Ambassador Hotel Frankston: Coronavirus cases linked to notorious crime-riddled hotel
An owner of an apartment in a crime-riddled Frankston hotel, refutes the complex has a COVID outbreak and says infections are “isolated”, but couldn’t confirm if the infected are isolating.
Outer East
Don't miss out on the headlines from Outer East. Followed categories will be added to My News.
An Ambassador Hotel apartment owner has rejected claims of an outbreak at the troubled complex, insisting the two infections are “isolated”.
Owner’s committee member and former resident Bella, who did not want to give her surname, told the Leader coronavirus tests of more than 50 residents were all negative after undertaken last week and more would be completed this week.
Bella could not confirm if the two infected residents were isolating but said they had been given instructions from Peninsula Health and the Department of Health.
“This is not an outbreak …(infected residents) would be in isolation and the health team will be coming to see them regularly to give them supplies,” she said.
“Everyone on site has been given masks door to door by Peninsula Health and also information pamphlets … there’s also been (informative) posters put up.”
Bella, who now elsewhere in Frankston, said Ambassador contractors had been trained in specialised cleaning and residents were abiding by stay-at-home rules in their apartments.
“There’s been no parties or anything like that,” she said.
Bella said many residents worked full-time across a range of jobs including aged care and emergency services.
A resident and former aged care worker, who did not want to be named, said the complex’s bad name was “outdated”.
“Things have quietened down substantially … people are wearing masks their outside,” she said.
“(There’s) more communication between the owner’s committee and residents which is making a big difference.
“In a year and a half there’s been a huge improvement.”
Bella said a new committee chair was being introduced to the owner’s corporation in coming weeks.
“There’s a real sense of community on site that people from the outside don’t hear about,” she said.
“There’s a lot of voluntary work that is done (with) residents volunteering to do gardening … people look out for other people by giving them food if they’re hungry.
“There’s a lot of people that do work full-time (including) paramedics, roof tilers, aged care workers (and) factory workers.
“There will be more positive things coming.”
Leader previously reported two coronavirus cases had been linked to a notorious Frankston hotel, which had become a cesspit for drug use and hotspot for criminals fresh out of jail.
It comes as the latest Department of Health and Human Services figures show 135 people in Frankston tested positive for the virus, with 68 active cases.
The department is investigating two cases at the Ambassador Hotel in Frankston, which offers short-stay rentals.
Last year Leader visited the crime-riddled hotel, with residents at the 110-unit apartment block — where a room can be rented for as little as $190 per week — saying they “wouldn’t sleep without the door locked” and had witnessed “dead people and stabbings”.
The hotel was also plagued with smashed windows, junk piles, graffiti and shattered beer bottles.
In 2018, one ice-fuelled resident was jailed for stabbing his neighbour in the back over a $27 drug money dispute.
The year prior, owners of the apartments dubbed the building as the most dangerous address in Australia.
Victoria has recorded 322 new cases of coronavirus since Monday, with the total number of active cases at 7869.
Within Victoria, 24 of the new cases are linked to outbreaks or complex cases and 442 are under investigation.
There have been 19 new deaths from coronavirus reported on Monday.
The new deaths include one man in 50s, one woman in her 60s, two men in their 70s and one man and six women in their 80s, and one man and seven women in their 90s.
Fourteen of the 19 new deaths are linked to known outbreaks in aged care facilities.
To date, 228 people have died from coronavirus in Victoria.
MORE NEWS
CORONAVIRUS STAGE 4: WHERE TO WALK IN 5KM RADIUS
DENIAL CULT, ANTI-VAXXERS BEHIND ANTI-LOCKDOWN ‘FREEDOM MARCH’