A returned traveller was released from a Melbourne hotel after completing their mandatory 14-day quarantine, unaware they had COVID-19. Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has conceded there could have been others.
A returned traveller was released from Victoria's hotel quarantine while infected with COVID-19 and passed it on to the person who drove them home, an inquiry has heard.
"They would have been questioned as to whether they had any symptoms, and would have been released on the basis that they were declaring that they were symptom-free." Professor Sutton told Victoria's hotel quarantine inquiry on Wednesday.Security guard tells Victoria's hotel quarantine inquiry he caught COVID-19 amid PPE shortage
By that stage, the virus had already spread from travellers to hotel staff and security guards and then into the community, sparking the state's deadly second wave. "With the benefit of hindsight, I can see that using a highly casualised workforce, generally from a lower socio-economic background, where that means that poor leave provisions limit how one can care for and financially support one's family if unwell."
Under the state's plan for an influenza pandemic, developed in 2015, the chief health officer is supposed to assume the role of state controller and the"overall responsibility for emergency response operations".Both Mr Helps and Ms Spitieri will give evidence to the inquiry on Wednesday, as will Deputy Chief Health Officer Annaliese van Diemen.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Trans people slam J.K. Rowling's “offensive” new book about a crossdressing serial killerJ.K. Rowling’s latest book ‘Troubled Blood’ tells the story of a serial killer who dresses up as a woman to kill his victims. It’s been labelled by both trans people and gender studies experts as “offensive”.
Read more »
New report says WA prisons are 'deadly and dangerous' for people with mental health issuesA new Human Rights Watch report finds prisons in Western Australia are 'deadly and dangerous' places for people with psycho-social disabilities. And Indigenous people are particularly at risk.
Read more »
60,000 more people may have had COVID-19 than detected: studySeven times as many Australians could have been infected with the coronavirus than official figures suggest, according to a new antibody study.
Read more »
Stuck on the launchpad: How coronavirus is trapping our young peopleThe year had started so well for Amy Thomas. She had two jobs, a car and was living out of home, and the future looked bright. Then the pandemic hit | benschneiders
Read more »
'People will die': Trump holds indoor rally despite 'highest risk' warning'People will die': Trump holds indoor rally despite 'highest risk' warning | FarrahTomazin
Read more »
Vietnam jails four people for their role in British truck deathsA court in Vietnam jails four Vietnamese people for their role in the deaths of 39 migrants whose bodies were found in the back of a truck near London in October last year.
Read more »