International flights into Melbourne will resume on April 8 after they were halted in mid-February following an outbreak at the Holiday Inn hotel.
Arrivals will be capped at 800 per week during the first week and then rise to 1120 from April 15, the same number of returned travellers that Victoria was accepting before multiple outbreaks triggered a five-day lockdown and closure of the quarantine program on February 13.
Acting Premier James Merlino.Credit:Justin McManus
Prior to February’s lockdown, the government had committed to accepting 1310 returned travellers a week into its quarantine hotels.
Acting Premier James Merlino said on Thursday that there were no plans to scale the quarantine program up beyond 1120 a week at this stage.
“We are learning as we go but every decision we make is based on public health advice,” Mr Merlino said.
“What we are doing is leaving no stone unturned to make it as safe as possible. I’m not going to stand before you today and say it is zero risk because nowhere in any jurisdiction in this country or around the world would someone say that to you.”
Mr Merlino said he would also make it clear to national cabinet that the Victorian government did not want people returning to Australia “simply for a holiday”.
“We want to make sure that those returning to Australia... want to return home,” he said.
COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria commissioned three reviews to assess the ventilation at the state’s hotel quarantine programs, the systems and processes in hotels, and the new, more infectious variants of coronavirus, following leaks from three hotels in under a month.
One review into the mutant variants of COVID-19, led by the state’s deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng, found that international arrivals into Australia should be slashed and “vaccine passports” introduced to prevent leaks from hotel quarantine.
Professor Cheng also urged national cabinet to introduce home quarantine for some returning travellers.
Of the 19 hotels being assessed for the quarantine scheme, only three – including the Holiday Inn at Melbourne Airport at the centre of the most recent cluster – have so far completed their ventilation assessments and are ready to accept returning travellers.
The review found that two hotels will need modifications “in limited areas of the hotel”, but the floors that have passed the assessment will be used immediately. Further works are expected to be completed in April.
Works are also underway at another further eight hotels, while six hotels are being assessed to determine whether they could be added to the hotel quarantine program.
Meanwhile, the Safer Care Review, which assessed the systems and processes at hotels, found that CQV must pay greater attention to ventilation systems, and higher standards must be adopted.
Acting Emergency Services Minister Danny Pearson said the Safer Care Review had involved CQV checking each room on every floor.
“If someone is positive and they are contagious, when that door is open for either a check, or to collect a meal, air goes into that room rather than out into the corridor,” he said.
Mr Merlino also said that he had written to Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday morning to advocate for a nationally consistent approach to ventilation.
“Victoria is the only jurisdiction that has done this additional work in terms of ventilation, so we want to share that,” he said.
As part of the recommendations, quarantining residents will now be tested on days zero, four, 12 and 14. Once they have left hotel quarantine, the Department of Health will contact them on day 16 to check for symptoms, and recommend they get further tests on days 17 and 21.
More than 2200 staff working in red zones have also been fit-tested with N95 masks.
The government also released its final response to the Coate hotel quarantine inquiry, and said it would accept all of the recommendations and referred some to be discussed at national cabinet.
A review into the nebuliser incident at Holiday Inn, which authorities believe led to that outbreak, found the man did not tell authorities about his medical device until February 5 – the same day the man tested positive to the virus and was moved to a health hotel.
The report also recommended hotel quarantine staff receive at least the first dose of their vaccine before starting work and that ventilation assessments at hotels are complete before international flights resume.
“It is not possible to eliminate risk completely from a quarantine system, so a strong hierarchy of controls is required, including strong governance, a safety culture, continous quality improvement and robust monitoring and evaluation,” Professor Cheng’s review recommended.
Sumeyya is a state political reporter for The Age.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMihQFodHRwczovL3d3dy50aGVhZ2UuY29tLmF1L25hdGlvbmFsL3ZpY3RvcmlhL3B1c2gtdG8tc2xhc2gtaW50ZXJuYXRpb25hbC1hcnJpdmFscy1hcy1mbGlnaHRzLXJlc3VtZS13aXRoaW4tYS13ZWVrLTIwMjEwMzI1LXA1N2R2ay5odG1s0gGFAWh0dHBzOi8vYW1wLnRoZWFnZS5jb20uYXUvbmF0aW9uYWwvdmljdG9yaWEvcHVzaC10by1zbGFzaC1pbnRlcm5hdGlvbmFsLWFycml2YWxzLWFzLWZsaWdodHMtcmVzdW1lLXdpdGhpbi1hLXdlZWstMjAyMTAzMjUtcDU3ZHZrLmh0bWw?oc=5
2021-03-24 23:04:40Z
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