New TV ad campaign blames Dan Andrews for hotel quarantine deaths, lockdowns

The handling of the botched hotel quarantine program by Dan Andrews and his government has come under fire in a scathing TV ad.

A Melbourne woman whose grandfather died with Covid during the state’s second wave has launched a new public campaign attacking the government over the hotel quarantine program.

A TV advertisement slamming the Andrews government over their handling of the pandemic will air this week, with family and friends of the 801 people who died in the second wave being urged to get in contact and share their stories.

The 30-second video features Gina Haitidis declaring that “Victorians aren’t stupid” and shows footage of Premier Daniel Andrews telling the media he is accountable for any mistakes.

“You caused the second lockdown,” she says in the clip.

Gina Haitidis lost her grandfather in Victoria’s second Covid wave. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

“You let the virus out of your hotels, which killed 801 people, including my grandfather.”
Ms Haitidis also criticises harsh enforcement of Covid restrictions by police and the decision to close playgrounds in 2021.

The Coate inquiry into the hotel quarantine program heard evidence that 90 per cent of Covid cases recorded between May and December 2020 came from an outbreak at Rydges.

A smaller proportion were linked to another outbreak at the Stamford in mid-June. 

The end of the video urges Victorians “Don’t forget”.

Speaking to the Herald Sun, Ms Haitidis said she and her family still felt traumatised after her grandfather Angelo Gissara contracted Covid and died in hospital on August 15 that year. 

She said their pain had was made worse by issues at the hospital tracking her grandfather’s condition and a funeral service with police ensuring there were no more than 10 people.

“Hotel quarantine was something that obviously went drastically wrong,” Ms Haitidis said.

“But when the inquiry was to happen, that’s when we got our hopes up … (we thought) now we’re going to finally get some sort of answers to what’s going on.

“I just remember (the premier) saying ‘No I don’t recall’ or ‘I don’t remember’.

“I felt so unwell and I thought to myself this is ridiculous … No one is going to take accountability for these decisions.

“There’s consequences of those decisions and my family is one of those consequences.”

Ms Haitidis said she was putting out the advertisement because she wanted to bring attention back to the issue and had no political affiliations.

“We kind of became a bit desensitised to it,” she said.

Gina doesn’t want Victorians to forget the pain and suffering endured by many during Covid lockdowns. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

“When it affects you directly you sort of say, hang on a minute, this isn’t a number any more. This is a family.

“After the inquiry … It sparked something in me that, that I was like, I need to say and do something.”

A government spokeswoman said: “Since the outbreak of Covid, the Victorian government has worked with public health experts on a response to Covid that protects lives and livelihoods.

“As a part of the overall public health response to a once-in-a-100-year pandemic measures were necessary to protect all Victorians from risk, especially the most vulnerable in our community – particularly given the slow roll out of vaccines by the Morrison government.”

“Victoria Police did an incredible job keeping Victorians safe throughout the pandemic when we asked more of them than ever before – and we thank them for all they did and continue to do everyday protecting our community.”

“We have been clear that quarantine should be managed in a purpose-built facility, not hotels, and while we wish we’d had it before the pandemic with the Victorian Quarantine Hub now available that’s exactly how travelers who need to quarantine in Victoria will be managed if we ever again find ourselves in those unprecedented circumstances.”

Ms Haitidis also put out a public call for families and friends of other people who died during the second wave to contact her with their stories.

“I don’t feel like people want to tell their story unless they have someone that has a shared experience to tell it to,” she said.

“I’m really hoping that I can be that token, that I can be that person.

”We can share that and come together as one.”

Ms Haitidis is also taking donations to help keep running the ads on the air.

People wanting to share their story and learn more about the campaign can visit dontforgetvic.com.au