A bunch of leaked emails obtained by The Age show the Victorian government was warned about its hotel quarantine problems well before the second wave began.
In late March, less than 24 hours after the state’s hotel quarantine program was set up, a top official at the Victorian Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions emailed officials at the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to warn against using private security guards rather than police officers.
“We request that Victoria Police is present 24/7 at each hotel starting from this evening,” the email said.
“We ask that DHHS urgently make that request as the control agency.”
The official also asked the DHHS about potential mask and glove supply issues – something which guards later complained about.
A few days later, the same official sent another email after a traveller left their room at 3 AM to have a smoke. The email again said private security guards were “not adequate” and recommended police supervision instead.
These recommendations match whistleblowers’ claims that private security guards weren’t properly trained. There have even been claims that nobody showed up to work shifts that the government had already paid for, as well as a claim one guard even hooked up with a quarantined guest.
A spokesperson fro Emergency Management Victoria, which jointly oversees hotel quarantine with the DHHS, told The Age police weren’t necessary as the guards could always call 000 in an emergency.
On July 2, the Victorian government launched an inquiry into just what went wrong during hotel quarantine. The same day, Police Minister Lisa Neville noted that while police have been managing the pandemic response in other states such as NSW, that was not the case for Victoria.
This then raises questions as to why police were sent in to guard Melbourne’s locked-down public housing towers while people in hotel quarantine were able to skirt certain rules.
Victoria is currently experiencing its biggest coronavirus surge yet, with over 1,600 active cases. Last week, 288 cases were recorded in a single day – the highest daily increase in Australia so far.
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton said yesterday it was “conceivable” that all active COVID-19 cases in the state could be traced back to the hotel quarantine mess. As the leaked emails show, those who are potentially responsible can’t say they weren’t warned.
