COVID-19 virus particles found in Hotel Grand Chancellor room after deep clean

Changes to cleaning processes at Queensland’s quarantine hotels have been foreshadowed after a deep clean failed to eradicate coronavirus.

COVID-19 viral particles have been found inside a Hotel Grand Chancellor room, despite a deep clean following guests testing positive to the highly infectious UK variant.

Queensland Health director-general John Wakefield yesterday foreshadowed changes to the deep cleaning process across the state’s 74 quarantine hotels in the wake of a 19-page report into the Grand Chancellor coronavirus cluster.

The six-person cluster, including a hotel quarantine cleaner and her partner, triggered a three-day lockdown in Greater Brisbane last month.

Brisbane’s Hotel Grand Chancellor, centre of a six-person coronavirus cluster last month. Picture: Dan Peled

Four Grand Chancellor guests, staying in two rooms on floor seven of the hotel – 702 and 711 – also tested positive to the UK variant.

A report into the cluster, made public yesterday, found swabs taken from both rooms, which are “geographically distanced” and on opposite sides of the building, were positive for “residual viral fragments”.

“One of the rooms had undergone post-discharge clean but remained positive, while the other room had not yet been cleaned so positive results are not unexpected,” the report said.

“The positive swabs will prompt further detailed review of the room cleaning procedures.”

One of the report’s investigators, Michael Cleary, has been appointed to the new role of statewide director of quarantine services in the wake of the Grand Chancellor cluster.

“Dr Cleary and his team have worked through with the deep clean contractors … to completely unpack their whole process,” Dr Wakefield said.

He said new processes had been tested and validated with post-clean swabs showing rooms to be “completely negative” of viral particles.

“That will now be rolled out across all hotels,” Dr Wakefield said.

The report made seven detailed recommendations including the implementation of surveillance swab checks of walls and high-touch surfaces after deep cleans of hotel rooms, occupied by infected guests.

Guests are routinely transferred to Queensland hospitals from quarantine if they test positive to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and their rooms undergo a deep clean.

“The cleaners are completely kitted out in respirators, from head to toe in all the gear,” Dr Wakefield said. “It’s a very technical full clean that’s meant to essentially expunge any germs, including this virus.”

Queensland Health director-general Dr John Wakefield. Picture: Peter Wallis

The report found the hotel quarantine cleaner most likely contracted the virus through “indirect contact with a surface” in the hotel.

She had no direct contact with any of the four infected guests and did not enter their rooms at any time.

“The review team were unable to determine the exact root cause of transmission,” the report said. “No direct breaches in quarantine or security were identified.

“It is considered that the cluster is most likely a result of multiple gaps in infection prevention and control.”

An analysis of air movement inside the Grand Chancellor is pending but the report’s authors recommended “ensuring air extraction and ventilation of corridors” at quarantine hotels to prevent possible airborne transmission of the virus.

Queensland recorded one new case of the pandemic virus yesterday, a person in hotel quarantine, taking the state’s total number of confirmed infections to 1309.

Meanwhile, WA’s southwest region reopened to Queensland at 1am today.

But Metropolitan Perth will remain a hotspot until at least 1am on February 14, which will mark 14 days since a security guard working in hotel quarantine contracted the virus.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said health officials still needed to treat the WA capital with caution.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young. Picture: Mark Cranitch

“Western Australia also continues to exercise caution with Western Australians ordered to wear masks when out of the house for another eight days,” she said.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk yesterday announced that Gladstone had been ruled out for use as a quarantine site for returning international travellers.

It came after the local mayor sent a letter to both the Premier and Prime Minister Scott Morrison, saying his community was opposed to such a move.

“It was too complicated in terms of the way in which you would have to transport people,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“However, we are still working with the Commonwealth in relation to the proposal at Toowoomba, where there would be a facility that would be set up right next to the airport.”

Ms Palaszczuk said it was up to the Federal Government to decide if they wanted to pursue the Toowoomba option.

“I’m merely presenting options here,” she said.