New COVID-19 infections defy Daniel Andrews’ standards boast

Two more cases are linked to Victorian hotels on the day Daniel Andrews said his system had ‘higher standards’ than other states.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews on Tuesday. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Two more COVID-19 cases have been linked to Victorian quarantine hotels, bringing the total number of transmissions identified in the program in less than a week to five across three hotels — on the day Premier Daniel Andrews declared his state’s system had “higher standards” than those in other jurisdictions.

Health Minister Martin Foley and Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton late on Tuesday said a returned overseas traveller left hotel quarantine after completing 14 days at Melbourne Airport’s Holiday Inn on Sunday but had returned a positive result after getting tested on Monday.

“I can also inform Victorians that literally in the last 10 minutes we have been advised of another positive case related to the Holiday Inn,” Mr Foley said, confirming the latest case was a worker at the Holiday Inn.

The newest cases follow news on Sunday night that an authorised officer working at the same hotel had tested positive for what was later confirmed as the highly contagious British variant of the virus. Four days earlier, a 26-year-old man had contracted the virus while acting as a residential support officer for the Australian Open tennis entourage at the Grand Hyatt, while earlier that Wednesday a female resident of the Park Royal hotel had contracted the virus from a family staying across the corridor.

Victorian health authorities were on Tuesday contacting dozens of past residents who have completed quarantine at the Holiday Inn over the past fortnight, ordering them to complete an extra 14 days in isolation.

Professor Sutton said the former Holiday Inn resident’s case was likely evidence of transmission in hotel quarantine, rather than a long incubation period for an infection that could have been contracted overseas.

“Therefore, the focus of our attention is on the transmission that might have occurred on the relevant floor where positive cases were known to be,” he said.

He also confirmed that a coronavirus case currently in intensive care in a Victorian hospital is a member of a family of three who were transferred from the Holiday Inn to a “health hotel” last week after testing positive.

Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Andrews declared Victoria would never take as many overseas return travellers as NSW because his state has “higher standards” in the hotel quarantine program than its northern neighbour.

From Monday, weekly overseas arrival limits will increase, with Victoria’s cap to lift from 1120 people to 1310, while NSW and Queensland will each double to 3010 and 1000 respectively.

South Australia’s cap will rise from 490 to 530, while Western Australia will remain at 512.

“I can foreshadow for you that we’re not going to go anywhere near the capacity that NSW has,” Mr Andrews said.

“We have less capacity because we have a different model and I believe higher standards … I can say that because it’s true.

“There’s not 3500 private security working in our system. Do I need to go any further than that?” Mr Andrews said.

But Gladys Berejiklian dismissed the criticism and said her state “continues to do the heavy lifting”. “Until Victoria is prepared to increase its intake, more Victorians will inevitably have to return through the NSW system, and we are ready to do what we must in the national interest,” the NSW Premier said on Tuesday.