Quarantine hotel shut amid virus leaks

OSTN Staff

The state government has quickly moved to close the facility after three locally acquired cases were linked to the hotel.Several eyewitnesses called into 3AW on Wednesday morning, reporting seeing quarantine guests being led from the hotel by police on Wednesday morning and onto a waiting SkyBus.COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria confirmed the closure to NCA NewsWire.A CQV spokeswoman said the Holiday Inn would be closed until further notice for “terminal cleaning” and detailed contact tracing and investigations were underway.About 135 staff were stood down from the Holiday Inn on Tuesday night and told to isolate for 14 days.

Three local cases have now been linked to the Melbourne Airport Holiday Inn with two confirmed late on Tuesday.The health department on Tuesday confirmed a second worker at the Melbourne Airport Holiday Inn quarantine site, a woman aged in her 30s, and a returned traveller who had already completed quarantine tested positive to COVID-19 after leaving the hotel.“CQV is implementing strict infection prevention and control measures after a hotel quarantine worker, who last worked at the Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport on February 4, tested positive for the virus,” the spokeswoman said.“All staff and residents at the hotel during the exposure period of January 27 and February 9 are considered primary close contacts and need to quarantine.

“(About) 135 staff across all programs at the hotel were stood down last night and instructed to quarantine for 14 days at home and get retested.”CQV has also informed 48 quarantine guests at the hotel that they were also considered primary close contacts.CQV started transferring the affected guests to the Pullman Melbourne hotel from 8am on Wednesday to quarantine for an “extended number of days”.It’s understood residents who were scheduled to leave quarantine within the next three days will continue to quarantine for a further three days before their quarantine period is reviewed.Those scheduled to exit beyond Friday will continue to quarantine while a review is underway and further advice provided.“The transfer of the residents will be sequenced and co-ordinated, and there will be careful management of infection prevention and control measures,” the spokeswoman said.“This is a changing, hyper-infectious virus, which means our quarantine program is constantly reviewed on the basis of expert advice.
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“Following recent positive coronavirus cases, CQV has introduced a suite of measures in quarantine hotels including full face shields for staff to wear with masks, staggered mealtimes for residents and empty rooms between large resident groups.”Victoria Police and Australian Defence Force personnel have been tasked to provide security at the hotel perimeter.A total of about 220 staff from the Holiday Inn at Melbourne Airport are now quarantining at home after being designated as primary close contacts of recent positive cases at the hotel between February 3 and 7.About 950 CQV staff are in quarantine after recent cases of transmission at the Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport, Grand Hyatt and Park Royal quarantine hotels.CQV have announced they are conducting a further review of ventilation with an occupational physician who is an expert in infectious disease and ventilation.Premier Daniel Andrews is due to speak to the media at 10.30am.
Do you know more: Contactjack.paynter@news.com.au

Victoria has recorded a new case of COVID-19 – a resident of the quarantine facility Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport – who tested positive after completing her 14-day period.

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