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Australians should expect more coronavirus outbreaks and lockdowns if 'negligent' flaws in hotel quarantine aren't fixed to stop the virus from spreading, an expert has warned

por Adrianne Watterston (2021-12-02)


Australians should expect more coronavirus outbreaks and lockdowns if 'negligent' flaws in hotel quarantine aren't fixed to stop the virus from spreading, an expert has warned.

An alarming new spike in Covid cases within the hotel quarantine system has sparked fears the virus cannot be contained within facilities and will spread into the community.

Fifteen new cases were recorded in NSW's hotel quarantine facilities in the 24 hours to 8pm on Wednesday, among 44 infections detected in returned travellers in recent days.

Burnet Institute epidemiologist Professor Michael Toole has accused health and government authorities of not taking the risk of airborne spread of the virus more seriously. 

With more than a dozen COVID leaks in six months, he pointed the finger directly at the Infection Control Expert Group (ICEG).

An expert believes 'negligent' flaws in hotel quarantine could result in further outbreaks and lockdowns.  Pictured are international travellers in hotel quarantine in Melbourne 

Perth residents were plunged into lockdown last week after an outbreak in hotel quarantine seeped into the community.

Pictured are masked residents in Perth this week

'14 leaks in 5 cities in 5 months is not just a few,' Professor Toole wrote on Twitter in response to a post from infectious diseases expert Dr Nick Coatsworth.

'It's negligence and ICEG is responsible.'

Having worked at the US Centres for Disease Control for 10 years, Professor Toole has called for a national standard for ventilation in hotels to be established and for the use of N95 masks.

'We are still denying at a federal level that this form of transmission even occurs, we don't even say that it occurs rarely,' he told 'This is at the heart of the fragmented approach of protecting guests.'

He says a national standard between state, territory and federal governments about hotel quarantine needs to be established.

Australia's international borders are now hotel corridors rather than airstrips, according to Professor Toole.

'All nine governments should be pouring resources into this issue, this is our number one defence and we are spending billions on vaccines but not spending much on making sure our borders are safe,' he added.

Infectious diseases expert Professor Peter Collignon, who is a member of ICEG, disagreed and believes airborne spread isn't as significant.

'The majority of the spread is happening among close contacts and masks seem to give protection,'  Professor Collignon said.

Professor Michael Toole (pictured) said the risk of airborne spread of coronavirus in hotel quarantine needs to be treated more seriously

Professor Toole believes last week's snap lockdown of Perth due to a hotel quarantine outbreak shows it's time to move quarantine out of city hotels after he reviewed the policies in each state in an article for The Conversation .

'It's now time to invest in similar facilities in every state and territory. Quarantine is our first line of defence against the virus,' he wrote on Thursday.

'It needs to be 100 per cent effective to maintain our hard-earned status of having zero community COVID cases.

'Given the rate of quarantine leaks during the past six months, without improvements, the system will likely see over a dozen more leaks by October, causing frequent disruptions to our lives. The impact on the economy and public confidence will be immeasurable.'

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In the last four days, 44 new infections have been detected in returned travellers quarantining in hotels across New South Wales (pictured, defence personnel outside Melbourne Airport)

Eight cases were recorded on Monday, 12 on Tuesday, and hvac business Wednesday saw nine new infections (pictured, a traveller entering hotel quarantine)

The sudden surge in numbers of active cases in hotel quarantine has prompted renewed calls by experts for built-for-purpose quarantine centres to be quickly established. 

Along with the spike in NSW this week, hotel quarantine facilities in South Australia have also seen a big jump in cases, recording 14 new infections on Monday and nine on Friday.

The Northern Territory recorded 27 cases from overseas travellers over Friday, Saturday and Monday - with 24 of those having arrived on flights from India. 

The spike comes amid worries that India's 'double mutant' strain will produce cases that will overwhelm the ad-hoc hotel quarantine system and breakout into cities.

India's Covid crisis has reached catastrophic levels with 386,000 cases and 3,645 deaths recorded on Thursday.

The total Covid death numbers for the country has reached 204,812 but these figures are the official toll, and there's doubts they accurately reflect the true extent of the crisis. 

Dr David Berger, an emergency flying doctor who practices in Lightning Ridge, NSW, published a paper in the Medical Journal of Australia last week which called for regional worker camps to be used instead of high-rise hotels.

His paper says that between November and mid January 'approximately 1 in 200 hotel quarantine cases led to infections outside the system' causing outbreaks in Sydney, Melbourne Adelaide, Brisbane, and Perth.

Discussing his paper on 2GB radio, Dr Berger said: 'Almost all of those are variants.

This virus is airborne. There is no documented case of transmission from contact such as lift buttons or surfaces. It can be transmitted over significant distances and ventilation is critical to this.

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India recorded more than .

Pictured: A Covid victim is 

About 9000 Australians in India now face the reality of no flights home until May 15, but the government has promised a review ahead of that time

'Unfortunately these hotels that we're using were never designed for people to be cooped up in them for two weeks with no opening windows.

'They have gaps under the doors, the ventilation is not designed to be infectious disease proof.

They're just not suitable. These facilities are just not designed for it.'

He said the quarantine system needs a total overhaul, adding: 'We need to move to a situation where we have air-gapped quarantine like they do in the Northern Territory.
Australia is full of mining camps and such like.

'It is not beyond the wit of Australia to establish mini caravan parks or mining camps close to major cities, where they can have access to fresh air and there is zero risk of cross contamination.

'Until we do that we are not going to be safe.

We are going to have to pause travel and get better facilities.'

State leaders have also expressed concerns about the increasing number of cases coming from India into Australia. 

Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan said he's  'very concerned about India' and feared the quarantine system would not be able to cope. 

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has promised to do all it can to help the thousands of Australians stranded in India return home once flights restart.

The mass vaccination centre in Homebush in Sydney's west is yet to open. It plans to inoculate 30,000 people per week 

The Ryde Respiratory Clinic in Sydney's north was empty on Wednesday despite having 300 bookings for the AstraZeneca jab