Coronavirus SA: New medi-hotel failings revealed as dozens of guards disciplined or sacked

The government is facing calls to explain why almost 100 medi-hotel security guards have been sacked or disciplined. SA has again recorded no new cases today.

Police and Medical staff around the Peppers Waymouth Hotel in Adelaide. Picture Matt Turner.

Almost 100 security guards working in South Australia’s medi-hotels have been sacked or disciplined, official figures show, as the state hit a week and a day of zero daily coronavirus cases.

SA Health statistics show 94 private guards have been subjected to disciplinary action while another five had jobs “terminated” for undisclosed security failings since March.

While no SA Health staff were disciplined, critics have called for information to be released about the incidents amid fears of medi-hotel staff shortages.

Medical staff with police, outside the Peppers medi-hotel last month. Picture: Brenton Edwards

SA Best MLC Frank Pangallo said the full circumstances must be publicly explained.

“Dismissal in a job isn’t done lightly so there has to be explanation,” he said.

“Private security guards were the cause of Melbourne’s second wave … and they were also involved in SA’s aborted lockdown.

“Police resources have been stretched to breaking point since the start of the pandemic.”

The new failings emerged after The Advertiser last month revealed there had been more than 100 breaches across the state’s seven medi-hotels in the past two months.

This compared with an increase of 62 between April and early September. Failings included the wrong use of protective equipment, security errors and “other” secret incidents that could also involve medi-hotel staff or contractors.

An SA Health spokeswoman said none of its staff had “required disciplinary action”, adding that “hundreds of guards had worked across tens of thousands of shifts”. She could not provide details on specific disciplinary incidents.

SA Health on Sunday reported an eighth consecutive day of zero cases as officials expressed hope the state’s worst cluster had been controlled.

On Friday, Police Commissioner Grant Stevens, as state co-ordinator, overruled advice from the chief public health officer, Professor Nicola Spurrier, and allowed hospitality rules to ease to half-capacity after the launch of QR codes.

Premier Steven Marshall said international flights could resume from Monday. However, there are concerns the medi-hotel system is not ready for a new influx of expatriates because a specialised facility is not yet ready.

National cabinet will on Friday debate ordering pre-flight tests for returning expatriates. International flights were diverted from Adelaide almost a fortnight ago to reduce medi-hotel capacity at the height of the Parafield cluster.

There are 33 patients linked to the cluster, which also sparked a three-day lockdown last month. Last night, 232 contacts remained in quarantine. There are now just five infectious patients in SA.

A medi-hotel security guard was the cluster’s source and two travellers got sick within the Peppers Waymouth Hotel. A review into how the virus escaped is ongoing but poor ventilation is one theory.

Mr Marshall then announced a U-turn over the controversial program. The overhaul included moving all COVID-positive cases from medi-hotels to a dedicated facility, while all medi-hotel staff now get tested weekly.

Police and government security officers will guard the facility. Despite international flights being allowed to arrive, neither an interim nor a permanent facility have been finalised. Labor’s health and wellbeing spokesman, Chris Picton, yesterday raised concerns the government’s “eight-point plan” would not be finalised before the first flights.

A government spokesman said the interim facility “will be in place for the first arrivals”.