Fears Covid-19 has already spread interstate after even more returned travellers from an exposed quarantine hotel in Adelaide flew across the country – as authorities scramble to get them into isolation
- Victorian officials have found six people in state who may have been exposed
- They left the third floor of Adelaide’s Playford Hotel during transmission period
- All have been contacted and rushed back into isolation for 14-day quarantine
- SA authorities have issued similar orders for 10 discharged returned travellers
A further six Victorians may have been exposed to coronavirus after staying at the same South Australian quarantine hotel where a Melbourne man is suspected of catching COVID-19.
The Department of Health has identified six people now in Victoria as having left the third floor of Adelaide‘s Playford Hotel during the potential transmission period.
All have been contacted and are now urgently being tested as they undergo another 14-day quarantine stint.
SA authorities have issued similar orders for 10 discharged returned travellers still in their state.
The announcement comes as the Victorian government cracks down on businesses flouting QR code check-in rules after the state’s latest coronavirus scare exposed flaws in the system.
Pictured: Adelaide’s The Playford hotel. Health authorities in Victoria have identified six people now in the state who are suspected of catching the virus at the quarantine hotel
Contact tracing efforts were hampered this week as some patrons at the Curry Vault restaurant, where the infected Melbourne man dined on Friday night, failed to use the QR code system.
In response, the state government on Thursday announced businesses breaking check-in rules will face a new $1652 on-the-spot fine, and further penalties of up to $9913 and prosecution for repeated breaches.
Checks last week showed more than a third of businesses are not complying with QR code rules.
It follows authorities dishing out 165 enforcement notices and 300 warnings as part of a three-week blitz of 4000 cafes, shops and restaurants in April.
The breaches included a lack of signage, failing to use QR codes, and not having a COVID-safe plan.
While most businesses are doing the right thing, Acting Police Minister Danny Pearson said others were ‘letting down’ Victorians after the state fought to defeat its deadly second wave.
The Services Victoria QR code system will only become mandatory for businesses from the end of May, with the opposition questioning why it didn’t follow NSW’s lead earlier.
A woman wearing a mask is seen walking along Swanston Street on Wednesday. An infected Melbourne man dined at the Curry Vault restaurant, which failed to use the QR system
The Curry Vault restaurant. A QR code system administered by Services Victoria will be compulsory by the end of May
An average of 28,000 check-ins are being registered on the system every day, with more than 91,000 businesses signing up.
Health authorities, meanwhile, are still awaiting test results for about 30 close contacts of Melbourne’s most recent virus case.
Of the 121 primary close contacts of the infected man from Wollert in Melbourne’s north, 90 have returned negative tests so far.
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