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Guests on same floor of Adelaide hotel as two coronavirus-infected men told to quarantine again

The Playford Hotel, where the two infected men were staying on the same floor.

The Playford Hotel, where the two infected men were staying on the same floor. Photo: Facebook/The Playford Adelaide

Ten South Australians and 24 interstate residents who were on the same floor of an Adelaide hotel as two men who were diagnosed with COVID–19 have been ordered to quarantine at home.

SA Health is contacting 34 guests who were on level three at the Playford medi-hotel and had since returned home in South Australia, as well as Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.

A Melbourne man tested positive for coronavirus after staying at the hotel until last week, and genomic testing yesterday revealed his case was connected to another man who stayed on the same floor as the hotel.

This link was almost certainly how the virus was transmitted, authorities said.

South Australian Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said other travellers staying at the North Terrace hotel would now also have to quarantine.

“In an abundance of caution, those people who were on level three of the hotel during the period of concern who have subsequently been discharged will be required to quarantine for a further 14 days,” Professor Spurrier said.

“This includes 10 South Australians who will be able to quarantine at home, if the home setting is suitable.

“We have confirmed the vast majority of medi-hotel staff who were working at the time had their required daily testing, and there are only five medi-hotel staff that we are still following up.”

International flight not among exposure sites

The case has sparked a public health response across both South Australia and Victoria, with contact tracers releasing a list of high-risk exposure sites the man visited around Melbourne before testing positive.

South Australian authorities yesterday shut the border to anyone who has been at those sites at specified times, and anyone in SA who also visited those sites must now quarantine.

The two men who tested positive were on the same international flight, however. an SA Health spokeswoman said the department would not be releasing details of the flight.

It was not being considered an exposure site, she said.

The Melbourne man travelled home from Adelaide on Jetstar flight JQ771 on May 4, and authorities have now instructed all other passengers on the flight to get tested and isolate.

Despite the breach, Premier Steven Marshall said hotel quarantine was still the best model.

“I think that the system that we have here in South Australia is excellent,” he said.

There have been no further cases linked to the incident, including in Melbourne, where the infected man travelled to several restaurants and supermarkets.

One new coronavirus case was reported in South Australia yesterday — a man in his 20s who returned from overseas and was in hotel quarantine.

Two people in their 30s suffering from COVID–19 are in the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

An SA Health spokeswoman said the man connected with the Playford Hotel was not one of them.

He was moved to the Tom’s Court Hotel after testing positive.

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