Second Victorian health chief quarantine breach

The director of Infection Prevention and Control in Victoria’s hotel quarantine program goes on leave after revelations about the scheme.

Victorian Infection Prevention and Control director Giulietta Pontivivo.

The director of Infection Prevention and Control in Victoria’s hotel quarantine program has gone on leave in the wake of revelations about the troubled scheme.

Giulietta Pontivivo has taken leave after the government stood down her colleague, IPC general manager, Matiu Bush, and The Australian revealed the duo had been counselled over an IPC breach at the Pullman Hotel on March 1.

COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria said on Monday night that clinicians had been appointed in an acting capacity to fill in for Ms Pontivivo and Mr Bush, the latter stood down for at least four weeks on full pay while the government investigated his conduct.

“CQV has stringent infection prevention and control oversight in place – from the three deputy state controllers and IPC Steering Committee right through to IPC leads stationed in each hotel to monitor compliance,” the CQV spokesperson said

“Due to staff leave, the program’s IPC director and IPC general manager roles are currently being filled through acting arrangements – with highly qualified clinicians bringing extensive experience and expertise to the roles.

“Every staff member is fully trained and responsible for upholding our strict IPC standards and we have clear expectations that any breaches must be reported so they can be acted on.”

The Australian revealed Mr Bush had been reported to authorities twice after refusing a ­defence force request for a mandatory COVID-19 test on April 20 and breaching infection control ­protocols on March 1.

The state government had initially maintained counselling Mr Bush was an adequate response to his conduct but took tougher action when The Australian disclosed his behaviour as part of an special investigation into Victoria’s hotel quarantine program.

Matiu Bush.

The Australian reported that on March 1, Mr Bush, Ms Pontivivo and another staffer entered the Pullman Hotel at 12.57pm.

“When signing in they were asked to sign in via their personal QR code,” a March 2 operational incident review says. “They refused, stating that as they have been vaccinated they are not required to do so and instead manually signed in the visitor log.”

The report says that about 3.30pm, Mr Bush and either Ms Pontivivo or the other staffer entered the Mercure Hotel main entrance “as another person was leaving the building”.

“Both walked past the sanitising station without sanitising and also did not change masks,” it says.

“When approached by reception staff they said (they) had ducked out for coffee, and that the hotel is empty anyway. They were asked to sign in and said they had done so at the Pullman.”

Mr Bush “did not sign out upon his departure from the hotel”. The report says the incident was recorded as an “IPC breach” and “escalated by reception staff as they occurred”.

CQV said last week that Ms Pontivivo and the other staffer had also been counselled over this incident.

“Infection prevention and control is our number one priority and there are clear ­expectations of all our staff, regardless of their role and whether they are in an operational or non-operational hotel,” the spokesperson said. “We expect the highest standards of our staff, especially those in leadership.”

The government is also conducting an investigation into alleged staff misconduct by workers at the Novotel IBIS.

According to an April 16 incident report, residential support officers (RSOs) are suspected of making inappropriate entries in floor diaries on levels 33 and 34 of the hotel. After finding the entries, a full audit of all floor diaries was conducted and two additional comments regarded as inappropriate were found.

The report said the RSOs were spoken to by management in relation to expectations, appropriate behaviours and Victorian Public Service values.