Inside the Tassie hotel where new COVID case was confirmed
Quarantined travellers inside a Hobart hotel have spoken of their shock at a positive COVID-19 case being detected there, saying they will now not leave their rooms. READ THEIR STORIES + LATEST ON TASMANIA’S 227TH CASE >>
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QUARANTINED travellers inside a Hobart hotel have spoken of their shock at a positive COVID-19 case being detected there, saying they will now not leave their rooms.
Tasmania’s latest confirmed case of coronavirus — the state’s 227th and first since May 15 — is a young woman who had returned from Victoria and had been in hotel quarantine at the Best Western in Bathurst St.
She is now in a stable condition at the Royal Hobart Hospital, with health authorities urgently arranging testing for other hotel guests and staff.
Among those in quarantine is Kellie Coy, who had travelled to Melbourne on July 3 following the sudden death of her brother.
Despite travelling from a safe state, she wasn’t able to attend her brother’s funeral on July 13 due to restrictions in Victoria, instead having to sit in her car outside the funeral parlour and watch it via a website link.
She returned to Hobart two days later.
Now at the Best Western, Ms Coy said guests had been able to exercise in a designated area, but she was now reluctant to leave her room.
“It’s a bit scary,’’ she said.
“Now that I’ve found out this has happened, I don’t really want to leave.”
Ms Coy, 55, said she had no worries about being tested and agreed with the state’s strict quarantine requirements, but she believed testing of travellers should be made mandatory.
“We need to keep our little state clean,’’ she said.
Another traveller, who only wanted to be referred to as Sue, arrived back in Tasmania from Victoria on July 12 after flying across Bass Strait to meet her first grandchild.
“Everything looked OK when I left Tasmania and it just went wild while I was over there,’’ she said.
“All of a sudden I realised I couldn’t get back without going into quarantine.”
Sue said she first had concerns about a possible case at the hotel when an ambulance with lights and sirens activated came to the hotel on Sunday afternoon.
“That was a bit unusual … then we connected the dots when we heard there had been a case,’’ she said.
Sue said she had been tested on Tuesday and was being well looked after.
“The room is good and they are treating us well,’’ she said.
“The only thing is you don’t get out, so fresh air and exercise are a bit wanting.”
Louise Gore, from country NSW, travelled to Tasmania on Monday in order to visit her seriously ill father who is in hospital in Hobart.
She must spend 14 days in quarantine at the Best Western before she can see him.
“I’m hoping everything will be OK and I’ll get to see him,’’ she said.
She said she was not too concerned about the positive COVID-19 case at the hotel and was confident that the appropriate precautions were being taken.
Meanwhile, a new Tasmanian resident in hotel quarantine in Hobart found out Tasmania’s latest positive COVID-19 case had been detected at the hotel via a note slipped under his door.
The man, who has moved to the state from Queensland for work, arrived on Monday and was taken to the Best Western hotel in the Hobart CBD.
He said the state’s 227th case of the virus, the first confirmed for more than two months, had been detected at the Bathurst St hotel.
The man woke to find a note had been put under his hotel room door from management with a Tasmanian Government letterhead to say a positive case had been confirmed there.
>> READ THE FULL TEXT OF THE NOTE BELOW
The young Tasmanian woman infected with the virus, who had travelled from Victoria and had been in quarantine at the hotel, is now being treated at the Royal Hobart Hospital and is in a stable condition.
The man said it was worrying to be at a hotel where coronavirus has been detected but that he would be happy to be tested at any stage throughout his quarantine.
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The man said those in quarantine were told they were allowed to leave the room for a cigarette but had to book in a time and be escorted by security, or for exercise in 30-minute timeslots in a designated exercise area, where they had to wear a mask.
But he said he had no intention of leaving his room.
The Best Western is one of nine Tasmanian hotels being used for quarantining travellers, with more than 700 people currently in quarantine across the state.
On his way into the Best Western on Monday night, the man noticed two police officers in the lobby and a few people in high-visibility clothing who he assumed to be public health staff.
“Everyone that I’ve encountered so far is doing a good job and just doing what they are directed to do,’’ he said.
“Police have been really helpful and cooperative and took all your questions at the airport.”
The man said he was on a flight from Brisbane to Hobart on Monday which had passengers crammed into the front half of the plane.
“People were obviously concerned and started asking staff if they could move to the back, which was mostly empty,’’ he said.
“I’ve never been on a plane like that before. The steward said the plane was actually booked out and there was supposed to be 170 people on the plane, but that didn’t turn out to be the case.”
When he arrived at the airport, he was put onto a bus mostly full of passengers, leaving him questioning social distancing requirements.
“It was just your standard kind of big travel coach, there was honestly maybe five spare seats,’’ he said.
“I was sitting right next to someone and most people were sitting next to someone.
“Everyone was pretty well packed in and especially in this day and age where you are trying to be vigilant, it’s not very reassuring when you are forced into the bus together.”
FULL TEXT OF THE NOTE TO GUESTS
Dear Guest,
I am writing to notify you that a fellow guest of the hotel has tested positive for coronavirus.
Public Health Services are undertaking contact tracing with the guest who is in the care of the Royal Hobart Hospital. As part of the standard protocol, if you are identified as a close contact you will be contacted directly by Public Health Services.
I reassure you that given the quarantine arrangements at the hotel, the likelihood of transmission is considered low.
Testing will be made available to you at the hotel. You can expect to be contacted directly by the Department of Health today to offer testing to you. I encourage you to be tested if you have any symptoms.
Please remain vigilant for symptoms of coronavirus. These symptoms include:
- Fever
- Runny nose
- Cough
- Sore or itchy throat
- Shortness of breath or any other respiratory symptom
If you have any queries you can contact the Government Liaison Officer by phoning hotel reception.
Thank you for your ongoing co-operation during your quarantine period.
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