NEGOTIATIONS are almost complete for the site of Mount Gambier’s COVID-19 medi-hotel, which will house uninfected returning travellers, Limestone Coast Local Health Network chair Grant King says.
At last night’s Grant District Council meeting, Mr King told the chamber the selection of a site for the makeshift hotel was close, but did not provide an estimated date as to when an announcement would be made.
During a visit to the region earlier this month, Premier Steven Marshall announced a medi-hotel will be established in Mount Gambier to support individuals with a high coronavirus risk factor, but do not require hospitalisation.
Mr King told elected members the medi-hotel would house high-risk patients in a quarantined section of facility and be monitored daily by a medical team.
“It will be very similar in terms of what it is designed to do in the sites in Adelaide that accommodate repatriated overseas people,” he said.
“My understanding is that this is not a facility that will take people who are infected.
“It is designed to capture people who might come at the border with authorised entry, an Australian returning home who is not an essential traveller or worker, but who presents at the border from somewhere wanting to return home and will need to be quarantined for 14 days in a facility.”
Mr King said individuals will be charged for each 14-day hotel quarantine, with adults in Adelaide hotels charged $3000 with an extra $1000 for another adult from the same family, plus $500 per child.
Mount Gambier MP Troy Bell previously labelled the government’s medi-hotel plan as concerning following revelations the agencies involved had no background or briefing before the announcement.
Labor parliamentarian Clare Scriven echoed Mr Bell’s concerns about the lack of consultation and questioned the State Government’s approach to the proposal.
