The
New Daily,
30 May 2021:
The
numbers used by the federal government to defend the effectiveness of
hotel quarantine are wrong, one of Australia’s leading
epidemiologists has said.
The
criticism comes amid growing calls for every state and territory to
have a purpose-built facility, as new analysis shows purpose-built
quarantine costs a fraction of the economic cost of lockdowns.
Last
month Prime Minister Scott Morrison sought to downplay concerns
Australia would keep yoyo-ing in and out of lockdown until issues in
hotel quarantine were fixed.
“A
system that is achieving 99.99 per cent effectiveness is a very
strong system and is serving Australia very well,” Mr Morrison
said.
“If
I was to tell you [last year] that would achieve a 99.99 per cent
success rate, you wouldn’t have believed me. No one in this country
would have believed me. I would have found that hard to believe.”
But
Mary-Louise McLaws, an infectious diseases expert at the University
of New South Wales and member of the World Health Organisation’s
COVID-19 response team, said the PM’s figure was wrong.
“I
have no idea where it’s been plucked out of,” Professor McLaws
told The New Daily.
Around
70 per cent of total cases since Australia closed its borders on
March 20 last year have directly and indirectly come from quarantine
breaches and exemptions, she said.
Approximately
21,000 people have been infected due to those breaches and exemption.
Professor
McLaws said the Australian government needed to “turn 180 degrees
and rethink” the quarantine system, to save itself money and
protect its citizens.
“Lockdown
costs $1billion a week for NSW or Victoria,” she said.
Pointing
to the Northern Territory’s Howard Springs quarantine facility,
which has not leaked a single case into the community, she said
states need their own purpose-built facilities, not hotels.
“Victoria
has estimated they could make a purpose-built for $700 million.
That’s less than the cost of a one-week lockdown,” Professor
McLaws said.
“In
WA, they could make a 1000-bed facility that would cost between $80
million and $200 million – that’s still a fraction.
“So
when people say this is too expensive, I say try $1 billion a
week.”…..
News.com.au,
29 May 2021:
A
Melbourne doctor has delivered a spray at the PM on national
television as frustration boils over about the Government’s biggest
headache.
Frontline
emergency physician Dr Stephen Parnis took aim at Prime Minister
Scott Morrison on Friday morning after Victoria was thrust into its
fourth lockdown since the pandemic began.
He
told the ABC that Victorians are “getting tired of hearing excuses”
about things that “should have happened earlier this year, at
least”.
He
was referring to delays in the Covid-19 vaccine rollout and the
Commonwealth’s slow take-up of advice to build a fit-for-purpose
quarantine facility that does not involve placing infected people in
hotel rooms.
“It’s
taking too long,” Dr Parnis said. “It should have happened
earlier this year, at least. We need to do it right now. [New
quarantine facilities] has the same urgency as vaccinating our
nursing home populations.
“We
know that this virus has airborne transmission. We know that the best
protocols will still not be foolproof in hotels that are designed for
tourists. Each state and territory will have plans for these things.
But they are waiting for the checks to come from Canberra and those
checks have been delayed,” Dr Parnis said.
“That
is unacceptable, I think, to the medical profession, and it should be
unacceptable to the wider population.”
It
is a sentiment shared by Melbourne GP Dr Vyom Sharma. He told
news.com.au there is nowhere near enough being done to stop leaks
from HQ.
“There
are no nationally consistent guidelines for infection prevention and
control,” he said.
“Different
states have different standards for Personal Protective Equipment
(PPE) — some will use simple surgical masks when near travellers,
others will use N95 respirators.
“Some
states have performed ventilation audits and upgrades. Others either
have not, or have not reported this publicly. This inconsistency
risks further instances of airborne transmission within quarantine.”
He
said staff working in medi-hotels are not being protected.
“Any
staff within line of sight of a returned traveller should be wearing
an N95 mask. That is a no brainer, and an instant fix — source the
materials, fit test all staff.
“Also,
and I can only hope this is the case in all states, make vaccination
mandatory for all staff, and do not allow them on site until two
weeks after the second dose.”
Dr
Sharma said the problem was no going to disappear and that only
fit-for-purpose accommodation would prevent more outbreaks.
“More
leaks are inevitable if things stay the same. Only a fool would bet
otherwise.”
The
problem with using hotel quarantine to house overseas arrivals from
Covid-19 hotspots was raised with the Prime Minister on Thursday
after Acting Victorian Premier James Merlino revealed the holdup in
building an broadacre facility was at a federal level.
“We
are waiting on the green light in terms of going ahead,” he said in
relation to a proposal to build such a facility at Avalon or
Mickleham partly funded by both state and federal governments.
Mr
Morrison said he was “highly favourable” of the Victorian plan
but did not make a firm commitment.
Melbourne
surgeon Dr Eric Levi expressed his frustration at Victoria being
forced into another lockdown because quarantine issues had not been
sorted.
“Let’s
learn from this. AGAIN,” he wrote on Twitter.
“One
person was Covid negative on multiple swabs, spent two weeks in hotel
quarantine in Adelaide. Caught Covid from the room next door. Flew
back to Melbourne. Tested positive.
Now
thousands of primary and secondary contacts. One person in ICU.
“More
than 150 exposure locations. And a state in lockdown. Again. It’s
16 months into the pandemic. Should we not have learned this last
year. Can we fix upstream quarantine problems before it causes
downstream catastrophe?
“Covid
is airborne. Majority of those with Covid have no symptoms. By the
time they know they’re positive, they’ve shared the virus with
others. We now have vaccines to reduce transmission. New variants are
emerging.”
Mr
Merlino said expressions of interest had been sent out on Friday for
the building of a facility at either Avalon or Mickleham, 30km and
56km from the CBD respectively.
But
nothing will happen without the Morrison Government’s approval. It
will have the final say.
“Both
sites could work and that will ultimately, because these are both
Commonwealth pieces of land, be the decision of the Commonwealth,”
Mr Merlino said.
