State’s hotel quarantine program to end as 250-bed Mickleham hub opens

The Andrews government has revealed who will have to quarantine in its $200 million purpose-built facility in Mickleham, which opens this month.

Victoria’s hotel quarantine system will be rolled back by the end of March as visitors begin using a new dedicated hub at Mickleham.

The Andrews Government on Friday revealed that Covid-19 Quarantine Victoria had begun the process of ending its operations at key hotels across Melbourne.

It is expected hotels will no longer be used for this purpose by the end of March and those needing quarantine will instead be taken to the new dedicated facility which will open this month with 250 beds.

It will house unvaccinated Australian citizens returning from abroad, those who cannot quarantine at home.

What accommodation will look like at the Mickleham quarantine hub. Picture: Supplied

Since December 2020, more than 70,000 people have passed through hotel quarantine and the initial version of scheme was the subject of an independent inquiry after it was linked to Victoria’s second wave.

“We have always known hotels were built for tourists not quarantine, so it’s more than appropriate to be ending our hotel program now that operations are about to kick off at the purpose-built Victorian Quarantine Hub,” Police Minister Lisa Neville said.

“The lessons learned in hotel quarantine won’t go to waste, with hundreds of existing hotel staff transitioning over to the hub in the coming weeks.”

“A purpose-built quarantine facility ensures we have the resources we need to see through the coronavirus pandemic and any pandemics in the future.”

CQV Commissioner Emma Cassar thanks all those who had worked in hotel quarantine over the last year and a half.

“I look forward to this next chapter as we begin operations later this month at the hub.”

“I’d also like to thank our hotel partners for supporting Victoria’s pandemic response. Without them, we would not have been able to safety accommodate tens of thousands of Victorians returning from overseas. “

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‘LUDICROUS’ SPENDING ON MEDI-HOTELS

Only a handful of patients were admitted to the state’s “medi-hotels”, since the state government opened the new facilities to “alleviate pressures“ on the state’s hospital system.

Providing an extra 300-beds a day for Victorian Covid patients the hotels were launched by the Andrews government in January as a “buffer” to care for the rising number of patients in hospital during the Omicron wave.

But the Herald Sun can reveal, despite significant staffing and set-up costs the ‘home-style’ care facilities at The Pullman hotel and Mantra at Epping admitted less than one patient per day, with sources saying less than 20 people in total used the hotels during their operation.

At the same time the state government had slammed the door shut on non-urgent elective surgery, leaving some private hospitals sitting empty and forcing tens of thousands of people to languish on elective surgery wait lists.

The hotels were operated by the Department of Health and Royal Melbourne Hospital, with patients being medically assessed before being transferred.

At the time there was 976 infected people in hospital with 112 in intensive care.

At least one medical source told the Herald Sun a “ludicrous” amount of money had been wasted and that staff used for the facilities had been taken away from hospitals to man the program.

The government refused to provide a figure on how many patients used the hotels or any costs associated with the program.

A Victorian Government spokesperson said: “The fact the Omicron wave has subsided and that they were not needed as much as anticipated is a good thing for the health system and the Victorian community.”

“As daily case numbers drop and staff availability stabilises, we have begun decommissioning the two medi-hotels – which were repurposed from the program’s existing hotel stock to provide additional capacity to care for lower needs patients if needed.

“Patients able to recover at home will continue to be supported through the expanded Hospitals in the Home program.”

When launched in January, Acting Health Minister James Merlino said setting up the hotels was “sensible” and would provide an “extra buffer” to support our frontline workers to help alleviate the pressure on the system.”

It’s not the first time the Andrew’s Government’s hotel system has been bungled.

The Herald Sun revealed in 2020, that Victorians were footing a multimillion-dollar bill for quarantine hotels, which were sitting empty.

The Mantra Hotel, Epping.

There were also dozens of security guards and hotel staff being paid to sit at home.

At the peak of the pandemic the state was operating 13 hotels for quarantining international travellers and Covid positive people.

Seven were closed and only six remain in operation, including the two medi hotels, which are now being closed, two quarantine hotels and tow health hotels.

It is understood all of these facilities will be phased out in the coming weeks to make way for the state’s new purpose-built $200 million quarantine facility in Mickleham.

Victoria shadow treasurer David David said the hotels were another expensive “thought bubble”.

“Far from having the 300 patients at a time, it appears only a handful have access these expensive facilities.

“How much has been wasted on these white elephants? How much taxpayers’ money has been squandered?”

“ Andrews needs to come clean on how many COVID-19 occupants have accessed them and exactly how much they have cost.”

Originally published as State’s hotel quarantine program to end as 250-bed Mickleham hub opens