Inside life on the 'crazy floor': Damning picture emerges showing guards posing for guests who were supposed to be in coronavirus quarantine - as calls grow for a CRIMINAL investigation into Victoria's second-wave catastrophe
- Victoria's second wave of coronavirus was sparked by hotel quarantine failures
- A photo has emerged of guards failing to distance and posing for the camera
- Workers and returned travellers have also shared their stories of the failures
- Some guards are accused of sleeping on the job and ordering room service
- Do you know more? Email tips@dailymail.com
Leaning back and making a rude gesture with both hands, a hotel quarantine security guard poses for a photo taken outside by a returned traveller.
The guard is wearing a mask but failing to socially distance from two colleagues, who also look at the camera and make hand gestures.
The image, taken outside one of Melbourne's quarantine hotels, appears to support the accounts of dozens of workers and returned travellers who say private security guards failed to take the operation seriously.
It was uploaded to social media on July 3, just before Victoria began to record triple-digit figures of new daily cases.
The guest who uploaded the photo was also able to get an exercise bike delivered to their room after persuading hotel workers and security guards in several conversations.
This image taken outside one of Melbourne's quarantine hotels appears to support the accounts of dozens of workers and returned travellers who say private security guards failed to take the quarantine operation seriously
One guest was able to get an exercise bike (pictured) delivered to their room after persuading hotel workers and security guards in series of conversations
Staff inside a hotel in Melbourne are seen moving luggage for guests in quarantine on June 25
Victoria's deadly second wave of coronavirus has been traced back to failures in the hotel quarantine program and Premier Daniel Andrews is facing growing calls to be held responsible.
As he battles to save his state and his job, more stories are emerging of how it went so wrong.
Travellers and hotel workers have said some security guards ignored social distancing, slept on the job and even asked guests to order them room-service coffees.
The debacle first came to public attention on May 27 when the infection of a security guard at the Rydges on Swanston hotel in Carlton, inner-north Melbourne was announced.
The following week, on June 6, the spread of the deadly virus appeared under control as zero cases were recorded for the first time since March 5.
But on June 17 an outbreak erupted at the Stamford Plaza in Melbourne's CBD and 21 new cases were recorded across the state.
It emerged that guards working for private security firms - contracted by the Andrews government to run the quarantine scheme - had breached social distancing requirements and failed to enforce the rules.
There were reports they had allowed separate families to play cards and that some guards had even had sex with returned travellers.
Fast forward seven weeks and Victoria is suffering 7,637 active cases, 181 people have died and stage-four restrictions have locked people in their homes at night and put up to 400,000 out of work.
One quarantine guest reported that he was allowed to pack into a lift with two other security guards before the guard received a walkie-talkie message saying COVID-19 had been detected in the hotel
As Mr Andrews (pictured on Friday) battles to save his state and his job, more stories are emerging of how the hotel quarantine program went so wrong
Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has said it is conceivable that all Victoria's cases could be traced back to outbreaks stemming from the hotel quarantine system.
In recent days further stories have emerged of guards and guests breaking the rules during quarantine.
One guest reported that he was allowed to pack into a lift with two security guards before one received a walkie-talkie message saying COVID-19 had been detected in the hotel.
Other guests reported guards were either playing on their phones or falling asleep in corridors when they were supposed to be making sure no-one left their rooms.
One anonymous hotel worker said security guards failed to take the job seriously.
The worker said guards left their masks on the floor and only put them on when managers came around to check on them.
Guests reported that guards had fallen asleep on the job during the hotel quarantine operation
Melbourne is enduring state-four lockdown with hundreds of new daily coronavirus cases per day and calls are growing Premier Daniel Andrews to be held responsible for the quarantine failure. Pictured: Army in Melbourne
According to the worker's Reddit post, guards packed into lifts, failed to socially distance and left rubbish lying around in their break area.
'I’ve seen ten security guards sharing the same lift talking and chatting,' the worker wrote.
'A group of them laughed because I asked them to socially distance, thinking I was joking.
'One security guard asked a guest to order him a coffee via room service. It goes on and on.'
The worker also claimed guards would 'often fall asleep in their chairs on the guest floors, have their heads down with earphones in and not even notice hotel staff passing.'
Premier Andrews has faced huge criticism for not using the police and the ADF to run hotel quarantine as the New South Wales government did.
Victoria has suffered a second wave of coronavirus after the disease escaped from hotel quarantine. Pictured: A body is removed from St Basil's care home in Fawkner, Melbourne
On Thursday he said that he is accountable for mistakes made by his government but he refused to answer questions about the disaster.
Opposition Leader Michael O'Brien has called for a criminal probe into care home deaths and said government ministers should be investigated over the failures of hotel quarantine.
'It is becoming clearer by the day that the Andrews Labor Government's mismanagement of hotel quarantine, contact tracing and aged care services have been the drivers of Victoria's second wave of COVID-19,' he said.
'Criminal investigations into COVID-19 associated deaths must examine the actions and decisions of Andrews ministers.'
A judicial inquiry into the disaster will not report until in November.
Shadow Health Minister Georgie Crozier said Victorians deserve answers now.
'Victorians should not have to wait months for answers about how Daniel Andrews has made such a mess of Victoria's hotel quarantine,' she said.
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2020-08-08 09:58:27Z
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