CONTAINMENT

China and Australia Rethinking Traveler Quarantine Facilities as Variants Escape Hotels

The efforts follow a surge in infections as coronavirus mutations spread.

China and Australia are building new facilities to quarantine travelers as local experts are increasingly fearing that hotel set-ups may not be sufficient enough to prevent the spread of new variants of COVID-19. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Delta variant of the virus recently was able to spread from an Australian hotel used to quarantine a mine worker and led to significant local infection. Concerns about airflow in hotels has led some to think of ways to create quarantine facilities with better air filters, better PPE for staffers, and leaving vacant rooms in between occupants to reduce transmission. Both countries have used hotels in the past to isolate travelers but China is planning to build a facility that will host 5,000 travelers that is set to open in September. The effort comes more than a year after China built hospitals in days to treat hundreds of patients who had contracted COVID-19.