After serving as a quarantine hotel in Calgary since June 2020, the Westin Calgary Airport hotel is set to reopen to the public on Tuesday. ."We're back to normal operations tomorrow," hotel manager Siddhesh Dharankar told the Western Standard. ."The restaurant will be open, and all rooms will be available for guests." .Dharankar said in an earlier interview his 247-room hotel was contracted by the federal government as a quarantine facility from June 2020 until March 2023. .READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: Feds still spending millions on nearly empty COVID-19 quarantine hotels.The manager admitted the hotel has "not been that busy" while serving as a quarantine facility and said he needed to cut his staff by 20% to 30% due to the lower occupancy numbers. .In September, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) confirmed the federal government procured 36 hotels as quarantine facilities across the country since March of 2020..Tammy Jarbeau, senior media relations advisor for Health Canada, the PHAC, and the Government of Canada, told the Western Standard PHAC was still managing 17 designated quarantine facilities (DQFs) and one provincial site for a total of 1,558 rooms in 14 cities, but would not disclose the locations. .Based on figures provided to the Western Standard in September, Jarbeau confirmed the daily room rates per DQF ranged between $49 and $220 per night. Based on an average of the room rates totalling $135, the cost to Canadian taxpayers for the federal government to procure the rooms is likely close to $210,000 per night, or just under $1.5 million per week..In a further request for information to PHAC following the announcement the federal government was removing all COVID-19 border measures for travellers including quarantine requirements effective October 1, it was learned all contracted quarantine facilities would be closed as of that date. It was not disclosed whether the government would be obligated to fulfill the costs of those contracts past October 1. ."The Public Health Agency of Canada has agreements with hotels as part of their designation as quarantine facilities under the Quarantine Act," said Jarbeau. ."The agency is currently finalizing its close out plans. This process includes holding discussions with hotels to confirm the end date of the agreements.".When asked how much the federal government has spent to date specifically on quarantine hotels, Jarbeau only provided bulk figures "on enhanced border and travel measures and isolation sites" between April 1, 2020 and Feb. 28, 2021, totalling $144.7 million. No further costs past March 2021 were disclosed. .The measures included:.· the federal designated quarantine sites across Canada;.· a strengthened national border and travel health program including enhanced compliance and enforcement such as home checks;.· safe voluntary isolation spaces in municipalities; and.· enhanced surveillance initiatives to reduce COVID-19 importation and transmission at points of entry..Although Jarbeau indicated travellers need to "pay for the cost of the hotel stay, as well as all associated costs for food, security, transportation, and infection prevention and control measures," Dharankar told the Western Standard individuals quarantining at The Westin Calgary Airport hotel are not billed for the use of their room and said the federal government pays for those rooms..The Western Standard on several occasions requested up-to-date costs associated with the federal government's procurement of hotels in Canada for the purpose of quarantine facilities, and whether or not those rooms are still being paid for by taxpayers as they were under contract until March 2023, although no longer in use as of October 1. The federal government has yet to provide the requested figures. .With respect to the delay in response, Jarbeau said, "...it is not a simple response and involves many divisions," adding, she would provide more details when they were available. .Although the need for quarantine space ended October 1, it's taken one month for the Westin Calgary Airport to reopen for normal business. .Dharankar said he was not able to provide information on whether the federal government is still contractually obligated to cover costs for the procurement of all rooms in his hotel through the month of October or until the end of March, 2023. .Jarbeau confirmed since April 2020, DQF "national room occupancy has averaged between 5% to 45%."
