Airflow blamed for guard infection that sparked WA lockdown
The hotel security guard at the centre of WA’s snap lockdown most likely caught COVID-19 from air flowing from the room of an infected quarantine guest.
The hotel security guard at the centre of WA’s snap five-day lockdown was most likely to have caught COVID-19 from air flowing from the room of an infected hotel quarantine guest.
An independent review has found that airborne transmission may have caused Case 903, as the guard is referred to, having contracted the highly contagious UK strain of COVID-19 while on duty on January 24 at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in Perth.
The case, which was the first community transmitted virus case in nearly 10 months, required contact tracing investigations of more than 550 close and casual contacts of Case 903.
Health expert Professor Tarun Weeramanthri said his interim findings identified no plausible evidence of other forms of transmission. The guard, who was sitting 3m from the hotel door, could have caught the virus from airflow into the corridor from under the room door or airflow when a door was opened.
He said it highlighted the importance of ventilation and the need to assess airflow and ventilation in all quarantine hotels, “which are not set up as hospitals”.
Urgent assessment is underway across nine hotel sites in Perth, and greater protection for guards has been implemented, including mandatory mask wearing and eye protection.
“Whether more needs to be done is dependent on each site’s ventilation,” he said.
WA chief health officer Andy Robertson says in retrospect it would have been advisable for guards to be wearing masks at all times. “We will continue to learn and share those lessons across jurisdictions,” he said. “Ventilation should now be seen as a modifiable risk factor.”
Some rooms will be checked for greater airflow and will not be used, including the Four Points hotel room occupied by the person believed to have infected Case 903.
Professor Robertson denied the WA government was too slow to introduce prevention measures adopted in other states.
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