On 3 August 2021, a 33-year-old New South Wales man arrived in South Australia on a Singapore repatriation flight and was placed in the Grand Chancellor Hotel, Hindley Street, Adelaide. The man was subject to a 14 day quarantine order to remain in the hotel.
Just after 10pm on Thursday 12 August the man left the medi-hotel breaching hotel security. He returned to the Grand Chancellor Hotel around 6.00 am on Friday 13 August. He is known to have attended the nearby Duke of York Hotel in Currie Street and a McDonalds fast food outlet.
The man was fully vaccinated and at the time of this incident had returned negative COVID-19 test results on days 1, 5 and 9 of his quarantine. On his return to the medi-hotel he submitted to another COVID-19 test which again returned a negative result.
State Coordinator and Commissioner of Police Grant Stevens initiated an investigation into the incident.
The investigation established that the man left his room entering a nearby fire exit within approximately seven seconds. While recorded on CCTV his movement in the corridor was not detected by personnel actively monitoring the CCTV of that area. There was no alarm on the fire exit.
A short time later the man entered the basement carpark of the Grand Chancellor where he was located by police near the exit. The man provided false information to police regarding his presence in the car park. This led police to believe he was a patron from a nearby hotel and had inadvertently found his way to the carpark area and not a person required to quarantine in the Grand Chancellor. Police allowed the man to leave the area.
State Coordinator and Commissioner of Police Grant Stevens said: “I am satisfied by the investigation conducted that the robust processes in our medi-hotels remain at a very high standard.”
“Over 22,000 people have completed the medi-hotel quarantine program in South Australia. This isolated incident happened partly due to the close the proximity of the man’s room to the fire exit and his lies to police. While there will be changes made to systems and processes and I am confident that the overall South Australia’s medi-hotel quarantine arrangements remain appropriate.”
“It is acknowledged that police should have made more detailed inquiries at the time to formally identify the man and verify his story and not accept it on face value.”
“We have examined our actions in relation to this incident and as a result, changes have been made to practices involving CCTV monitoring on each floor of the hotel and how we interact with any person found or working in the building. This should prevent any further incidents such as this occurring.”
“The operational issues identified by the investigation have been dealt with by the managers of the personnel involved. No further action will be taken.”
The man involved has been arrested and charged with breaching the Emergency Management Act. He has been remanded in custody and will appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court later today.
