We thank Mr Roland Chong Kwong Min for his feedback (Stay-home notice: Provide lower-cost hotels, but with option to upgrade, April 1).

The stay-home notice (SHN) is an important public health requirement to ensure that those returning from overseas are isolated for a full 14 days.

This is critical to preventing the spread of the coronavirus to their family members and others in the community.

The UK and US account for the largest share of imported cases by far. We have had to quickly find thousands of rooms to accommodate the returnees from these countries and ensure that they serve out their SHN in dedicated facilities.

These facilities are more than just individual rooms. They also require trained manpower, proper security arrangements, as well as strict infection control measures and precautions.

The only way to achieve all this in a short timeframe is to work with hotel operators. We are glad that many hotels have come on board to support the Government's efforts.

The initial batch of hotels that did so were the more established hotel groups, as they are in a better position to meet the operational requirements.

We continue to look for a wider range of hotel types that can meet the requirements to accommodate more returnees.

In this challenging time of national need, this government- private sector collaboration has provided a silver lining.

Tan Yen Nee
Director, Hotel and Sector Manpower
Singapore Tourism Board

Julian Goh
Senior Director
Corporate Development
Ministry of National Development