A Sydney woman managed to escape hotel quarantine in Cairns and staff didn’t even notice until three days later, The Cairns Post reports.
Police allege that the woman climbed down from her fourth-floor room of the Pacific Hotel like some kind of Mission Impossible stunt.
“It appears this person has scaled two balconies, gone down an outside staircase, then has damaged a door to escape,” Queensland Deputy Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski told reporters on Tuesday.
“We believe she has kicked it in, so she was fairly motivated.”
The 22-year-old woman left the hotel on Thursday, and wasn’t found again until Monday afternoon. She later told officers she busted out to see her mum.
She ultimately copped a $2,500 fine after pleading guilty to failing to comply with a public health direction, and is now now back in hotel quarantine.
The incident comes after a Victorian man allegedly attempted to bust out of the very same hotel in June before falling and landing in hospital.
“This is the second time that it’s happened in a couple of weeks where people have put their lives at risk to come out of the Pacific Hotel,” local Acting Chief Superintendent Chris Hodgman said.
Hodgman added that the woman in this particular instance had been very upfront about her movements since she escaped quarantine, and that she was therefore not considered to pose a massive infection risk to the community.
Queensland only recently emerged from a state-wide lockdown and areas around Brisbane still have some restrictions. The state is also notoriously strict when it comes to letting people out of quarantine early to see their families for compassionate reasons.
While things aren’t too bad, it’s definitely not a good time for interstate travellers – from COVID- battered Sydney, no less – to be kicking down doors and flouting quite reasonable quarantine restrictions.
It’s normal to miss your mum, and we don’t know the woman’s full situation, but it would be great is people could stop busting out of quarantine hotels now, thanks.
