Hotel quarantine: insults and assaults all in a day’s work
Ungrateful and abusive guests are making life difficult for medical and support hotel staff working on the coronavirus frontline.
Ungrateful, abusive and stressed guests are making life difficult for medical and support staff working in Melbourne’s coronavirus hotels.
Incident logs reveal that on several occasions guests have berated staff, leaving workers shaken.
At the InterContinental, a residential support officer was abused for telling a lift maintenance contractor to don appropriate PPE.
“A contracted lift technician from (redacted) was very reluctant to follow direction from a Floor RSO when directed to don and doff PPE entering the resident level whist conducting maintenance. The lift technician subsequently turned to face the RSO and grabbed his crotch suggestively,” an incident report states.
Read the full list of hotel quarantine incidents here
“Prior to this incident, the two technicians had caused a disturbance upon arrival, refusing to provide ID to the ADF. Police were informed by the RSO team leader at approximately 1400 and have filed an individual report.”
The contract with (redacted) was cancelled, according to the incident report. While insulted within the hotels, staff also have been threatened and assaulted as they walk to and from their cars, sparking an alert across the hotels. But they weren’t offered a police escort. They were just told to “buddy up”.
“Remind all stakeholder to be vigilant and walk in a safe manner to their car,” an incident log states.
“There have been a few incidents recently with staff at other CBD hotels exposed to aggressive individuals in the street prior to and at the completion of their shifts.
“VicPol recommended the following: Pair up with a buddy(s) prior to and completing a shift that you can walk with to and from your car. Avoid walking down poorly lit streets with a lack of cameras.
“Call 000 if required. Cover up your uniform if possible to prevent being identified as a hotel quarantine/Dept of Justice employee.”
Earlier this year at the Four Points Hotel, a distressed returnee had a meltdown as she was checking in, demanding to see a family member in hospital.
“(Redacted) refused to go into hotel quarantine. During the entry process (redacted) threw her detention notice at the staff. She wants a taxi and wants to go immediately to see her (family member) who is in ICU (redacted) hospital.”
At the InterContinental, an RSO reported a rule breach by a guest, who had left a balcony door open.
“I then heard someone yell ‘You f..king dobber’ a couple of times. I got up and looked around and heard it again.
“I then saw a male pointing at me, yelling threats. “You f..king dobber, you fat c....”
One case dealt with last week shows the degree of care used in transporting from a hotel to a hospital a person suspected of having contracted COVID-19, but whose test result had not yet been received.
“A HCA nurse was notified and went to see (redacted). An ambulance was called at around 0400, VicPol were advised by hotel duty manager.
“At 0410, huddle with VicPol, ADF, two RSOs and team leader. RSOs (redacted) donned tier 3. Ambulance arrived at 0425 and paramedics were escorted to Flinders Lane lift. They assessed the resident and decided transport (redacted) to The Alfred hospital.
“The bollards were cleaned. Cleaning of level W8, middle (W2) lift. Flinders Lane declared green at 0535.”
