Club Med has promised compensation, on Tuesday, to affected guests, after eight people were confirmed to have received medical treatment for norovirus by local government officials, at a luxury resort Club Med in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, according to Chinese financial website finance.ce.cn on Monday.
According to a statement from the resort, Club Med will compensate all guests who have been affected. In addition, those who seek medical treatment in hospitals within two days of leaving the resort, medical expenses will be reimbursed.
The high-end luxury resort, owned by Fosun Tourism, has been receiving criticism since February 9, after some guests were reported to be suffering from symptoms such as vomiting, fever and diarrhea, after contracting the norovirus, possibly from the food provided by the resort, according to the report.
Norovirus is a highly contagious virus and people can get infected from either having direct contact with an infected person or consuming contaminated food.
So far there has not been any confirmation of the exact source of the virus, although investigations are still ongoing. However, the public criticism grows over the lack of efforts by the resort to minimize the risk of further infection and to help guests get well-deserved and immediate medical treatment after being infected by the virus.
Guests are reported to have been complaining about the lack of medical staff available, the medicines and the generally low quality of service by Club Med, raising questions over the overall quality of the management in the resort.
"We couldn't find a doctor in the emergency room even though there was a major outbreak of virus. People who had suffered from the norovirus symptoms had to call taxis to transport themselves to the local hospitals, at their own expense," said one guest affected by the incident, in a report on Monday.
The incident also seems to have affected the Hong Kong listed Fosun Tourism's share price, which dropped by 1.6 percent on Monday.
