The Victorian government’s hotel quarantine inquiry is to hear from a witness who claims rooms for returned travellers at the Rydges Hotel were unclean and staff entered them without wearing masks.
The evidence will also raise questions about the amount of fresh air and exercise provided to those held in quarantine.
The inquiry, headed by the former judge Jennifer Coate, will on Thursday and Friday hear from returned travellers, nurses and security guards about what they witnessed in the state’s hotel quarantine system.
Some 99% of all coronavirus cases in Victoria since the end of May can be traced back to a quarantine breach.
One of the returned travellers giving evidence on Thursday will be the Human Rights Law Centre executive director, Hugh de Kretser.
De Kretser returned in late June and was quarantined in the Rydges on Swanston, which the inquiry heard last week is linked to 90% of Victoria’s second-wave cases, with the remaining arising from the Stamford Plaza quarantine hotel.
De Kretser told Guardian Australia while some parts of the quarantine system at Rydges “worked very well, others fell short”.
“The rooms were unclean, staff seemed to change constantly and move between facilities and on at least two occasions a staff member came to our room without a face mask,” he said.
“People were also detained in their rooms for almost the entire time without any fresh air or exercise breaks. This is particularly concerning for children and people with mental health concerns.”
De Kretser will give evidence to the inquiry about his personal experience, as well as his perspective on the human rights implications for hotel quarantine, and how the system can be improved.
“Governments have human rights obligations to protect life and public health,” he said. “Quarantine is an important part of that protection but it has to be done properly and humanely.”
Last month, the Victorian chief health officer, Prof Brett Sutton, pointed out that people in quarantine had to be allowed to exercise under the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities otherwise it was “effectively putting them in prison”, which cannot be done.
De Kretser said the charter was a compass to guide authorities to limit human rights in the least restrictive way. He said the government’s choice to detain people in high-rise city hotels without balconies created issues with providing access to fresh air and exercise.
“In other jurisdictions like New South Wales and Queensland, for example, families and children are being detained in serviced apartments [with] access to a balcony and fresh air, which is an improvement,” he said.
The inquiry on Monday heard evidence alleging “misleading” and “inappropriate” advice and training given to security guards working in hotel quarantine, including the suggestion that personal protective equipment was not needed when escorting guests outside for limited fresh air or exercise.
A spokesman for Rydges on Swanston said the hotel is “fully supportive of the judicial inquiry” and was assisting with its investigations.
