Authorities have confirmed that rumors surrounding Covid-19 patients engaging in sexual intercourse and leaving quarantine hotels are fake news.
According to a report by Vientiane Times, the rumors surrounding a patient who tested negative for Covid-19 and who met a prostitute for sexual intercourse in his room are fake news.
Similarly, news that patients have left a quarantine hotel and spread the coronavirus has also been confirmed as fake news.
According to a statement by Lao Deputy Minister of Health, Dr. Phouthone Muongpak, the stories are simply rumors with no factual basis.
Authorities have admitted, however, that some hotel managers did not provide information when people had to change the hotel arrangements. In addition, some visitors did not check in at a hotel as required upon their arrival in Laos.
Deputy Minister of Health Dr. Bounfeng Phoummalaysith said in a meeting with coordinators on Friday that some guests at quarantine hotels had had contact with their friends but hotel managers failed to report this to health authorities, Vientiane Times reported.
The meeting discussed ways to strengthen the management and enforcement of quarantine regulations on the part of hotels, with participants acknowledging a requirement to better ensure visitors are aware of quarantine conditions and to strictly comply.
Regular reviews of the process are to be set up, along with a process for complaints.
Over thirty hotels in Vientiane have been approved as quarantine hotels, and those staying in government-approved quarantine hotels in Laos must do so at their own expense.
Laos has extended its Covid-19 prevention measures until 31 December, including the suspension of charter flights.
The country now has 39 confirmed cases of Covid-19, with 15 cases currently undergoing treatment at Vientiane’s Mittaphab Hospital.
