25 horrific failings learned during Victoria’s inquiry in the botched hotel quarantine program
From security guards hitting on nurses and a guest to them sleeping on the floor in corridors - here are the most alarming things learned during the inquiry into the hotel quarantine fiasco.
Coronavirus
Don't miss out on the headlines from Coronavirus. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Key questions about Victoria’s problem-plagued hotel quarantine system, including who decided to use private security to guard the hotels instead of the ADF or police, remain unanswered. But the inquiry has heard damning evidence of bungles and blunders. Among them:
1 - SECURITY guards were recruited, sight unseen, via WhatsApp
2 - SOME staff were given a diversity briefing but no training on infection control
3 - ABOUT 30 per cent of travellers refused to be tested
4 - SOME COVID-infected guests were allowed to leave after 14 days, including one who infected the person who drove them from the hotel
5 - POLICE were called after a security guard got into a physical altercation with a food delivery driver
6 - GUESTS wandered in and out of the hotels, with police raising concerns that some were returning with coffee cups
7 - IT TOOK four days to isolate all staff after the first Rydges Hotel staff member tested positive
8 - IT TOOK 48 hours to clean Rydges to a satisfactory standard after that outbreak
9 - UNIFIED Security – given the bulk of the security work – had just 89 permanent employees but employed 1759 people, almost all through subcontracting
10 - INDIGENOUS-owned Unified weren’t a preferred tenderer but were viewed favourably because they had been “doing a lot of inclusion work”
11 - BUREAUCRATS contracting the security companies warned it was a “cowboy industry” with “heaps of cash work” – but hire them anyway
12 - A SECURITY guard slipped a note under a guest’s door that read “Hey hun, add me on Snapchat”, while others leered at nurses and “hit on” female staff
13 - A COVID-infected security guard delivered food while waiting for his test results because he was “bored” at home
14 - ABOUT 70 security guards gathered in one room, without social distancing, for their shift changeover
15 - SECURITY guards smoked in the halls and took hotel towels to use as pillows while napping
16 - TWO security guards allegedly caught engaging in sexual activity during a hotel quarantine shift tried to keep their relationship quiet but were busted after complaining about breaks to a supervisor.
17 - SECURITY guards were told they didn’t need to wear masks while delivering food to rooms or taking guests on walks
18 - GUARDS refused to use hand sanitiser for religious reasons
19 - HEALTH authorities feared the sight of ADF would be too “daunting” for returned travellers
20 - STAFF were concerned by a lack of PPE, including one guard who said he was told to ration his mask and gloves
21 - THE Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning withdrew its staff from the hotels after it raised a string of concerns and no action was taken
22 - WELFARE checkers were battling a backlog of 800 calls at the time a man in quarantine took his own life
23 - GUARDS had no authority to chase down runaway guests or search their bags so instead did a cursory “footy bag check” similar to what they do at the MCG
24 - GUESTS were feed unsuitable food, including those given that triggered allergies and diabetics given high-sugar food
25 - HOTEL quarantine program was $24.3 million over budget by mid-June
MORE NEWS:
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT RULE CHANGES