Governments helps quarantined travellers with daily check-ups

They are the unwilling guests stuck in some of the state’s top hotels, but the Government has moved to make their two-week stays a bit more bearable.

COMMUNITIES Tasmania has appointed liaison officers to check on the welfare of people being held in quarantine in hotels around the state.

Travellers arriving in Tasmania are being put into quarantine for 14 days to help prevent the spread of coronavirus. There are currently 177 hotels rooms occupied by people in quarantine.

Former assistant police commissioner Glenn Frame is one of those held at the Hobart Airport Travelodge for the next two weeks after arriving at Hobart airport on Tuesday.

‘PRISONERS TREATED BETTER’, SAYS FORMER TOP COP

Former assistant police commissioner Glenn Frame, right, after his arrival in Hobart on Tuesday. Picture: ZAK SIMMONDS

He said nobody was checking in on or offering assistance to people being kept in hotel rooms under police guard for 24 hours a day.

On Wednesday, government liaison officers were placed in each hotel to assist those needing help and to improve communication.

Passengers line up outside the Travelodge in Cambridge to start their mandatory two-week quarantine. Picture: ZAK SIMMONDS

Earlier, Premier Peter Gutwein said detaining people was a regrettable but necessary measure.

“In terms of this I make no apologies, I did note your story this morning. If I can say to the gentleman involved I have known him for a long period of time and I hold him in high regard,” Mr Gutwein said.

“Unfortunately, we are going to implement these measures and everybody – regardless of who they are or where they come from – will go into quarantine.

“We will get advice in terms of how we are monitoring people and keeping in touch with people.

“I make the point that we’re not taking people’s mobile phones off them or their ability to communicate, and all the other contact arrangements that are available to any other Tasmanian are available to those people that are in those facilities.”

Daily Government COVID-19 Update

Posted by The Mercury Newspaper on Tuesday, 31 March 2020

Mr Frame said contact from government services had improved in the wake of the Mercury’s story.

He said daily phone check-ins had been instituted and he had been able to have his questions answered.

“It looks as though they are trying to fix things,” he said.

“They have been communicating, that’s all I was really asking, for some communication on why things were happening and not treating you like a prisoner,” he said.

He stressed he understood the need for incoming travellers to be quarantined to manage the risks of coronavirus, but said it was essential that people were treated humanely and their wellbeing was monitored.

Labor leader Rebecca White said those in state-run quarantine should be treated with courtesy and compassion.

“Welfare checks are essential, not least to establish whether anyone starts displaying symptoms of coronavirus,” she said.

“Consideration should be given to how people in quarantine can be given the opportunity to have fresh air and exercise, just as other Australians are entitled to do while they are isolating in their own homes.”