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- Medical experts and the Federal Opposition have renewed their calls for the Federal Government to oversee the COVID-19 quarantine system.
- "More specific and purposeful facilities should be made available in each state and territory," Australian Medical Association President Dr Omar Khorshid told "Today".
- The calls come day after a COVID-19 cluster linked to a Perth quarantine hotel caused the city to enter a three-day lockdown.
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The Australian Medical Association and the Federal Opposition have renewed calls for the Commonwealth to build or oversee COVID-19 quarantine facilities for returned travelers, after an outbreak linked to Perth's state-run hotel quarantine system plunged the city into a three-day lockdown.
Speaking to "Today" Monday morning, Australian Medical Association (AMA) President Dr Omar Khorshid said custom-built quarantine facilities, administrated by the Federal Government, would be preferable to regular hotels co-opted by the states to house returning travelers.
His statement echoed that of WA Premier Mark McGowan, who yesterday said quarantine facilities, run by the Commonwealth, are "the only way to help reduce the risk further."
"It is not so much where it occurs but how it occurs, and there is no doubt that these facilities are not built for this purpose, they are not perfect," Dr Khorshid said.
Perth's hotel quarantine scheme was thrust into the spotlight last week when it was revealed the virus had spread between guests quarantining at the Mercure hotel, including a Victorian man who only tested positive after completing his mandatory 14-day stay and returning to Victoria.
A number of hotels used for quarantine purposes have "issues with ventilation", Dr Khorshid said, echoing the AMA's earlier concerns that COVID-19 may be spreading via airborne transmission within the hotel quarantine system.
"There are things they can do right now to make them tighter and safer, but at the end of the day, we agree with Premier McGowan that more specific and purposeful facilities should be made available in each state and territory," Dr Khorshid said.
"Because we are going to be relying on quarantine, we think, for at least the rest of this year and there is a good chance it will be going well into next year as well."
While acknowledging the hotel quarantine system has "worked quite well", Shadow Minister for Women and Education Tanya Plibersek also raised the possibility of the Federal Government repurposing existing Commonwealth facilities for quarantine purposes.
"It's obviously better if we can use those big facilities in remote locations", Plibersek told "Today".
The prospect of using federal facilities for quarantine purposes was comprehensively shut down by Defence Minister Peter Dutton, who yesterday chastised the decision to utilise the Mercure hotel, and declared that existing government sites are also unprepared to house large numbers of incoming travelers.
"I'd love to tell you that airbases or the Christmas Island facility is fit for purpose but it is not," he told ABC's "Insiders".
The debate over quarantine facilities rages as residents of the Perth and Peel regions wait to discover if the three-day lockdown will end today, or if further infections linked to the Mercure cluster will extend the State Government's stay-at-home orders.