The Hotel Quarantine Investigation (General)
Apart from not being able to duck questions, witness testimony emerged from the investigation. Michael Tait, a nurse with 20 years experience, who was working at two of the quarantine hotels said:
"We didn't have medium gloves until day four. We did not get N95 masks until day eight. We never got hoods, face shields or shoe coverings even though we were told we would.”
He described the Department of Health and Human Services policies as "shambolic" - rules changed "every day, if not every hour".
As for the security guards, they "didn't understand the importance or even the use of PPE" leaving used masks and gloves on the ground, whilst mingling with guests without masks. "I saw security guards with their masks down underneath their chin, eating their lunch with gloves on."
The state of the hotels was also a disgrace. Reports/photos of rooms not being cleaned between patients, let alone ‘deep cleaned’, while evidence from an enquiry into a suicide said, “Safer Care Victoria found the detainee received a welfare check (that’s a medical check-up - not a cheque check) five days into his detention. It was the only welfare check made during the nine days before his death.”
The whole program from top to bottom was a mind-boggling shemozzle.
The only surprise is that the virus didn’t escape sooner.
Security guards on guard at a Melbourne quarantine hotel. Kinda like this one - reminds me of Taiwan in the old days after lunchtime.
Stains on sheets at a Melbourne quarantine hotel. Hope it wasn't from the suicide guy.