supply by 15 per cent ahead of an expected rush of inbound travellers over the Christmas holiday season.

The administration revealed on Tuesday that a total of 40 designated quarantine hotels would provide about 11,500 rooms between December 1 and February 28, a period also covering Lunar New Year.

The newly added hotels are iClub Fortress Hill Hotel, O’Hotel in Kowloon City, Nina Hotel Tsuen Wan West (Tower 1), Lanson Place Causeway Bay and Holiday Inn Golden Mile Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s expansion of the quarantine facilities from the current level of 10,000 rooms emerged as the city confirmed two new coronavirus cases carrying the L452R mutant strain on Tuesday – both imported – taking the overall tally of infections to 12,301, with 213 related deaths.

The two cases involved a 51-year-old man from the United Kingdom and a three-year-old from Mongolia. Fewer than 10 preliminary-positive infections were recorded.

The 36 hotels currently approved to serve as quarantine hotels – a list that is updated every three months – were booked at 84 per cent capacity from September to November, according to the Food and Health Bureau. The net increase in the number of designated hotels for the coming round is four after it was previously announced that Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel and Towers in Tsim Sha Tsui would stop running quarantine services on November 9.

Michael Li Hon-shing, executive director of the Federation of Hong Kong Hotel Owners, earlier on Tuesday predicted that the government would introduce another 2,000 quarantine rooms, as he said the industry was readying for a busy time in the coming months.

“We expect more residents will come back [to Hong Kong] during and after the Christmas holiday, and the government can estimate the number by checking flight bookings with the airlines,” Li told a radio programme.