Coronavirus: second attempt at hotel isolation

Victoria will again quarantine returning international travellers despite its first hotel-based program being responsible for the state’s devastating second wave.

Passengers arrive at Melbourne airport. Picture: Jason Edwards

Victoria will again quarantine returning international travellers after the state’s first hotel-based program unleashed the devastating second wave that claimed 800 lives and sentenced Melbourne to months in lockdown.

The state has not received international travellers since the end of July after a resurgence in case numbers was linked to infection control breaches at the program.

The Victorian government on Friday wrote to the commonwealth seeking an extension to the suspension of international flights to finalise the new hotel quarantine program.

A state government spokeswoman said international travellers would start arriving on December 7, with an initial cap of 160 travellers a day.

“Victoria has asked the commonwealth for a short extension of the suspension of international flights landing in Melbourne from November 22 to December 6 to allow the final preparations for Victoria’s reset quarantine accommodation program for returned travellers to take place,” she said.

The spokeswoman said the government would release further details as its response to the hotel quarantine program soon.

Premier Daniel Andrews did not hold a press conference on Friday but on Thursday said anyone who worked in Victoria’s new and improved program would be exclusively contracted and “advanced contact traced”.

“We will advance contact trace every single person who works in this program to work out who they live with, what those people do for a living,” he said.

Poor infection control among private security guards at the Rydges on Swanston and the Stamford Plaza has been linked to nearly all of Victoria’s coronavirus cases.

Deputy Opposition Leader Georgie Crozier said it was on Mr Andrews to ensure the rebooted program did not make the same mistakes as the first.

“We need to ensure that hotel quarantine is safe,” she said

“We all know that it’s just been an absolute debacle and the contact tracing and the community transmission has led to so much devastation.”

A parliamentary inquiry this week heard Victoria’s paper-based contact tracing regime became overwhelmed, losing some cases and duplicating others.

The Victorian government has yet to respond to recommendations in an interim report released by the hotel quarantine inquiry about two weeks ago.