NAMED: Why Toowoomba man risked lives skipping quarantine

A southeast Queensland man has told a court the selfish reason he escaped a hotel nine days into a 14-day mandatory COVID-19 quarantine after returning from Sydney.

A 25-YEAR-OLD man who skipped out of COVID quarantine from a Toowoomba motel had gone to source drugs, the city's Magistrates Court has been told.

Aaron Sydney Green had been living and working in Sydney but returned to Queensland before the borders shut so his 26-week pregnant partner could give birth to their first child.

On August 3 he had received a Public Health direction to isolate at the Athena Motel in James St for the required 14 days quarantine, police prosecutor Rowan Brewster-Webb told the court.

However, on Monday about 4.40pm he had asked police if he could go outside for a cigarette and was told he could but was not to leave the grounds.

He left the area and didn't return to the motel until Wednesday when he was arrested and taken into custody.

The incident will trigger a full review into Queensland’s hotel quarantine practices, Commissioner Katarina Carroll said, as she warned all it takes is one person to do the wrong thing to spread COVID-19 throughout communities.

“I am concerned with this one incident, even one person can put the community at risk, particularly if they are COVID positive,” she said.

Ms Carroll said the 25-year-old had attempted to unlawfully enter Queensland from a hot spot at the Goondiwindi checkpoint on August 1 where he provided police with false details. Police allege he was driving a stolen vehicle and had restricted drugs and utensils in the car.

Green appeared in court by video link from the watch house dressed in prison issue greens and a face mask to plead guilty to failing to remain in quarantine under Public Health direction.

Mr Brewster-Webb said Green had told police he had had an argument with his partner and he had run out of drugs so he left the motel to source drugs and had stayed at a friend's house for two days.

He has been tested for COVID-19 twice and returned negative results both times.

Duty solicitor Kyna Morice told the court her client had returned to the motel after talking with his mother.

Her client accepted he had done the wrong thing and was remorseful, she said.

Green was seven days into the quarantine when he left the motel and would return to quarantine when finished in court, she said.

Ms Morice conceded that her client had "an unenviable" 8-page criminal history but this was the earliest possible plea of guilty to the charge.

Magistrate Graham Lee said the offending was "very, very serious" given the times in which we live.

Noting the maximum penalty was 100 penalty units ($13,300) or six months in jail, Mr Lee fined Green $1500.

A full review has been ordered to look into the system and practices around Queensland’s hotel quarantine, with Ms Carroll saying this incident had caused her significant alarm.

“Queensland police have had some 16,000 people in quarantine over the last few months, and I’m incredibly pleased with our response to monitoring it,” she said.

It’s raised concerns over the increasing number of people placed in hotel quarantine in rural and regional towns, with police stationed to a number of motels in Roma, Goondiwindi and Toowoomba.

She said day 10 was a “critical test” and there was a reason people were made to undergo 14 days of quarantine.

“The system should be better,” she said.

It comes as deputy commissioner Steve Gollschewski said in the last 24 hours 258 people had been refused entry to Queensland at the border.

“We’ve had 65 flights into our state, 2625 passengers checked, five people refused and put 142 into quarantine,” he said.

“At the road borders, we’ve intercepted 4575 vehicles, refused 253 people and placed 54 into quarantine.”