Coronavirus Australia: Private security, hotels axed in South Australia quarantine overhaul
All positive COVID-19 cases will be moved out of medi-hotels to a new, dedicated facility run solely by SA Police and Protective Services staff.
Private security guards are now banned and hotels will no longer be used for quarantine in a complete reversal of the management of South Australia’s COVID quarantine system following an infection bungle.
Instead, all positive COVID-19 cases will be moved out of medi-hotels to a new, dedicated facility staffed solely by SA Police and Protective Services workers.
Premier Steven Marshall announced the overhaul on Wednesday after it emerged that an expatriate couple who returned to SA and were believed to have caught the virus overseas were subsequently found to be part of the Parafield cluster, which forced last week’s snap lockdown.
That discovery means the couple are likely to have caught the virus while housed at the Peppers Hotel, where people who are part of the Parafield cluster had been working as cleaners and kitchen hands, suggesting a possible breakdown in safety within the hotel.
The announcement by Premier Marshall is a major shift against his former reluctance to manage quarantine using only police and protective services employees.
He has said previously that it would be logistically impossible to manage quarantine properly using police alone and that extra workers were required to bolster numbers.
He has also argued that it was unfair to expect private workers not to hold second jobs, but had written to the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) seeking clarification on safety concerns.
But in light of the bungled infection cases at the Peppers Hotel, and with the Opposition demanding medi-hotels be closed and even that old detention centres be used instead, Mr Marshall opted for a complete overhaul.
“What we must do is put as many shields as possible between the virus and the community of South Australia,” Mr Marshall said.
“On the health advice, we are again further strengthening our already independent gold star-rated medi-hotel system.”
There is as yet no venue for the dedicated quarantine facility but one option being examined is the former Wakefield Hospital in the Adelaide CBD.
Mr Marshall said that the police and protective services workers seconded to quarantine would also be prevented from being rostered on for duties in aged care, correctional centres, hospitals, or any other venue where infection was a serious risk.
He said SA would also ask national cabinet to consider making it a requirement that all Australians returning from overseas to return a negative COVID test before boarding a flight home.
Once the new changes are implemented, SA will look to “gradually resume” the processing of overseas arrivals at medi-hotels and the new COVID facility.
The overhaul will place a significant strain on police in SA with Commissioner Grant Stevens conceding: “I’m not pretending we are not under pressure with current resources.”
No new COVID cases were announced in SA on Wednesday.
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