Quarantine capacity rising after Sheraton becomes first Cotai property to volunteer

The Sheraton Grand Macao Hotel has become the 12th hotel to be designated as a quarantine facility and the first property in Cotai. The addition of up to 2,000 rooms at the property will nearly double the capacity available to the Macau government.
The designation comes after Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng last week lambasted casino concessionaires for what he interpreted as their unwillingness to live up to corporate social responsibility obligations. Specifically, Macau’s top official called on the concessionaires to offer their properties for use at quarantine facilities.
Following the inclusion of the large-scale Cotai property, the Macau government informed that for the time being, only part of the hotel would be repurposed as a quarantine facility. The hotel has two towers, officially known as the Sky Tower and the Earth Tower. It has not been announced which tower is now in use by the government.
The government announced that the hotel has agreed to offer 2,000 rooms from their entire premises. In the first phase, the government will only use a quarter of the rooms. The government has named this area the “Special Isolated Area”. In accordance with changes in demand, subsequent adjustments to the number of rooms used for quarantine may be made.
With the amount of rooms and the facilities it offers, the Cotai hotel is described by the government as “a mega hotel complex”. The resort at which it is located, Sands Cotai Central, has a shopping mall, restaurants and neighboring hotels.
The authorities have set out several criteria to determine whether a hotel is suitable for hosting people in quarantine. Among other criteria, the hotel would ideally be a standalone building, without a casino, and far from residential areas.
To ensure the hotel is eligible, the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) and Health Bureau have deployed teams of engineers to conduct on-site inspections of the hotel’s ventilation and other crucial systems.
During the time that the hotel is being used as a quarantine facility, the casino, restaurants and cafes, shopping area and the spa will remain open. Therefore, all passageways that connect the Special Isolated Area to the shopping mall, restaurants, other hotels and facilities are completely blocked.
The MGTO has repeatedly stated that it takes a lot of negotiation to come to an agreement with a hotel regarding its use as a quarantine facility. A series of factors has to be considered as well.
So far, the government is using 12 hotels as quarantine facilities. They are Pousada Marina Infante Hotel, Golden Crown China Hotel, Regency Art Hotel, Grand Coloane Resort, Metropole Hotel, Treasure Hotel, San Tung Fong Commercial Inn South Wing, Grand Lapa, Grand Harbour Hotel, Royal Dragon Hotel, Jai Alai Hotel and the Sheraton Grand Macao Hotel.
All these hotels are offering a temporary combined capacity of 3,034 rooms, with a potential to rise up to 4,534 rooms, if the government requires the entire properties. As of yesterday, there were 2,432 people under quarantine across the hotel venues.
The MGTO reiterates that these designated hotels are committed to social responsibility, providing support and coordination with the government for the implementation of medical observation and quarantine.

contagion within hotel
unlikely, says engineer
Some members of the public have expressed concern about the concentration of people within quarantine facilities, suggesting that a single confirmed infection could cause a mass breakout.
The fears stem from a case in 2003, when Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) struck Hong Kong. At that time, there was an incident of mass virus contagion within a residential building, where it was later discovered that the virus spread via the building’s pipes.
Since the air-conditioning systems serving hotels are usually centralized, some members of the public have expressed concerns about the potential for the virus to spread within these properties.
When the government decided to use the first quarantine hotel, the Pousada Marina Infante, Lam Chong, head of the local Center for Disease Control and Prevention, assured the public that a mass spread caused by the air-conditioning system is unlikely at that hotel.
Local Chinese newspaper Macao Daily News recently published an interview with Chan Kuai Son, a local electrical and mechanical engineer, who assuaged fears of the virus spreading within a hotel building.
The engineer explained that all ventilation and air-conditioning outlets are directed towards the roof. Even if there are germs or viruses in the air, they will only spread a distance of several meters and likely remain within the roof area.
Another concern is the vaporization effect, which mainland experts say is capable of spreading Covid-19. Chan admitted that toilet flushing may cause a vaporization effect in the sewage at lower floors, but he added that water flow in hotel sewage tends to be more frequent with a larger amount of water, making it less likely for vapors to be transmitted.