Peppers Hotel ventilation blamed for coronavirus outbreak

A high-rise hotel’s ventilation is now suspected of boosting the spread of COVID-19 in SA’s worst outbreak.

Ventilation inside Peppers Hotel on Waymouth St has been identified as a major factor in the coronavirus outbreak. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Roy VanDerVegt

Poor ventilation within an Adelaide medi-hotel may have caused the state’s worst coronavirus cluster, while security guards have been cleared of any major infection-control breaches, an official review has concluded.

A COVID-19 strain linked to a security guard escaped from the Peppers Hotel, Waymouth Street, last month before infecting 33 patients in the Parafield cluster and triggering the statewide lockdown.

Among those infected included 15 members of one northern suburbs family, a young Nepalese couple inside the Peppers medi-hotel, and customers of the Woodville Pizza bar.

But the state’s COVID-19 health chief last night revealed an outbreak review found “reduced ventilation” within the Peppers’ corridors “may have contributed to the transmission of infection”.

South Australian Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier. Picture: Kelly Barnes/Getty Images

Days after declaring the state had beaten a second wave, chief public health officer Professor Nicola Spurrier said security footage “did not identify any significant breaches in infection control”.

She revealed SA Health was now trialling “different security models to reduce the amount of time staff spend stationary in corridors”, which includes ensuring security guards moved more around medi-hotels.

In a statement to The Advertiser, Prof Spurrier, pictured, said senior infection control and medical staff within the Communicable Disease Control Branch reviewed the footage.

“The security guard who became infected while working spent some time in the corridor of the floor where the overseas positive case was located, and reduced ventilation within the corridors may have contributed to the transmission of infection,” she said.

“The same guard was also on duty on the floor where the two Nepalese guests were residing.

“Again, there was no direct contact between the individuals so no definitive mode of transmission could be ascertained.”

The state’s 15-day streak of no daily cases ended yesterday when SA Health reported an infectious traveller in his 40s.

He was last night in a special area of the CBD’s Pullman medi-hotel, which was created after the Peppers fiasco.

Opposition spokesman Chris Picton called for the review to be released.