Qld quarantine bungle could have sparked Sydney-style outbreak

The lack of a critical document meant thousands of people in home quarantine were free to leave and mingle in the community, and police were powerless to stop them.

Thousands of people forced into home quarantine by the Indooroopilly Covid-19 cluster were free to leave their home and mingle in the community following a bureaucratic bungle that could have turned deadly.

About 19,000 people linked to the state’s largest cluster since the start of the pandemic – centred on Indooroopilly State High School in Brisbane’s west – were locked into 14 days of home quarantine earlier this month, however Queensland Health failed to provide the usual formal direction requiring them to remain inside their homes.

Health officials, overwhelmed by the sheer number of close contacts, only sent formal notices to those considered high-risk.

That lack of formal direction left Queensland police powerless to prosecute anybody who decided to leave their homes.

Prominent Brisbane barrister Tony Morris was caught in the Indooroopilly outbreak through his daughter, who attends Brisbane Girls Grammar School.

Mr Morris said he and hundreds of other people linked to the cluster – which Queensland’s leaders feared would spread out of control – were never contacted with orders to stay at home.

“Officially you’re not in quarantine until you’re contacted by Queensland Health,” he said.

“One figure I heard was 11,000 people in quarantine when you add up all the families and it's all the members of the families … none of those was officially in quarantine.”

Tony Morris QC was caught in the latest Queensland Covid cluster and never received a formal direction from Queensland Health to stay at home.

Mr Morris argues the “inefficiency and irresponsibility” of Queensland Health’s error could have seen people leave their homes and create an outbreak similar to that facing Sydney.

“If I'd gone to a nightclub and broke quarantine I couldn’t be prosecuted,” he said.

“The first thing in any prosecution would be well, where is the evidence you got the notification from Queensland Health and there wasn't any.

“I was physically at home for two weeks, I left three times to get Covid tests… that‘s the only times I set foot outside of the house because I was being responsible.

“Queensland has done a fantastic job and (Chief Health Officer) Jeannette Young has been magnificent… she has been the best in the country and probably the best in the world and yet her own department is letting her down.”

Health workers perform duties at a pop up Covid-19 testing clinic at Eight Mile Plains in Brisbane’s south.

A Queensland Health spokeswoman said contact tracers monitored more than 19,000 people and acknowledged they “may not be able to contact everyone directly”.

“The sheer volume of contacts meant only those considered high risk were provided with a formal quarantine direction,” she said.

“This meant we relied on Queenslanders to do the right thing, and they did not let us down.

“While a person without a formal quarantine direction may not be subject to police checks or prosecution for noncompliance, we would hope they understand the consequences of their actions should they choose not to comply with our request to home quarantine.”

The spokeswoman said the Metro North Public Health Unit worked with schools involved in the Indooroopilly cluster “to ensure their communities receive information from a familiar source”.