Champion golfer Stephen Leaney trapped in Peppers Hotel quarantine said mental health will suffer

One of South Australian sport’s most celebrated athletes has been embroiled in the Peppers Hotel quarantine fiasco after returning from the USA last week.

A Pepper’s Hotel guest trapped in hotel quarantine who has produced more than 20 negative COVID-19 tests in recent months says the mental health fallout for a second round of quarantine will be “devastating”.

Internationally acclaimed golfer Stephen Leaney, who now plays on the US Champions’ Tour, is one of hundreds of South Australians who has returned to Adelaide from overseas now confronted with a decree from SA Health to restart their stay in hotel quarantine following the Parafield cluster.

Leaney has not seen his wife and children for almost five months and missed his father’s funeral earlier this year due to border restrictions

He said the measures are unnecessary and unfair to those who have done the right thing in ensuring their Covid safety. And he believes the mental health fallout for those stranded with an unplanned extended quarantine stay will be devastating.

So I’m 6 days into my quarantine in Adelaide and because of a possible exposure to a worker who was positive, everyone here has to restart their 14 days. How can I be exposed when I’m locked in my room? What happens if in 10 days time it happens again? Stuck indefinitely HELP!!

— stephen leaney (@LeaneyStephen) November 17, 2020

Australian Golfer Stephen Leaney. Picture: SARAH REED

Leaney, who won 16 times as a professional and was runner-up at the 2003 US Open, arrived from Dallas last Wednesday after more than four months playing in the US.

He said he was mentally prepared for the compulsory 14-day hotel isolation but was bitterly disappointed to learn via mainstream media SA Health was set to restart his quarantine calendar.

“I shouldn’t have to see it on the news,” Leaney, who tested negative in all 21 tests he underwent on tour, said.

“I’ve done everything I can, I’m in a bubble in my room, no-one is allowed in my room.

“I’m six days in, I’ve already tested negative after day two. I’m not going to get it.”

It’s been a terrible stretch for Leaney. His father died in July, just after he arrived in the US, giving him no chance to make the funeral.

Now the renewed border closure with Western Australia will stop him visiting his grieving mother.

“I’m under enough stress as it is and then they just lump this on you,” he said.

Guests Sam Kruckemeyer and Lauren Murphy in quarantine at Peppers. Picture: Morgan Sette

“So I don’t know if they have any idea what people are going through and the stress that you’re under.

“I feel for the people who have been here two weeks and were expecting to leave today, that’s outrageous.

“There doesn’t seem to be any sense behind this. I know you have to keep the community safe and I’m fully for that but if you’re negative you’re negative.

“If you’re negative and doing all the things you’re legally obliged to do you can’t just lump it on again and expect everyone’s mental health to be completely normal.

“Two weeks is bad enough trust me. And I’ve only done six days.”

Leaney has found it impossible to get any sort of direct contact with SA Health. Minutes after we spoke on a Tuesday evening, he was advised of updated quarantine details via hotel loud-speaker.

“I got a letter at 11 o’clock last night, not even a phone call just a letter, that we’re going to move you to a hotel,” he said.

“And you’re likely to have to be extended to 14 days. No confirmation, so I’ve been waiting around all day today. I haven’t had a phone call from anyone.

“I packed everything up. I’m sitting here and I had to call reception a half hour ago who said we’re not likely to be moved. But no one from SA Health has been in contact with us.”

Leaney will face more challenges when he is finally released from the hotel, as he will be restricted from travelling to Western Australia to visit his grieving mother.

The hotel quarantine restart was announced after three staff members tested positive to coronavirus on Sunday, triggering a cluster in Parafield with a further 20 cases linked and 14 other suspected cases linked.