An angry traveller has described his mandatory quarantine stay in regional Queensland as worse than being locked up in a university 'frat house' as guests ran rampant through the hotel's hallways.
Australian citizen Harvey Goodwin says he returned from Papua New Guinea in late June before bunkering down for 14 days at a hotel in the Cairns CBD.
During that time, Mr Goodwin said, lewd acts, loud music and 'balcony hopping' were commonplace despite formal warnings issued by hotel management and police.
"There are some people who probably haven't handled it too well," the overseas-based security expert said.
"They were getting grog brought into the place. They were having parties … there was a fair bit of stuff going on.
"The hotel then put out a letter saying, 'You're only allowed one bottle (of alcohol), we have security cameras in place' and so on.
"The people that were looking after us said, 'We've had people jumping from balconies, we've had people piddling on the bloody people down the streets (below), partying and causing disruptions.'
"A lot of things weren't above board."
The claims come hot on the heels of Melbourne being thrust into its second lockdown following quarantine breaches at hotels in the city earlier this month.
Guests behaving badly
In other instances, Mr Goodwin said he witnessed:
- Guests throwing cigarette butts onto the pavement below their rooms
- Tossing plastic food containers out their windows
- Verbally abusing hotel staff
Following a spate of incidents, authorities resorted to issuing guests with a sternly-worded letter urging occupants to stop 'engaging in antisocial behaviour.'
But Mr Goodwin said the threats were to no avail.
"It was just a slap-happy way of dealing with human beings if you ask me," he said.
"You could describe it as a frat house. I could probably think of a few worse things than that, to be honest."
However, acting Chief Superintendent Chris Hodgson, who is managing the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Cairns, while confirming police had issued a warning to unruly guests at the hotel, said the incidents were in April.
"Certainly there were people who were consuming too much alcohol ... unfortunately, you'd think they'd know better after the briefings that they were given," he said.
"[But] we did give them some stern warnings about their behaviour and alcohol consumption and told them to curb their behaviour, which seemed to work."
He stressed there has been no repeat of the bad behaviour after those incidents in April.
Mr Hodgson was adamant there were no hotel security breaches that could compromise the local pandemic response.
"I am absolutely confident ... there's a uniformed presence on every floor of that hotel, a 24/7 presence, that's been doing this for a number of months now."
"Our number one priority is to keep Cairns community safe."
Quarantine but no tests
Mr Goodwin also said that, during his two-week stay, he received no COVID-19 test, nor was he tested upon arrival at the Cairns Airport.
"They issued me with a document on the Queensland Government letterhead … with my name, hotel, room number and discharge date," he said
"I wanted a document to say I was clear of the virus and that's all they gave me.
"All my family has said [to me], 'Why didn't they test you?'
"I just don't understand how someone can be incarcerated for 14 days — no-one knows if you had it before you went in and no-one knows if you have it when you come out."
In a statement, Queensland Health said travellers in hotel quarantine were not actively being tested prior to July 4.
It is understood the policy was changed following a recommendation from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) made to National Cabinet in June.
"All people entering quarantine in government-arranged accommodation in Cairns are tested before the end of their 14-day quarantine," a spokesperson said.
"People in quarantine who return a negative result from a COVID-19 test still need to remain in quarantine until the end of the 14-day period.
"Where a person has completed their mandatory quarantine period and received a negative COVID-19 test result, they are released from quarantine."
But Mr Goodwin maintained his test never occurred.
"Nothing was done so they can't guarantee anything, and that has been my point of contention all along," he said.
At the time of publication, Queensland had two active cases of COVID-19.
