785 Kolkata hotel rooms identified as quarantine facilities for foreign returnees

Hotels and Restaurants Association of Eastern India has said that the West Bengal govt has approached them for rooms where foreign returnees will be quarantined. Suresh Poddar, President of HRAEI said that a total of 785 rooms in 11 star-rated hotels in and around Kolkata have been identified to accommodate people returning from abroad.

Kolkata: A total of 785 rooms in 11 star-rated hotels in and around Kolkata have been identified to accommodate people returning from abroad, who will stay there in isolation, a hoteliers' association said on Tuesday.

The state government has approached the Hotels and Restaurants Association of Eastern India for rooms where foreign returnees will be quarantined, HRAEI president Suresh Poddar said.

"The association has been able to identify 785 rooms in 11 hotels belonging to four and five-star categories for the purpose. However, no bookings have been made as no repatriation flight has reached here," Poddar told reporters.

The hotels will charge between Rs 4,000 and Rs 6,000 per room per day including all meals and evening tea, Poddar said.

"The bills at the hotels will have to be cleared by the passengers. We have arranged for discounts up to 60 per cent", he said.

To help Indians stranded abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic, the central government has initiated repatriation flights as a part of 'Vande Bharat' mission to bring them back.

Such repatriation flights have already landed in Kochi, Chennai and Hyderabad.

"Those disembarking from such flights will be screened at the airport and then transferred to the isolation rooms in the hotels earmarked for quarantine purposes," he said.

If the state government requires more such rooms, that can be arranged, Poddar said.

PTI