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Summary
- Victorian Health Minister, Jenny Mikakos resigned from her position on Saturday, following an inquiry into COVID-19 Hotel Quarantine Inquiry which started in July 2020.
- The use of private security guards at the hotels had raised eyebrow of the authorities, and an inquiry into the same was proposed by Mr Daniel Andrews, Premier of Victoria.
- The confusion regarding who oversaw hotel quarantine and who was accountable was building, and there is still no clarity about the issues.
- During the inquiry proceedings, Mr Daniel Andrews said that there ought to be no confusion about the person in charge of the hotel and should be held accountable for the same.
The COVID-19-hit state of Victoria had been making headlines with the emergence of the second wave of the pandemic. Besides, the necessary restrictions placed across the state to curb the spread were under the spotlight.
Amid so much news related to COVID-19 coming from Victoria, the latest development is the resignation of the Victorian Health Minister, Jenny Mikakos. Off late, there has been an ongoing inquiry into the COVID-19 hotel quarantine scheme of the state where the Victorian Health Minister resigned.
What compelled the Minister for resignation?
The COVID-19 Hotel Quarantine Inquiry started in July 2020 and was last heard on 24 September 2020.
The inquiry pertained to the use of private security guards in the state’s quarantine hotels. The doubt for the inquiry aroused as the hotel quarantine was anticipated to contain the virus spread. However, the quarantine failed to do so.
In due course of the inquiry, Jenny Mikakos said that she had no information about who proposed and approved of private security being used in hotel quarantine when an outbreak emerged at the Rydges Hotel on Swanston Street in May.
Interesting Read: 5 Steps Australia should take as the business re-opens across Victoria
Moreover, Daniel Andrews, Premier of Victoria, also conveyed his dissatisfaction about nobody from his Government knowing who decided to place security guards in the quarantine hotels. Sounding similar to Jenny Mikakos, Mr Andrews said that he did not know who authenticated the use of security guards at the quarantine hotels.
On top of it, it was Mr Andrews only who called for the inquiry to get the answer to this question and a few others.
Jenny Mikakos Responds
During his appearance on Friday, 25 September, Mr Andrews held Jenny Mikakos accountable for the mishap created in the hotel quarantine.
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The Health Minister said that there was no consultation made with her on the establishment of the program, and a multi-agency response had resulted in chaos. Moreover, Ms Mikakos also said that the reviews involving the program throughout the year were not discussed with her and she was kept in the dark.
The matter poses major concern as Ms Mikakos, and Kym Peake, the head of her department, failed to ascertain their accountability on the issue. To this, Ms Mikakos and Kym Peake responded that there were multiple parties (departments and agencies) sharing responsibilities for managing the hotels.
The Health Minister announced her resignation after Mr Andrews partially blamed Ms Mikakos for the incompetently executed COVID-19 Hotel Quarantine Scheme.
COVID-19 Situation in Victoria
Presently, the situation of the inquiry seems puzzling as it has not produced any concrete decisions regarding the decision-maker for hotel quarantine.
The pandemic situation, on the other hand, seems a lot calmer as the number of COVID-19 infections in the state has been declining lately. Although the number of locally acquired COVID-19 cases had begun to decrease in Victoria since mid-August, the state has continued to report high numbers of cases.
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As reported by the Australian Department of Health, 143 cases were reported over the past week, indicating a decline from the 251 cases reported the week before. As on 28 September at 9:00 PM AEST, there were 62 cases in the hospital, indicating a decline from 102 hospitalised cases that were reported a week ago.
In the last 24 hours, Victoria has reported five new cases, which takes the total confirmed cases in the state to 20,149. There have been 787 deaths in the state till date since the outbreak of the virus and 875 across Australia.
Undoubtedly, the virus has deeply affected the lives as well as businesses of the people across Australia. The second wave in Victoria was believed to be a significant challenge to deal with and resulted in further restrictions and border closures being imposed by the Government to safeguard the people.
Interesting Read: Victoria’s Second Wave Of COVID-19 Is Pulling Down Jobs And Consumer Spending
Thankfully, the situation looks under control, and the Government had also eased the restrictions across Victoria from 13 September 2020.
Bottomline
The inquiry is yet to unfold many answers from the mysterious case where no one seems to know who authorised the employment of security guards in the hotel. The Board of Inquiry resumed hearing this week, and we hope that, if not all then, at least some questions are answered.
