Coronavirus Australia: Mould, bed bugs, discarded PPE in hotel quarantine

A guest was told to stop threatening suicide over a cigarette and a family was left stranded for a week without a single phone call, an inquiry into Victoria’s hotel quarantine program has heard.

Michael Tait is examined at the hotel quarantine inquiry on Thursday in Melbourne.

A distressed guest was told to stop threatening suicide over a cigarette and a family was left stranded in a hotel room for a week without a single phone call, an inquiry into Victoria’s hotel quarantine program has heard.

Put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19 from returning travellers, the quarantine quickly unravelled — guests told the inquiry of filthy, bed bug infested rooms and personal protective equipment dumped in general waste bins.

One nurse told the inquiry, headed by former Family Court judge Jennifer Coate, that guests with health problems including type-2 diabetes had their names put on a white board that shamed “problematic guests”.

“When little things popped up that seemed quite manageable … rather than proactively fix this problem, somehow it was the guests fault,” the nurse, who worked at the Park Royal hotel and was identified as Jen, said. “They were being annoying.”

The white board also contained the names of a guest who threatened suicide and “was told by someone from (the Department of Health and Human Services) to stop being so dramatic because they wanted a cigarette,” Jen said.

“I definitely saw their name on that board …. I did get the impression they were being viewed as problematic guests rather than people who had issues that needed assistance.”

The inquiry into quarantine arrangements was established by Daniel Andrews on June 30 after the Victorian Premier was handed genomic testing data linking the growing number of coronavirus cases in the city to infections at hotels.

The inquiry has already heard that the majority of second-wave COVID-19 cases in the state can be linked back to a family of four who stayed at the Rydges Hotel in May.

A significant number of cases can also be linked to a man and a couple who returned to Australia in June and who were all quarantined at Stamford Plaza hotel.

Human Rights Law Centre executive director Hugh de Kretser, a returned traveller who was quarantined at the Rydges Hotel in Melbourne, is examined at the hotel quarantine inquiry on Thursday. Left, discarded PPE he found in his room.

The failure to prevent a second-wave in Melbourne has left the city in a tight lockdown, with thousands infected and hundreds dead. Thirteen deaths were reported on Thursday.

The Park Royal nurse, Jen, also said it was obvious security guards working at the hotel hadn’t been trained properly as they often wore the same masks and gloves throughout a shift before discarding them in a general waste bin.

“I saw a lot of mostly security guards for example constantly wearing the same gloves for their shift,” she said.

Another nurse, Michael Tait, who worked at the Crown and Rydges hotels, told the inquiry that he had heard that the body of a guest who committed suicide at the Pan Pacific wasn’t found for two days. He said he believed this is why mental health nurses were deployed.

Under questioning from counsel appearing for the DHHS, Claire Harris QC, Mr Tait said: “This is the rumour that I hear. I don’t know if that’s true or not.”

The reference is not included in Mr Tait’s statement, but a guest suicide at the Pan Pacific on April 11 is currently being investigated by Victorian Coroner John Cain.

The Australian earlier this month revealed the breakdown of quarantine at the Rydges hotel after poorly-trained security guards on a so-called “crazy floor” became overwhelmed by hysterical guests begging to be let out.

Many of those travellers, especially in the early days of the virus, were infectious, and the guards seemed unable to control them, with mental health professionals eventually called in, The Australian reported.

 

Human Rights Law Centre executive director Hugh de Kretser stayed at the Rydges on Swanston after returning to Australia from the US in late June.

He said despite comments by Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton that the hotel was to be deep cleaned following a bed bug infestation, his family arrived to two filthy rooms.

“We were shocked by how unclean they were,” he said.

The inquiry was shown photos of a discarded glove, toys, rubbish and food left on ground of the room that were taken by Mr Kretser upon arrival.

He said when they left they found another glove, which he assumed was there for the entire 14-day period.

“It certainly wasn‘t ours,” he said.

The inquiry was shown photos of dirty rooms with mould in the bathroom and a ceiling leak.

Another man, whose was not identified by the inquiry, was quarantined at the Crown Promenade with his two small children and 28-week pregnant wife.

He said when he asked if his wife, who suffers from severe back pain, could take a bath and go outside for fresh air, he was told: “In respects to your wife, you are not the first pregnant woman to come here.”

He said the comments were made either by a registered DHHS officer or a nurse.

The man said for the first two-days of their stay — whenever he called the support number provided — department officials were unable to find him as only his children were listed. He said at least two calls were made asking for his two-year-old daughter before asking to speak to an adult.

The man said his mother even received a call from DHHS looking for him. “She said ‘You put him there, surely you should know,’” the man told the inquiry.

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