Covid-19: Melbourne outbreak shows flaws in hotel quarantine, vaccine rollout

People queue at a Covid-19 testing station in Melbourne. Picture: AFP

The Victorian government wants to keep Melbourne open but the geographical spread of the virus is pointing to further restrictions.

It’s a contradiction that was outlined on Wednesday by the government.

“The next 24 hours are critical,” said Health Minister Martin Foley.

Acting Premier James Merlino was just as clear when he uttered: “I can’t rule out further action.”

This is fundamentally because of concerns about rising case numbers but also, critically, a spread in locations.

The fact the AFL is placing many players in a form of lockdown gives a fairly clear indication where that organisation believes the dynamic is moving.

The virus chase is no longer contained to Melbourne’s north, with infections detected in the inner city suburb of Port Melbourne and as far afield as the NSW border.

Further, infected individuals appear to have visited hospitality venues in South Yarra and Prahran, which are entertainment hubs that attract people from across the city.

It is clearly a fast moving set of circumstances but at the same time the government is trying to shift its strategy away from immediate, harsh lockdowns.

Had this outbreak occurred several months ago, you can be certain that Victoria would already be in lockdown.

On Tuesday night, the government was quietly hopeful that there wouldn’t need to be a hard lockdown because contact tracers had been able to ascertain links between the cases. But that optimism had morphed into pessimism by Wednesday afternoon, with public health officials bracing for the latest infection figures which were expected to climb.

The internal calculation is that the Victorian community, having endured a herculean shutdown last year, was ready to stomach more pain if the closures were short and sharp.

There is one cluster.

The missing link, however, is the catalyst for the outbreak, which is the man who earlier this month had been in hotel quarantine in Adelaide.

Health officials are deeply unsure how many people have been infected as a result of the initial Adelaide Covid-19 victim.

The outbreak in Melbourne has also highlighted the significant issues with a lack of vaccination, caused by hesitancy and the slow rollout.

Conversely, the high rates of vaccination among frontline health workers will help minimise both the spread and potential illness rates among staff if the virus spreads.

Once again, the virus has spread out of hotel quarantine and it is becoming increasingly clear that the current system doesn’t work.

This should intensify the pressure on Canberra to back quarantine outside city centres and away from hotels.

This issue has been flagged for many months in Victoria and Queensland and is a clear missing element to the national response, outside the Northern Territory.

Canberra has clearly been too slow to act on this issue.