OUE closes Crowne Plaza Changi Airport hotel after two staff contract Covid-19

CROWNE Plaza Changi Airport will be closed for two weeks from Jan 8 to Jan 21, after two staff members of the hotel 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. Restaurant and event spaces within the hotel 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.

It added that it is now in the process of 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 similarly closed for 14 days recently after a cluster of Covid-19 cases was discovered there.

Last month, 13 travellers with Covid-19 were reported to have served their Stay-Home-Notices at the Mandarin Orchard Singapore between Oct 22 and Nov 11. Despite coming from 10 different countries, the cases were observed by MOH to have "high genetic similarity", which meant it was possible the transmissions had occurred at the hotel.

According to a presentation by OUE C-Reit last November, Crowne Plaza Changi Airport and Mandarin Orchard Singapore made up more than a quarter of the Reit's assets under management in Singapore based on independent valuations as at Dec 31, 2019, and 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 for all staff working at the hotel for Covid-19 infection.

The most recent case is a 43-year-old Malaysian woman who works at the hotel's Azur restaurant, MOH said. Her job entails delivering 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 conveyed in an ambulance to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

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

As at 2.25pm on Friday, OUE shares were trading at S$1.19, down S$0.01 or 0.8 per cent, while units of OUE C-Reit were trading at 38.5 Singapore cents, up 0.5 cent or 1.3 per cent.