The state controller responsible for leading Victoria's pandemic response tells the COVID-19 Hotel Quarantine Inquiry he does not believe outbreaks at hotels would have been avoided if ADF personnel were used instead of private security guards.
The state controller responsible for leading Victoria's pandemic response has told the COVID-19 Hotel Quarantine Inquiry he did not believe outbreaks at hotels would have been avoided if ADF personnel were used instead of private security guards.He says using ADF officers or police may have intimidated themGenomic data has revealed outbreaks at the
Rydges and Stamford Plaza hotels were responsible for more than 99 per cent of Victoria's second wave of infectionsJason Helps, the state agency commander for the Department of Health and Human Services , told the inquiry his role was to lead and coordinate the public health decision-making, but denied he was in control of the response."I'm not sure we can be certain having them in the program wouldn't have contributed to other issues we experienced," Mr Helps said.
Mr Helps told the inquiry he was not aware of any specific offers of ADF support to secure the quarantine hotels.Andrea Spiteri, who shared the state controller role with Mr Helps, told the inquiry that a continuous police presence in the hotels could have helped.Victoria's road to recovery
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