AMA VICDOC Spring 2023 - Magazine - Page 4

FROM THE PRESIDENT
MUCH TO
LEARN ON
QUARANTINE
Q
uarantine is not a new concept. It has
been known since biblical times and been
practised throughout history to fight
against devastating plagues and epidemics by
isolating the infected from the healthy population.
In fact, the word quarantine arises
from quarantena, meaning ‘40 days’, used in
the Venetian language of the 14th century, during
which all ships were required to be isolated before
passengers and crew could go ashore during
the plague of the Black Death.
Australian quarantine stations were used in
the past to control diseases such as typhus
and tuberculosis. In Victoria, the Point Nepean
Quarantine Station was established in 1852 to
process and manage people and even, animals;
and to eventually manage many soldiers returning
home from World War I during the Spanish
Flu pandemic.
Being an island, Australia’s isolation and ability
to close its borders is a natural advantage in a
pandemic — an advantage that must be guarded
by an effective and safe quarantine system.
Yet, curiously, prior to COVID-19, neither
Australia’s federal nor state pandemic plans
included arrangements for mandatory
mass quarantine.
The resulting scramble across the country
to establish hotel quarantine very quickly
last March, appears to have been managed
more successfully by some states compared
with others.
AMA Victoria advocated as far back as
April last year for an operational approach to
our state’s quarantine system. That is to say,
that hotel quarantine is a complex logistical
exercise. It’s not just about putting people in
a hotel room for two weeks and that’s it.
4
AMA VI C TO RIA
A/PROF
JULIAN RAIT OAM
AMA Victoria President

But despite its complexity, it’s not new. It’s all
been done before. Operational plans have been
developed and applied successfully in similar
circumstances, for example, the management of
returning Australian citizens from Wuhan; and
there are expert advisory bodies like the National
Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre or
AUSMAT, whose expert staff can provide advice,
support and assistance.
Following Victoria’s second wave last year
and the 69 recommendations made by the Hotel
Quarantine Inquiry, the Victorian Government
seems to have partly recognised and acted on
this through its management of the state’s ‘hot
hotels’ accommodating people who have returned
positive COVID tests. It’s notable that these hotels
have not experienced any breaches or leakages
into the community so far.
But unfortunately, Victoria is running a twotier hotel quarantine system, and the same level
of necessary operational rigour is not applied to
its ‘cold hotels’ accommodating people who have
not returned positive COVID tests.
This is a mistake. Every quarantine facility
must be considered a high-risk, healthcare
facility and every person who enters Victoria
from overseas must be considered and treated
as if they have COVID-19 and isolated from the
community until proven negative after 14 days.
Recent commentary concerning the role of new
COVID mutations, variant strains, and a higher
transmission probability are irrelevant. The whole
emphasis of quarantine should be on isolation and
the strictest of infection control procedures to
reduce the risk of viral spread in the first place.

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