Police reveal more than 8000 people have shuffled through hotel quarantine on the Gold Coast

The Bulletin was granted exclusive access to one of the Gold Coast’s quarantine hotels this week, and witnessed first-hand the engine room helping to keep COVID-19 out of Queensland.

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MORE than 8000 people have shuffled through Gold Coast’s quarantine hotels at the coalface of keeping COVID-19 out of Queensland.

Since April 1, when Voco at Surfers Paradise opened its doors to returning travellers in an attempt to slow the virus, the Queensland Police Service have provided 24/7 security at three quarantine hotels across the Coast for about 8700 guests across more than 110,000 nights.

Twenty-one guests have tested positive to the virus on the Gold Coast.

The Bulletin was granted exclusive access to one of the Gold Coast’s quarantine hotels this week, and witnessed first-hand the engine room helping to keep COVID-19 out of Queensland.

Flowers are sent to a guest staying in hotel quarantine. Picture: Scott Powick.

During the visit – which was heavily controlled by the hotel and the Queensland Police Service – the Bulletin saw officers file through the door for an induction into hotel quarantine work, what’s believed to be a batch of swabs being taken into a Sullivan Nicolaides car, and a flurry of deliveries come through the doors for cooped-up guests.

In the time the Bulletin was behind the scenes at hotel quarantine a number of food deliveries arrived. Picture: Scott Powick.

Police officers, Queensland Health staff and at times ADF personnel, who are assisting with the quarantine process, are all based in the hotel’s lobby.

Police from all different parts of the service have rotated through hotel quarantine since its inception.

Gold Coast police Inspector Owen Hortz, who is in charge of the Gold Coast security response, said it was a very “different experience”.

“It’s not like an operation such as Schoolies or G20, or the Commonwealth Games where it starts on one day and ends in two weeks, three weeks’ time. It’s not so much daunting (that there’s no end date).

Queensland Police Inspector Owen Hortz behind the scenes in one of the undisclosed Gold Coast Quarantine Hotels. Picture: Scott Powick.

“You just need to plan ahead to make sure that everything that’s being done is sustainable.”

Insp Hortz said no one “thought it would develop the way it did”.

“Policing is about keeping people safe … and what we’ve seen since the first of April, when we opened our first quarantine hotel on the Gold Coast, is over 110,000 guest nights.

“We’re up in the region of 8700 guests have been through and these people have been quarantined for the 14 days, but then they have left, safe and well and been able to get back out into the community.

There was plenty of hand santiser at the hotel. Picture: Scott Powick.

“We haven’t had any cross infections over that time in the hotels on the Gold Coast. So overall, we’re doing that job of keeping the public safe. It’s just in a very, very different way to what we’ve ever done before.”

The Bulletin was told guests who had completed their fortnight of quarantine checked out at all hours of the day – at times 12.01am – just to get that scent of fresh air and freedom.

The hotel receives more than 200 deliveries a day and can involve anything from food, booze, care packages, to even gym equipment.

Queensland Police take the Gold Coast Bulletin behind the scenes in one of the undisclosed Gold Coast quarantine hotels. Picture: Scott Powick.

A treadmill was recently delivered to the hotel.

On Friday, Insp Hortz conducted an induction for a fresh batch of officers arriving for hotel quarantine duties.

He said hotel staff were also trained by Queensland Health weekly.

Queensland’s hotel quarantine program has been criticised in the past over the food, and even nearby noise from construction.

However it has been one of the only states to have successfully managed the program to date.

Victoria’s outbreak originated in hotel quarantine, while a Sydney security guard also contracted the virus.

Queensland Police at one of the undisclosed Gold Coast quarantine hotels. Picture: Scott Powick.

Adelaide’s quarantine program has come under fire in recent days after an outbreak linked to a hotel.

“I’m very thankful we haven’t had any cross contamination,” Insp Hortz said.

“We work very closely with Queensland Health and they have advised all of the stakeholders in this, not only us but the hotel staff and the other government departments that are here, on how we can go better business and keep everybody safe.”

Insp Hortz said everyone was treated as if they were positive when they arrived, but not like prisoners.

“A number of people, as you can imagine, aren’t happy with having to be quarantined. Some take it better than others. The vast majority of people and the information we get from Australian Red Cross, who are in regular contact with people who are guests, is that they understand why they’re there. And they appreciate everything that’s done to look after them. And they’re quite happy. A few people don’t accept that. We have had a number of people charged. When they’re in quarantine, the basis for quarantine is that they don’t come in contact with other people. That’s what keeps everybody safe.”

Insp Hortz said guests were at first warned if they did leave their room, before opening up themselves to fines and charges.

He would not say how many police were involved in the security operation.

“I’m not going to go into specifics and tell you exactly how many but we have enough on the ground to ensure that we can look after all of their duties in terms of security and managing the guests in a safe way,” he said.

Gold Coast police have repeatedly defended their role in the hotel quarantine program despite criticism about perceived lack of resources on the beat.

Police do facilitate guests leaving the hotel for walks at the behest of Queensland Health.

He said the way people were allocated rooms was “luck of the draw”.

One of the lifts up to the higher floors. Picture: Scott Powick.

“We’ve got three hotels. They didn’t all start at the same time and filling them up is not a … neat process where you can fill one and then move to the next and move to the next.

“So there’s vacancies that come up at irregular times at all the hotels. Because of the nature of the virus, the fact that a hotel has guests leave on one particular day, there can be a period of time before that room can be used again. It has to be cleaned very thoroughly more so than just a normal hotel, to make sure that it’s safe for the next person to move in. It is luck of the draw then when you arrive as to what hotels available and where you can go into.

Insp Hortz detailed the regimented process in which a passenger arrives at hotel quarantine.

He said they were staggered off the bus and made to wear a mask.

They are met by nurses – also masked – and told to wash their hands with hand sanitiser.

On arrival, they fill out a form and placed individually into an elevator, where they are then met by a police officer and directed into a room.

“So all the way along the process from when they arrive here, we are keeping them distant from other people, we’re keeping a mask on, making sure their hands are clean, and then if they touch anything at all, that’s cleaned down properly afterwards and that keeps them safe from each other but it also keeps all the people working in the hotel environment safe.”

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