“Stamford Plaza is not aware of where the[32] cases[of coronavirus from the outbreak] originated,save to say that these cases did not originate from the staff of Stamford Plaza,or from the purported breach of the infection control protocols.”
“We reiterate that Stamford Plaza had not breached any infection control protocols,” it said,and the lack of infections among hotel staff “validates our employee training,PPE practices and health and safety approach”.
A source with knowledge of the contract said the hotel was making little or no profit from taking part in the program,and the hotel's management has been disturbed by the damage done to its brand by the outbreak.
Under the quarantine program,international travellers returning to Australia must spend 14 days locked in a hotel room before they can go free. The state is footing the bill for more than 20,000 travellers who have returned since March 28,with each traveller's stay costing,on average,$2000.
The government declined to detail how much MSS,Unified and Wilson had been paid for their work since the quarantine hotel program began,or whether Victorians would pay out their contracts once Corrections staff took over.
In NSW,where the quarantine hotels program has had little or no coronavirus cases spread to people managing returned travellers,the program was led from the outset by the NSW Police Force,with the Australian Defence Force,health department and a private security firm.
Premier Daniel Andrews has cancelled all international flights into Melbourne for a fortnight,in a bid to provide some relief to the system.
Ms Neville said the decision to hire private security firms to manage returned travellers who potentially had coronavirus had been made so swiftly because of the urgency of making quick decisions about how quarantine would work. “We did it within 24 hours,” she said.
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A government spokeswoman confirmed there had been no tender for the security contracts.
“Following the decision of the national cabinet[in March] to establish the hotel quarantine program,resources including security contracts were mobilised within 24 hours and exempted from a tender process due to the urgency,” she said.
There have been outbreaks at both the Stamford Plaza hotel in Little Collins Street,and the Rydges on Swanston in Carlton,where at least 19 guards and their contacts have acquired coronavirus. Travellers at Rydges were guarded by staff from Unified Security.
A Unified Security spokesman said they welcomed the inquiry into hotel quarantine operations. “We look forward to detailing our procedures and practices,” he said.
The Stamford was guarded by staff from MSS Security – which for a second day did not respond to questions fromThe AgeandThe Sydney Morning Herald.
The Stamford released a statement saying it was not to blame for the outbreak that began at its hotel and that none of its staff had contracted COVID19. It had taken part in the returned travellers hotel program as a civic duty,it said.
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