Due to the uncontrolled active cases of coronavirus in the country, luxury hotel Makati Shangri-la is temporarily closing its doors and laying off a plethora of employees starting February 1, the hotel announced earlier today, January 20.

In a letter from Summit Media, Shangri-La Group's Vice President of Operations (Philippines) John Rice stated that the almost 30-year-old hotel will be temporarily closing its doors, but could reopen at a later date, once "business conditions have improved."

"As part of the reorganisation exercise, we will sadly be parting ways with a number of colleagues and we will be temporarily closing Makati Shanri-La, Manila from 1 February 2021 onwards," said Rice.

In the released statement, the Shangri-La Group said the prolonged pandemic "resulted in increasing financial pressure on the company."

"Despite our best efforts, the prolonged recovery timeline has resulted in increasing financial pressure on the company here in the Philippines," wrote Rice.

With a few to no room at all bookings and events, the hotel tried to mitigate the financial impact of the pandemic through reductions of managers' salaries, shortened work weeks, and limits on non-essential spending.

Despite these efforts, the 5-star hotel said it must make the "extremely difficult decision" to lay off workers. Although It did not specify how many workers would be affected.

"Every effort is being made to support all our affected colleagues through this transition, including providing a fair compensation package that is higher than local statutory guidelines and extending healthcare coverage and grocery support until December 31, 2021, to provide affected employees and their families peace of mind during these uncertain times," the Shangri-La Group said.

"We continue to vigilantly monitor local and global developments and look forward to reopening Makati Shangri-La, Manila at a later date when business conditions have improved," the statement said.

See full statement here: