OUE C-Reit's Crowne Plaza Changi hotel to close for 2 weeks after two staff contract Covid-19

Singapore

CROWNE Plaza Changi Airport will be closed for two weeks, from Jan 8 to Jan 21, as two staff members of the hotel have tested positive for Covid-19.

As a precautionary measure, the hotel has stopped accepting new guests and is progressively checking out all existing guests, it said in a statement on Friday.

The hotel's restaurant and event spaces will also be closed till further notice.

Crowne Plaza Changi Airport hotel is owned by OUE Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust (OUE C-Reit), and master leased to OUE Airport Hotel, a subsidiary of OUE Limited.

In its statement, the hotel said it will carry out "investigative and remedial actions to strengthen the safe-management measures" in preparation for its reopening.

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It added that it is now thoroughly deep-cleaning and disinfecting its premises under the guidance of the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the National Environment Agency.

OUE C-Reit also owns Mandarin Orchard Singapore hotel, which was also closed for 14 days recently after Covid-19 cases surfaced there.

Last month, 13 travellers with Covid-19 were reported to have served their Stay-Home-Notices at the hotel between Oct 22 and Nov 11.

Despite coming from 10 countries, the cases were observed by MOH to have "high genetic similarity", which meant it was possible the transmissions had occurred at the hotel.

A presentation by OUE C-Reit last November noted that Crowne Plaza Changi Airport and Mandarin Orchard Singapore accounted for more than a quarter of the Reit's assets under management in Singapore, based on independent valuations as at Dec 31, 2019; the two hotels also contributed 23.8 per cent of its revenue for Q3 2020.

Separately, MOH on Thursday said it is investigating the two unlinked cases who work at Crowne Plaza Changi Airport. The ministry has also commenced testing the staff of the hotel for Covid-19 infection.

Of the two cases, one is a 43-year-old Malaysian woman who works at the hotel's Azur restaurant, MOH said. Her job is to deliver pre-packed meals to air crew and hotel guests.

She developed symptoms while at work on Jan 3, and sought medical treatment at a general practitioner clinic on Jan 5.

Her result came back positive for Covid-19 infection the next day, and she was sent to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases in an ambulance.

The other case is a 24-year-old Korean man who works at Azur in the same capacity, MOH announced on Wednesday.

Both parties do not interact with diners at the restaurant.

The man has tested preliminarily positive for the more infectious UK strain of Covid-19, and is awaiting the result of further confirmatory tests, MOH said.

OUE shares closed flat at S$1.20 on Friday, while units of OUE C-Reit finished at 38.5 Singapore cents, up 0.5 cent or 1.3 per cent.