The Peel Hotel owner questions isolation ‘overkill’ after Omicron case visits venue

The Victorian government is under fire for sending hundreds of people into isolation over a case of the Omicron variant of Covid.

A leading Australian epidemiologist has called Victoria’s decision to send hundreds of people into isolation and effectively shut down two Melbourne businesses over an Omicron scare an “over-reaction”.

Almost 900 people are now in isolation over a superspreading scare from two nightclubs, after a person who tested positive to the new variant attended the venues.

Affected vaccinated people have been forced to isolate for seven days, including staff from the venues, which has effectively shut down the businesses after a tough year.

Infectious diseases expert Pet­er Collignon, a professor at the Australian National University Medical School, called the restrictions an over-reaction that would have major implications on the community.

“We’ve pulled the trigger way too quickly,” he told The Herald Sun.

“I’m not really sure that we need to treat it any differently to Delta.

Sircuit Bar on Smith Street Fitzroy has been classified as a Covid exposure site. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

The positive Omicron case visited Sircuit Bar in Fitzroy between 9pm and about midnight on Friday before heading to The Peel Hotel in Collingwood between 11.30pm and 3am.

Tom McFeely, who owns The Peel, was forced to close his business with the majority of his staff isolating.

He said the shut down had been “devastating” and the business had been on the receiving end of “mixed messaging” in regards to unclear rules around isolation.

“I think what people forget is when you have staff isolating, there’s not that many more staff out there,” he told Today.

Tom McFeely owns The Peel Hotel in Fitzroy which hosted an Omicron case. Picture: Jason Edwards

“I mean, the hospitality sector right now is pretty short-staffed. So when you’re instructed that your staff have to isolate, that’s effectively meaning that you have to close.”

Mr McFeely also questioned why Friday’s impacted patrons at The Peel — between 320 and 450 people — had to isolate.

“Everyone I’ve spoken to so far has tested negative. So this home isolation thing and quarantine I think is a bit of an overkill, to be honest, particularly with this variant,” he said.

“It was only a few weeks ago that we opened up again and all the worries and fears we had for the last 600-odd days began to diminish.

“There began to be hope and a face of cheer from a mental point of view. Having that phone call the other night, it wasn’t good at all, frankly.”

Sircuit Bar on Smith Street Fitzroy was classified as a Covid exposure site. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

All vaccinated people presented during the impacted hours have to isolate for seven days from the exposure time, while it’s 14 days for those who are unvaccinated.

There are at least 10 Omicron cases in Victoria with the number expected to balloon before Christmas.

Professor Collignon said the spread of the virus was inevitable.

But he believe death and hospitalisation rates were “less of a risk” compared to last year.

“Unless we can show that Omicron is causing much higher death rates and hospitalisations, we’ve got to show more measure,” he said.

“We’ve got to be careful that when a variant comes – and there’ll be more – that we have real-world data, not just test-tube data, which doesn’t always paint the full picture.

My opinion.

COVID-19 will be with us for years to come. We need to learn how best to live with the risks, while at the same time being practical and proportionate with restrictions. There will be other variants. If we don’t do this now, then when? https://t.co/AsSDKdpRXj

— Peter Collignon (@CollignonPeter) December 14, 2021

Victoria recorded another 1622 Covid cases on Thursday.