State government criticised after inmate with coronavirus moved between prisons
Questions over Corrections ability to manage hotel quarantine have been raised after an inmate was moved from the Melbourne Assessment Prison to the remand centre before his COVID-19 results were confirmed.
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The State Opposition has hit out at the handling of an inmate diagnosed with coronavirus who was moved between two Victorian prisons before receiving test results.
The prisoner was tested for COVID-19 at Melbourne Assessment Prison on Monday.
On Wednesday before receiving his result — which came back positive — he was transferred to the Metropolitan Remand Centre.
Opposition Corrections spokesman David Southwick criticised the decision to move the prisoner before knowing the result and questioned whether Corrections was fit to control the state’s troubled hotel quarantine system.
“If this is how Corrections are managing our prisons, what hope have they got managing our quarantine hotels?,” Mr Southwick said.
“We know prisons can be hotbeds for COVID-19 and the movement of a positive inmate throughout the system is simply unacceptable.
“With calls now increasing for the early release of inmates following this incident, Daniel Andrews’ failure to secure our prisons has placed the health and safety of the community at risk.”
Corrections Minister Natalie Hutchins said the case was handled “in full compliance” with COVID-19 prison procedures.
“Corrections staff have worked tirelessly to manage the risk of coronavirus and their priority remains doing everything they can to avoid an outbreak in the prison system,” she said.
“The prisoner who has returned a positive result was identified and managed in full compliance with the rules and procedures put in place.
“Corrections Victoria’s processes for preventing and managing coronavirus worked. Because of the mandatory 14-day quarantine period for new receptions, that prisoner was never a part of the general prison population.”
The Community and Public Sector Union said that while there were concerns about the virus among prison staff, it was confident protocols were in place to prevent its spread.
CPSU spokesman Julian Kennelly said that since the start of the pandemic, the Victorian prison system has had tight controls in place.
“We’re as concerned as anyone in the community about a virus that doesn’t have a vaccine yet but we’re putting in all the control measures available to ensure we stop the virus spreading from one person to another. That goes for inmates and officers,” he said.
A Department of Justice and Community Safety spokeswoman previously said the prisoner was asymptomatic and was in protective quarantine at MRC until his test results were confirmed.
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