Hotel quarantine escapees took a stroll down Rona Walk in Melbourne

The internet is losing it after CCTV from outside one of Melbourne’s quarantine hotels revealed something that defies belief.

Just when you thought 2020 couldn’t get any weirder, CCTV from outside one of Melbourne’s quarantine hotels has revealed something that defies belief – even by this year’s lofty standards.

It shows guests leaving one of the hotels in Melbourne’s South Wharf and taking a turn down the most aptly named street of all time, the dreaded Rona Walk.

Of all the places you’d choose to take a stroll in the middle of a pandemic, that would surely be low down on the list.

That’s the last place you’d want to take amid-pandemic stroll after escaping from hotel quarantine.

The images are brewing up a storm on social media, with commenters saying they cannot deal with the bizarre detail.

going for a Rona Walk, anyone want anything? https://t.co/yCwNR2U5qW

— andrew rickert (@_rockrit) September 8, 2020

#COVID19 Quarantined Hotel guests strolling down "Rona Walk."
You couldn't write better fiction than what 2020 is dishing up. #HotelQuarantineInquiry #COVID19Victoria
#2020 #Rona #Coronavirus #Melbourne #ABCNews pic.twitter.com/aYayBlON4m

— Jimmy Neal (@nealjimmy) September 8, 2020

Hotel quarantine guests seen leaving for coffee and walks around DFO. The street sign. I can’t deal. #springst #ronawalk pic.twitter.com/fzoeD1Fs4x

— Shannon Deery (@s_deery) September 8, 2020

WHY DID THEY LET HER ONTO RONA WALKhttps://t.co/yII8OucbFM

— Bhakthi (@bhakthi) September 7, 2020

It came out of the woodwork yesterday as part of Victoria’s inquiry into the bungled hotel quarantine system that led to the state’s second wave.

In it, a former police officer, whose name was redacted, wrote to Victoria Police Commander Tim Tully, expressing concern that quarantined guests at the Pan Pacific Hotel at South Wharf were breaching their strict isolation guidelines.

“Tim, we have quarantined people out again this morning, you will see one has tried to enter the convenience store,” the former officer wrote.

The former officer attached pictures of those escapees, writing: “I happen (sic) to see one guest go down Rona Walk and stand in front of urban hub (sic).

The inquiry heard guests snuck out for coffee. Picture: Supplied

“The guard went and spoke to him and he went back into the exclusion area.”

In a separate email, he told Commander Tully that a guest at the hotel had visited a nearby cafe.

“From my observations the exclusion zones are being poorly managed,” he wrote. “We even saw what looked like someone with a takeaway coffee.”

At the time, the hotel operators had expressed concern, given the hotel’s location next to the DFO shopping centre, which at the time was still operating.

The issues prompted Commander Tully to organise a “security forum” to ensure all stakeholders were on the same page regarding rules about people leaving their rooms and exercise and mental health breaks.

– with NCA NewsWire