Holiday Inn Flinders Lane quarantine hotel evacuated with patient leaving with garbage bag over head
It’s been explained why a guest infected with COVID had a black garbage bag over their head while being evacuated from a flooded quarantine hotel.
The evacuation of coronavirus positive patients from a Melbourne quarantine hotel is expected to take at least two days to complete.
The first patient was evacuated from the Holiday Inn in Melbourne’s CBD just before 10am on Tuesday after a sprinkler system caused extensive water damage to the hotel
They left the Holiday Inn “hot hotel” on Flinders Lane with what appeared to be a garbage bag over their head.
Then they boarded a SkyBus to be taken to the Pullman hotel in Albert Park. The patient was the only person on the bus.
The patient was assisted by a health worker dressed in full personal protective equipment and a face shield.
Premier Daniel Andrews said the garbage bag wasn’t PPE but was used to protect the patient’s identity.
“Everyone in the community needs to know that this stuff these people are wearing isn’t PPE,” he said.
“They have been given PPE and have it on. What they are doing is not wanted to be identified and nor should they feel compelled to be identified.”
COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria Commissioner Emma Cassar said there were some “really nervous residents” who didn’t want to be identified while moving between the hotels.
She said the PPE requirements for guests leaving the Holiday Inn was a surgical mask and hand sanitiser.
She said it would be a “really slow operation” that was expected to take a couple of days.
“It is really distressing for them,” Ms Cassar said on Tuesday morning.
“Every time we move one person, there’s terminal cleaning, cleaning the entire foyer and everywhere the resident has moved from, that’s the standard process for positive and suspected positive cases.”
Ms Cassar said only one person or one room would be moved at a time to prevent the spread of infections.
She said there was 13 positive coronavirus cases and 18 suspected infections being moved from the Holiday Inn.
The Holiday Inn on Flinders Lane is the second Melbourne quarantine hotel to be evacuated in less than a week.
It is a “hot hotel”, meaning every resident is either infected with coronavirus or symptomatic, and is being evacuated on Tuesday morning while repairs for water damage are completed.
Two other residents – a man carrying a young child – were also seen boarding the SkyBus just after 10am wearing just face masks.
A COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria spokeswoman said 31 residents and staff would be transferred to the Pullman Hotel in Albert Park.
The Pullman Hotel was previously used to quarantine Australian Open participants and was assessed at the most suitable hotel within the COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria program to house the infected guests.
The water damage was caused by a sprinkler system which activated without a fire occurring on the fourth floor of the Holiday Inn on Saturday.
It resulted in water damage to four of the eight floors at the hotel.
“Residents at the Holiday Inn Melbourne on Flinders are being transferred to an alternate health hotel on Tuesday,” the spokeswoman said.
“After a review of the available options, the Pullman Albert Park Hotel was assessed by ventilation experts and determined as the most suitable hotel within CQV’s current hotel stock to accommodate symptomatic and positive residents.
“Strict infection prevention and control measures will be followed during the transfer to ensure the health and safety of residents, staff and the community.”
The first patient has been evacuated. They came out with what looks like a garbage bag over their head. Taken to the Pullman in a Skybus - they were the only person on board. 31 people have to be moved - this is going to be a slow and steady process @9NewsMelb pic.twitter.com/Xfpep4DuJd
— Steph Anderson (@_StephAnderson) February 15, 2021
Ms Cassar said the fire system leaked or burst in a room that was unoccupied at the time.
The water then spread into and damaged the staffing areas.
She said on Saturday – before a decision was made to evacuate the hotel – that some residents were moved to higher levels of the Holiday Inn to avoid the damage.
It comes after 48 quarantining returned travellers at a different Holiday Inn hotel at Melbourne Airport were evacuated on Wednesday last week following an outbreak of cases.
That hotel was closed for “terminal cleaning” after an authorised officer, two food and beverage workers, another worker and two residents all contracted COVID-19 within the Holiday Inn.
The total number of COVID-19 cases linked to the Melbourne Airport Holiday Inn – the cluster that send Victoria back into a third lockdown – is now 19.
About 135 COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria staff were stood down and 48 residents were evacuated from the Melbourne Airport Holiday Inn to the Pullman hotel Melbourne on February 10.
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