Making it clear that the hotel industry needs to be ready for changes as lockdown restrictions get gradually eased amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government has prepared draft guidelines for hotels and other accommodation units to ensure social distancing and adequate safety measures.

Besides listing Covid-19-related must-have amenities at hotels, the draft ''Post COVID-19 Protocols for Accommodation Units’ details procedures for check-ins and check-outs, room allocation process and in-room provisions, daily thermal checking of guests and staff, room and common area cleaning, food service, and other dos and don’ts for hotel staff and guests.

The Union Tourism Ministry has now sought suggestions from the stakeholders like Hotel Association of India (HAI), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) and Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI).

The draft protocols seek to minimise all possible touch points between a staff and guest while at the hotel, and proposes a ‘special recommendation’ that the staff should have the Aarogya Setu app for guest surveillance during check-ins.

“As the Coronavirus pandemic has brought in new norms in day-today life, turning our lives upside down the time has come to think and organize our near future. We know that Coronavirus has already had and will also have important economic consequences and that tourism is one of the sectors most affected by this crisis. Draft protocols are way forward in the Coronavirus times,” said an official from the Tourism Ministry which has prepared the guidelines.

Prepared in consultation with the Union Health Ministry and other agencies , the protocols will be finalised soon, he said.

“This policy is developed with the view of the government’s guidelines of maintaining social distancing at all times by multiple preventive actions and safety measures in addition to making hotels aware about how to operate and manage running operations during the current situation,” as per the document.

It also stated that the guidelines endeavour to make the traceability of guests easier, in case a situation in future warrants so. Housekeeping staff would have to wear masks or PPE wherever needed while cleaning or deep cleaning the room.

As per the draft guidelines, the hotels should maintain a safe distance of 6 feet from such guests and should offer them medical assistance. The staff should keep a watch over the health condition of these guests and if illness persists the room of the guest should be locked and the entire floor, reception and all common areas should be deep cleaned and fumigated.

Linen and other items must be washed separately. Details of the guest, including travel history and medical condition along with ID and self-declaration form must be provided by the guest at the reception for the time being.

Regarding the check-out procedure, the draft SOP proposed that guests should inform at the reception an hour before the check out and they should only check out once he/she is confirmed by the reception.

In case of a guest is suspected of COVID-19 infection, the draft guidelines say they should not be denied check-in if they are coughing or sneezing, instead social distancing should be maintained and medical assistance should be offered.

"In case suspected guests flee/not traceable, inform the police immediately," as per the document. The protocols come days after the Union Health Ministry prepared guidelines for the hotels interested to offer their rooms/accommodations for Covid-19 suspected/patients needing quarantine/isolation facilities.