Hotel ‘haunted’ by virus:
WUHAN: The receptionist’s seat is empty, the five-star hotel’s restaurant is no longer serving customers and staff flee at the sight of any guests.
Welcome to the Marco Polo Wuhan that is haunted by the spectre of the deadly novel coronavirus that has infected nearly 6,000 and originated in this central Chinese city.
Wuhan and its 11 million residents — plus anyone who was visiting — are now cut off from the rest of the world, quarantined until the government in Beijing can get a handle on the outbreak.
The luxury Marco Polo is one of the few hotels to have remained open as the crisis erupted, despite fears about human-to-human transmission. But the minute you step foot in the hotel on the banks of the Yangtze River, it’s clear that this is not business as usual.
The lobby desk is unstaffed and the silence is eerie — a strange contrast with the brightly coloured Lunar New Year decorations celebrating the Year of the Rat.
The usually bustling, modern hotel is more or less empty, and the staff struggles to combat sheer boredom — when they’re not confined to a room for mandatory periods of rest.
“The Marco Polo has 356 rooms, and is usually about 80% full during the busy Lunar New Year period,’’ an employee told AFP on condition of anonymity. “But now, only about 20 guests remain.’’
Most of them are simply stranded because the city is under quarantine, with no travel in or out by road, rail or air.
The restaurant is closed to prevent any spread of the illness — although guests can still order room service.
The menu is sparse, and mostly includes just noodles. Each day, the list gets shorter, as the hotel’s food stash is whittled down, with deliveries cut off.
The Marco Polo staff nevertheless say the cooks have been helping to prepare meals for local hospitals in recent days. “It’s the least we can do right now.”
Some hotels in Wuhan are actively trying to push their guests out the door, while others provide minimal service while refusing to take new reservations.
“We’re closed,” a staff member at the Fairmont Hotel told AFP, even though it “is technically open.’’
The same applies for the Marco Polo. “We know our current guests but accepting anyone else would be too risky, because we don’t know if those people might have been in contact with people who are sick,” an employee said. “Of course we can’t close the hotel either, because our guests would have nowhere to go.”