Warning notice for Victoria’s hotel quarantine agency

Victoria’s workplace safety watchdog has put the state’s hotel quarantine agency and the DHHS on notice over COVID-19 practices.

Victoria’s hotel quarantine agency is racing to build a ­secure workspace at Melbourne Airport after the state’s safety watchdog raised infection control concerns.

COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria will construct new offices within six weeks in the bid to stop staff who interact with incoming overseas travellers entering “green zone” areas around the airport.

It is feared they could contract and potentially pass on the virus.

The move comes after WorkSafe Victoria issued CQV and the health department improvement notices over infection protocol.

A CQV spokeswoman said staff had previously abided by strict decontamination protocols but the agency was now working with Melbourne Airport “to restrict the movement of staff between red and green zones”.

“This includes ensuring that staff in Terminal 2 red zones are only permitted to leave the area to attend staff offices and testing sites,” she said.

“Further work is under way to construct a separate workspace to ensure that staff will have no need to move outside Terminal 2 in the future.”

Concerns have been raised about hotel quarantine.

The notices were issued in January, before the latest outbreak, when Premier Daniel Andrews was publicly boasting that Victoria’s hotel quarantine program was among the nation’s best and being copied interstate

Asked about the WorkSafe notices, Mr Andrews said: “We will work through those issues. We believe they have already been resolved in the main.”

The state’s COVID-19 commander, Jeroen Weimar, was due to meet with WorkSafe on Wednesday afternoon.

In a blow to returning travellers, Mr Andrews also flagged that the state’s paused hotel quarantine program would not be resuming for some time, potentially until workers could be vaccinated.

Up to 12,000 doses of vaccine began arriving this week after being given the green light by federal authorities.

However, with two jabs needed weeks apart, it could take months to vaccinate the entire quarantine workforce.

Mr Andrews on Tuesday announced plans to build a “village” of quarantine “cabins” to reduce the risk of using hotels. The company that built the Northern Territory’s Howard Springs facility — held up as a model example — said a Victorian centre could be built in two months if fast-tracked by the government.

AECOM’s Paul Clark said the individual cabins were likely to cost $150,000 to $200,000 each, with a 300-bed facility to work out to between $45m and $60m.

But he said until more details were available about the site and what type of facility was required, it was impossible to estimate exact costs.

He supported the state government’s plan to model its ­facility on Howard Springs, which was unique in Australia for being close to a major airport and a hospital.

“Overall it’s a good idea, it’s all about making it available as soon as possible.

“I think in some way, shape or form, it will probably go ahead.”

Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien said the state’s hotel system was consistently a shambles, but shutting down the program and diverting travellers through Queensland and New South Wales was not the answer.

He called for the program to be fixed once and for all.

“I think for this premier to keep getting other states to do the heavy lifting for Victoria, at some stage, other states may turn around and say you know what, we’re going to look after our own return travellers,” he said.

Originally published as Warning notice for Victoria’s hotel quarantine agency