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Victoria Will Welcome International Arrivals From April 8 After Hotel Quarantine Overhaul

Victoria Will Welcome International Arrivals From April 8 After Hotel Quarantine Overhaul

The state believes it has enough systems in place now to ensure there isn't another Holiday Inn-style outbreak.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Victoria will resume welcoming international arrivals from April 8.

The state government has overhauled its hotel quarantine system to better detect and monitor people coming in from overseas and are confident they will significantly limit future outbreaks.

Victoria hasn't had international visitors since February 14 after a coronavirus infection managed to get out from quarantine.

There was a quick five-day lockdown as a result of the Holiday Inn outbreak and the government looked at how it can prevent something similar from happening again.

Holiday Inn

Under the new system, the state will accept 800 arrivals per week, before that is escalated to 1,120 every seven days.

The hotels listed for quarantine will also have a new ventilation system that will ensure Covid-19 isn't spread between rooms and medical devices will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis to prevent the virus from jumping from room to room.

The Holiday Inn outbreak started when an infectious visitor used a nebuliser, which sent aerosolised particles carrying coronavirus into the air.

Hotel staff will now be required to wear N95 masks as part of a revamped Personal Protective Equipment blitz and they will also be added to a new online system that will map out their households. This will ensure authorities have direct knowledge of the whereabouts of staff if one gets infected.

Visitors will have to be tested for the virus four times, instead of two, during the 14-day stay. The tests will be on the first, fourth, twelfth and fourteen days.

The new system was designed by recommendations handed down during the Hotel Quarantine Board of Inquiry.

Nearly all of the 81 recommendations have been adopted, with two being omitted.

One of the suggestions was for staff to wear gloves when helping guests with their luggage, while the other was conducting Covid-19 testing on visitors in their rooms with the door closed.

The state government believes hand sanitiser is better than gloves and was concerned staff would be put at a greater risk of infection if the door was closed.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Australia