D.O.T.: NO MORE STAYCATIONS BUT CHECKED-IN GUESTS MAY STAY
ONLY accommodation establishments (AES) operating as quarantine facilities are allowed to operate from March 29 to April 4, in keeping with the implementation of an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) covering the National Capital Region, along with Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal (Ncr-plus).
“No more staycations,” said Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat in a Viber message to the Businessmirror on Sunday. “The operation of staycation hotels is temporarily suspended during said period,” she said, as government moved to contain the surge in Covid-19 cases.
She added, staycation hotels have “graciously agreed” not to impose penalties on their clients who have to rebook their stays due to the ECQ lockdown.
However, guests who are already billeted in staycation hotels by midnight on March 28 may continue to stay there for the duration of their original booking. “But no new bookings will be allowed for the week,” said Romulo Puyat, underscoring new guidelines for the operation of AES during the ECQ lockdown.
The Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) re-imposed ECQ starting Monday as new Covid cases, including the more infectious UK and South African variants, continued to surge. On Sunday, the Department of Health (DOH) reported 9,475 new Covid cases, bringing active cases to 105,568, of the total 721,892 recorded cases in the country.
The new Department of Tourism (DOT) guidelines took effect Monday and will last until midnight of April 4, or for the duration of the ECQ period as declared by the IATF-MEID.
Hotel classifications
THE DOT classifies accommodation establishments into three, according to the nature of their operations: isolation facilities, for Covid-19 positive guests; quarantine hotels, for individuals like returning overseas Filipinos, foreign nationals, those unable to home quarantine, and health workers who need to stay near their hospitals; and regular hotels, which are neither isolation facilities nor quarantine hotels and includes hotels that have been issued Certificates of Authority to Operate for Staycation.
The DOT said regular hotels under ECQ and modified ECQ (MECQ) may accommodate guests with long-term leases only; locally stranded individuals or those transiting to their place of residence; and authorized persons outside of residence (Apor) pursuant to their official duties.
The DOT advised these accredited establishments to strictly enforce the minimum health and safety guidelines and quarantine protocols or face sanctions which include fines, suspension and the cancellation of accreditation.
Under ECQ and MECQ, only a skeleton work force and in-house staff with free accommodations within the premises shall be allowed during this lockdown period. Regardless of quarantine status, ancillary facilities and services like restaurants, cafes, bars, gyms, spas, swimming pools, and conference or function halls are prohibited unless permitted by the Department of Health or the Bureau of Quarantine to prepare packed meals for staff and guests or for take-out and delivery to the public.
The DOT added that quarantine hotels should ensure quarantine guests and health workers don’t mingle, and must designate separate floors or wings, elevators and passageways for each group.
In areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) and modified GCQ, regular hotels may operate ancillary facilities subject to minimum health standards and issuances of IATFMEID, the Department of Trade and Industry, and other relevant government agencies.