As anticipated and reported by the Free Press Journal, nine out of the 13 hotel and lodge owners have withdrawn from providing pay-and-use quarantine facilities.
With COVID-19 cases nearing the 5,000 mark, the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) had listed 13 hotels as pay-and-use quarantine facilities. The establishments had voluntarily stepped ahead with the proposal while looking at it as a way to earn revenue during the lockdown.
But now, owners of nine establishments have done a rethink by refusing to rent out their rooms for quarantine purposes. The refusals apparently triggered after the government in a bid to further ease the coronavirus-induced lockdown, allowed hotels outside containment zones to resume operations at 33 percent capacity from July 8.
The twin-city is under total lockdown till July 10. Apart from citing manpower shortage and their reluctance to work for quarantine facilities, the hoteliers claimed that they had sought Rs 50 lakh insurance cover for their housekeeping staff which the MBMC denied prompting them to withdraw the earlier accepted offer.
In his letter to the civic chief, Sena MLA opposed the move stating that some of the lodges included in the list had been charged for immoral activities. “We are yet to decide on the issue,” said additional MBMC chief-Mahesh Varudkar.
As per orders promulgated by the MBMC, single rooms could be availed on a payment of Rs.2,500 per day for accommodation and food. With a total of 4,633 cases the coronagraph of the twin city has reached alarming levels. The death toll has also climbed to 172.
A large number of quarantine centres are needed to tackle the pandemic. A couple of public properties have already tagged for quarantine and treatment facilities, said an official.
