Hotel quarantine: Nebuliser man vindicated after ‘cover up’

The man the Victorian government accused of sparking the hotel quarantine outbreak that triggered a lockdown says he’s glad the truth has come to light.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - NewsWire Photos APRIL 29, 2021: Corrections Commissioner Emma Cassar and Acting Police and Emergency Services Minister Danny Pearson at the announcement of plans for a new quarantine facility north of Melbourne. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

The man the Victorian government accused of sparking the hotel quarantine outbreak that triggered a five-day lockdown in February says he’s glad the truth has come to light.

The man’s use of a nebuliser, a device that turns medication into a fine mist, was cited as the cause of the outbreak at the Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton, and COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria Commander Emma Cassar.

Opposition Health Minister Georgie Crozier said the scapegoating of the man was an “absolute disgrace”.

“How he has been blamed for the outbreak in Holiday Inn, when in actual fact, this cover-up showed there was swabbing and other issues in the hotel quarantine program that were actually the cause of the outbreak,” she said.

The Australian reported on Wednesday that a review found the cause of the outbreak was the swabbing of an infected patient with the door open, which Ms Cassar confirmed was still the method practised by CQV.

In a brief statement, the man said he was relieved the truth had prevailed.

“I am very glad this has come out, though it continues to show there’s systemic problems that need to be resolved,” he told 3AW.

The man first spoke to media after he was publicly blamed for the outbreak, saying he’d been given permission twice by health authorities to use the nebuliser while detained in hotel quarantine.

He said the government had not asked him for his side of the story and he had only been contacted by Professor Sutton after he complained.

At the time, Ms Cassar apologised to the man for his experience but said there was no evidence he’d told health authorities about the nebuliser.

On Wednesday, she said the use of the nebuliser was still the working theory behind the Holiday Inn outbreak.

“The working hypothesis is still, as I understand, that this was caused by the nebuliser,” she said.

According to the leaked reports, a contracted health worker was swabbing a woman with the door open when the virus was blown down the corridor by airconditioning before “pooling outside the door” of the room where the man with the nebuliser was staying with his partner and infant.

The COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria Infection Prevention and Control report, obtained by The Australian, says one of the adults became infected picking up meals from outside their room door or putting out rubbish.

Ms Cassar said hotel quarantine guests were still swabbed with the door open as shutting the door increased the risk of health workers becoming infected with COVID-19.

“Our swabbing process has gone through some improvements since February and residents are swabbed with the door open so that we can ensure the safety of nurses when swabbing,” she said.

“But the recommendation that the door is closed for swabbing was not supported by CQV, the Alfred and [Health Care Authority] due to safety concerns for our staff.”

Danny Pearson, the acting minister responsible for hotel quarantine, said the secret reports showed the Victorian government took hotel quarantine “very seriously”.

Failures of the hotel quarantine system in 2020 sparked Victoria’s second wave that claimed the lives of 801 people and sentenced Melbourne to months in lockdown.