Hectot Retamal/AFP via Getty Images The lobby of the 5-star Marco Polo Wuhan hotel is pictured deserted as guests and visitors stay away due to the COVID-19 virus affecting the city of Wuhan in Hubei province on January 29, 2020.

A 5-star hotel has remained open to stranded guests, public health officials, and emergency workers in Wuhan, the quarantined city of 11 million people where the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak originated.

Marco Polo Wuhan is one of only a handful of Wuhan hotels that have remained open, international news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

Around 50 staff, including chefs, security guards, and managers, provide room service and packed meals to guests.

To do so, they follow strict health and sanitation guidelines including checking guests’ temperatures and wearing face masks while exercising, AFP reported.

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Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, has become a veritable ghost town. Streets are empty, trains and flights out of the city have been suspended, and major hotel brands such as Hilton and Wyndham have closed branches in area.

Marco Polo Wuhan, a 5-star hotel on the banks of the Yangtze River, is one of the few hotels still open.

Normally bustling with business and leisure travellers, its modern, marble-floored lobby now pulses with a different energy. For one, no one mans the front desk, AFP reported at the end of January. Instead, a team of 50 core staff quietly focus on taking care of guests stranded by the Wuhan quarantine as well as 20 officials from the Beijing Central Government’s Inspection Unit and over 200 emergency medical workers from the China-Japan Friendship Hospital and Beijing Hospital, according to a February 11 press release by Marco Polo Hotels.

To date, COVID-19 has infected more than 81,000 people worldwide and killed over 2,760.

Chefs, security guards, and managers remain on-site

Lee Weng Wai, General Manager of Marco Polo Wuhan, gave up his evacuation seats back to his native Malaysia in order to usher the hotel through the coronavirus outbreak, according to the release.

Remaining staff on-site – about 20% of the hotel’s full workforce, according to Kylie Ng, the assistant communications manager for Marco Polo Wuhan’s parent company, Wharf Hotels – include chefs, security guards, and managers. Their duties include delivering room service and packed meals throughout the day to officials and guests. The hotel is currently operating at 70% occupancy, Ng said.

The staff follow robust hygiene and sanitation procedures. These measures include wearing face masks while on duty, observing “mandatory periods of rest,” and requiring new guests to fill out forms documenting their health and travel, according to AFP. Ng added that staff constantly disinfect public areas and conduct daily temperature checks on all guests, suppliers, and vendors in addition to themselves.

To combat boredom and boost mental health, staff are encouraged to exercise at 10 a.m. each morning.

Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images Hotel workers wearing protective masks exercise in the lobby during a staff briefing about how to implement new regulations concerning the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan on January 28, 2020.

“Daily exercises to balance our health and immunity, team briefings, and updates allow us to maintain good morale and team spirit; we are in this together and through our commitment we will come out the other side stronger and more resilient than ever,'” Lee said.

Ng told Business Insider that non-emergency guests are “free to move about,” but are encouraged to stay in their rooms. The 24-hour gym and function rooms remain open.

Marco Polo Hotels has 13 locations across China, Hong Kong, and the Philippines.

Are you currently staying or working at a hotel affected by the coronavirus outbreak? Email this reporter at [email protected]

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