Holiday Inn hotel reopens for first time after COVID-19 outbreak

The hotel linked to a cluster that sent Victoria into a snap lockdown has reopened for quarantine after ‘minor’ works.

The hotel linked to a cluster that sent Victoria into a third lockdown has reopened for quarantine.

The Holiday Inn at Melbourne Airport reopened on Wednesday to resume operating as a dedicated quarantine hotel after completing ventilation work.

The hotel will accommodate arrivals from Brisbane, declared a red zone by the state government.

About 30 passengers from Brisbane arrived on Monday night after the Victorian border shut, but only 16 remain in hotel quarantine. The rest flew back to Brisbane on Tuesday.

“This hotel will accommodate red-zone Brisbane arrivals as required and other community members requiring to quarantine safely,” COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria said in a statement.

“The hotel has undergone a ventilation assessment, with minor remedial (works) completed this week.

A woman and her baby in quarantine at the Holiday Inn at Melbourne Airport last year. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

The hotel has been approved by the chief health officer to resume quarantine activities.”

About 135 COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria staff were stood down and 48 residents evacuated from the Melbourne Airport Holiday Inn on February 10 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 Holiday Inn cluster triggered a five-day lockdown across Victoria aimed at preventing the highly infectious UK strain of the coronavirus spreading further throughout the community.

CQV said there were no plans to resume international flights to Melbourne ahead of the April 8 date announced by the Victorian government last week.

The state government says international flights would be capped at 800 people per week before scaling up to 1120 people per week from April 15, subject to capacity.

Victoria’s deputy chief health officer Allan Cheng said last week almost 90 per cent of hotel quarantine staff had been vaccinated, which was just one factor that put the state in a position to safely resume flights.