The two Melbourne Airport security staffers who averted a potentially devastating coronavirus quarantine breach have spoken out, saying they were “shocked” by the weekend’s near miss.
Wilson Security guard Claudio Cominotto and duty manager Peter Mikha have explained how they discovered the breach, which saw two German-Australian dual citizens arrive in Melbourne on Saturday afternoon.
In case you missed it: the mother and son duo had traveled from Frankfurt to Sydney via Tokyo, but were not guided straight into NSW’s mandatory hotel quarantine upon arrival. Instead, a bungle by NSW Police at Sydney Airport allowed the pair to board a Virgin flight to Melbourne.
Whoops.
The Age reports Cominotto spotted the pair roaming around near Melbourne’s airport-to-city bus terminal, and they revealed to Cominotto that they were looking to enter hotel quarantine.
Given the city’s recent emergence from lockdown restrictions caused by COVID-19 cases – and the fact Melbourne’s revamped hotel quarantine scheme was yet to begin – two international travelers just wandering around presented a massive issue.
“I said to him straight away, ‘Just don’t send them anywhere, hold them for a minute, I need to confirm what’s going on,’” Mikha told the paper.
“I thought if they haven’t quarantined, then this is a big problem.”
Speaking to The Herald Sun, Mikha said, “I was shocked.
“I had a headache for a couple of days just trying to think: ‘How did this happen?’”
The travelers were subsequently placed in hotel quarantine, becoming the inaugural guests of the revamped program.
“They are the first, albeit inadvertent, occupants of Victoria’s reset hotel quarantine system,” Victorian Premier Dan Andrews said on Sunday.
The pair have since tested negative to COVID-19 twice, meaning the hundreds of people directed to self-isolate after coming into contact with them – including Cominotto himself – can now resume life as per usual. The mum and son will remain in hotel quarantine for 14 days regardless.
So, crisis averted. Just.
If you want to cop the seccies’ recollection of events, and their admission they’re planning some “top shelf” drinks to celebrate being pretty sharp about the whole situation, you can do so here and here.
