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Australian health authorities have evacuated a Queensland hotel and are considering alternative isolation facilities, including mine fields, following an outbreak of the highly contagious British strain Covid-19, raising questions about New Zealand’s response.
On Wednesday, 129 hotel guests were transferred from the Grand Chancellor Hotel in Brisbane to an undisclosed facility and asked to isolate themselves for another 14 days after six previously identified cases at the hotel were found to be linked.
Tony Blakely, a New Zealand professor of epidemiologist based in Australia, said the guests were moved from the building because the cause of the outbreak had not been confirmed.
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The additional isolation was necessary because they could have been exposed to the virus through the hotel’s ventilation system.
The Queensland Department of Health is investigating how the virus was transmitted and there is no evidence that the cases have been in contact with each other.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Thursday that “all options” for alternative isolation facilities were being considered, including mining camps.
Jono Searle / Getty Images
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she would seek “all options” for alternatives to hotels for MIQ, including mining camps.
The case highlighted the difficulty of using hotels for managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) in the wake of a much more contagious UK strain of Covid-19, and should be a warning to the New Zealand government, Blakely said.
New Zealand is believed to have 19 cases of the new UK variant in its isolation hotels.
The ventilation systems suggested by Blakely in all MIQ hotels should be reviewed to reduce the risk of cross contamination between rooms.
Better quality verification was also needed for MIQ operations in Australia and New Zealand, including regular inspections and incident reporting processes for staff and guests.
“We do not have our eyes on quarantine to really know what is happening, nobody knows.”
Associate Professor Nick Wilson believes that specially designed quarantine facilities should be built.
Health Ministry public health director Dr Caroline McElnay said the ministry continues to monitor research and developments internationally, particularly in the UK strain.
“Layered protections within managed isolation and quarantine facilities give us assurance that collectively we limit the risk of spread to the community.”
These include testing for UK and US individuals on arrival, as well as day three and day 12, and restricting them to their rooms until a negative test is returned.
Starting on January 15, returnees from the US and UK will need a negative medical test or certificate before traveling.
McElnay said an increase in Covid-19 cases was to be expected “given that the number of cases globally continues to rise.”
University of Otago associate professor of public health Nick Wilson, who was supported by epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker, said the hotels were not designed for infection control due to problems with shared spaces and ventilation.
Wilson
He suggested that there should be specially designed facilities for quarantine, moving MIQs out of Auckland and quarantining people at a military base like Ōhakea, or even at home with strict controls.
He said eight faults had been identified on the border since early August, and seven were likely associated with faults at MIQ facilities, showing officials must “take seriously” the risk of further incursions.
He said the future looked “pretty bleak” for new pandemics, and “a sensible country would have a facility built ready to go into quarantine and isolation.”
Fiona Goodall / Getty Images
If New Zealand sees an influx of positive cases at the border, an existing managed isolation facility could be transformed into a quarantine facility. (File photo)
The “next best option” would be to move the MIQ facilities out of Auckland, protecting the “key economic center”, or reserving the Auckland facilities for low-risk travelers, such as those from Australia.
Wilson said using hotels was a “false economy when failure can lead to closure” in Auckland, costing millions of dollars.
MIQ chief Brigadier Jim Bliss said he was “extremely proud of our MIQ facilities, and the Kiwis should be too.”
Bliss trusted MIQ’s staff and systems and was proud of their “continuous improvement model”, noting the recent introduction of zero-day testing in response to new strains.
“Our priority is the safety of New Zealand returnees, staff and the community.”
Moving the facility would be a Cabinet decision, but it would need to consider limited adequate facilities in places where there was also a hospital facility and transportation hubs nearby, Bliss said.
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said that moving the facility to more remote locations, such as a military base, would require up to 4,000 MIQ staff members to voluntarily move there for work.
Hosting them would also create “significant logistical problems.”
“The Government does not believe that it is a viable option for these reasons.”
DAVID BLANCO / THINGS
Some experts believe that dedicated coronavirus quarantine centers, like the one established in Whangaparāoa north of Auckland last year, should be used instead of hotels.
Wilson questioned what it would take to trigger an overhaul or reorganization of the MIQ system, saying he needed a “hit on his senses.”
He said he would “sleep better at night” if the deployment of the vaccine for border workers were accelerated, reducing the risk of them becoming infected and spreading the virus to the community, but health officials have remained firm on the timeline for April.
Wilson and Baker have also suggested that the government eliminate the use of shared space in MIQ facilities, at least until people return a negative result on the first test or use home quarantine with digital tracking, similar to that in Taiwan and South Korea.
Microbiologist Dr. Siouxsie Wiles said it is “not uncommon” for viruses to spread through ventilation systems, but she has not seen any evidence that Covid-19 is transmitted in that way.
“It’s up in the air, so it’s a possibility.”
STACY SQUIRES / Stuff
There are currently no plans to open new managed isolation or quarantine facilities, MIQ authorities say. (File photo)
A recent study of nine people infected with Covid-19 on three separate floors in a high-rise building in Guangzhou, China, found that the virus outbreak may have been transmitted through the transmission of fecal aerosols through toilets connected by pipes. drainage.
Wiles said that the UK variant was no different in the way it was transmitted, but that it could infect a greater number of people.
He said the lack of vigilance to follow level one guidelines, including using the contact tracing app and staying home when sick, was the biggest threat to an outbreak in the community.
