COVID-19 Fact Sheet for Hotels: What you Need to Know

As the situation around coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to deepen, the hospitality industry has had to make a crucial shift in operations. This includes hotels and motels, whereby venues now have to adapt to different ways of running the day-to-day business.

But this also means sticking to ever-evolving standards set by the Australian Government (as well as local parties). So here’s what you need to know about surviving COVID-19 as a hotel or motel.

What you should do as a hotel manager

Provide information to all staff and employees – including contractors – on relevant information or procedures you’ve set in place. Your responsibility is to help educate your teams on how they can help stop the spread.
If staff develop symptoms, they must communicate these to you immediately and will need to be isolated. If they were in the workplace 24 hours before telling you, you’re required to complete potential closures or cleaning processes to overcome this.

What do symptoms look like?

Fever, dry cough, sore throat, tiredness and experiencing shortness of breath. There are other less common symptoms.

How COVID-19 spreads

Coronavirus spreads from one person to another through:

Being near someone infectious, even if it’s 24 hours before symptoms appear.
Close contact with droplets from sneezes and coughs from someone who has the virus.
Touching objects or surfaces that are contaminated (through a cough or sneeze) and then touching your face or mouth. This can be as simple as reaching for a shopping basket or turning a door handle.

You’re at most risk if:

You’re elderly
You have existing immune-compromising conditions – such as cancer
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (more prone to contracting chronic illnesses)
People with existing chronic medical diseases and conditions
Young children and babies
Those are residing in detention centres.

What if guests to your hotel need to self-isolate?

If patrons within your hotel or motel need to self-isolate, you must support them by carrying out all necessary precautions. Remember, the aim is to stop the spread of the virus in whatever way possible. And even the smallest efforts make a big impact.

Staff run a low risk of contracting the virus if they wash their hands frequently and effectively, and if patrons aren’t showing symptoms. However, we recommend ensuring your staff keep distance from guests. If they need to be in the same room, keep a significant gap between their persons and wear protective gear when delivering any food or essentials.

More information on how hotels and motels can support the prevention of coronavirus can be obtained here.

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