The virus spread from returned travellers quarantined in the Rydges on Swanston and the Stamford Plaza hotels to more than 30 security guards in May and June, seeding a second wave that has killed hundreds of people in Victoria.
The lawyer leading the inquiry into Victoria's hotel quarantine has foreshadowed strong conclusions likely to embarrass the state government.
"The board may well find that these risks were foreseeable and may have actually been foreseen had there been an appropriate level of health focus in the program from the top down to the bottom." Ms Ellyard said: "The evidence seems to be that the Victorian authorities understood that there was the potential access to ADF help, but they considered that they had enough resources."
State controllers Andrea Spiteri and Jason Helps, in charge of the overall pandemic response, told the inquiry that Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton had absolute control.
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