A spur of the moment decision to travel to Melbourne for a weekend away has turned into a nightmare for a Sydney couple anxious to get home to their young family.
Clinton Hamence, 42, and Jennifer Papaconstuntinos, 44, weren’t told they would have to endure 14 days hotel quarantine when they left NSW for Victoria on New Year’s Day – after ‘doing their research’ and obtaining permits to visit for 48 hours.
Thinking they would only be away for two nights, Ms Papaconstuntinos left her three sons Josiah, 14, Jaydon, 11, and Jacob, 7, with her mother, who suffered a brain aneurysm 18 months ago.
They received a rude shock upon arrival in Melbourne, where they were told they would spend the next fortnight in quarantine under new travel restrictions due to the fresh coronavirus outbreaks in Victoria and New South Wales.
It may be another nine days before the couple are reunited with the boys and now regret their decision to fly to Melbourne at short notice last Friday morning.
A weekend away in Melbourne has turned into two weeks of hotel quarantine hell for Jennifer Papaconstuntinos (left) and partner Clinton Hamence (right). They are pictured in their hotel on Wednesday
‘We did some homework and were told we were all sweet to go, as long as we arrived before 11.59pm. Why would we come to Melbourne if that wasn’t the case?,’ Mr Hamence told Daily Mail Australia.
The couple are furious no one at Sydney Airport ‘didn’t tell them what they were flying into’ in Melbourne and that they would be taken to mandatory hotel quarantine on arrival.
They said they would never have got on the plane and left the children behind had they been told – and are perplexed as to why they weren’t allowed to catch the next plane home to Sydney instead of being hauled to a hotel.
They said they spent five hours without food or able to use the toilet before they were eventually escorted onto a bus.
The tired and hungry detained travellers sat on the bus for another 90 minutes before they were transported to the nearby Holiday Inn.
Despite been considered a health risk, Mr Hamence and Ms Papaconstuntinos claim they were joined by members of the public while sitting at the airport terminal, sharing a photo with Daily Mail Australia.
Despite been considered a health risk, Mr Hamence and Papaconstuntinos claim they were joined by members of the public while sitting in the airport terminal
Jennifer Papaconstuntinos (left) and partner Clinton Hamence (right) are desperate to get home to her three sons. They’re pictured with her youngest two boys
Mr Hamence said the couple weren’t tested for coronavirus and didn’t have their temperature checked until Monday, day four of quarantine.
‘It’s been absolutely awful. We’re trying to make the most of it but we can’t open any windows or step outside our door,’ he said.
He’s also concerned about the additional burden on Victorian taxpayers forking out for the quarantine of interstate travellers.
Back home in Sydney, Ms Papaconstuntinos’ mum has needed help in looking after her grandsons due to her condition.
‘The youngest one Jacob is freaking out, not knowing when he’s going to see us again,’ Mr Hamence said.
‘Josiah has had to look after his younger brothers quite a lot.’
The couple successfully obtained valid permits (pictured) to enter Victoria, but say they weren’t told they’d need to quarantine
A plumber on casual pay, Mr Hamence is unable to earn an income while he’s in stuck in quarantine and hasn’t ruled out legal action.
‘I’ve lost at least two weeks of plumbing jobs until I get back to work, which should have been on Monday,’ he said.
He has been in contact with his local federal MP Matt Thistlewaite, who’s lobbying the Victorian government on their behalf and as ask for an exemption to be granted.
Mr Hamence also says he’s been repeatedly told by medical staff from Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services they have compassionate grounds to be freed early because of their family situation back home.
‘All we want is for common sense to prevail so we can get the hell out of here and get back home, instead of being held against out will,’ he said.
‘I understand they’re trying to keep coronavirus out of the state but the situation hasn’t been handled the right way.’
Mr Hamence (left) regards himself as a father figure to his partner Jennifer’s children
The pair are among 170 NSW returned travellers taken into quarantine in Melbourne in the last three weeks after an outbreak emerged on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.
Fellow Sydneysiders Dominic Galati, 58, and Zaklina Blazeski, 42, are in a similar situation after they arrived in Melbourne for a weekend business trip on Friday afternoon.
Rather than be sent back to their Sydney home in Millers Point, they were told they must remain in hotel quarantine for 14 days.
The couple were concerned about their lengthy stay because Ms Blazeski has a seven-year-old child in Sydney and does not have her thyroid medication.
‘If they change the rules they should have said you have to go back to Sydney and not enter, basically and that’s what we wanted to do and they didn’t allow us to board the flight,’ Mr Galati told The Australian.
He said the couple were involved in a two-hour stand off after being approached by health officers, who informed the couple their permits were no longer valid.
While in the presence of health officers Mr Galati went online and applied for several new permits.
‘We did the process online and we were granted permits again … so we did it again … so we got six permits again in total allowing us to come into Victoria. They said ‘No, you’re going into quarantine here at the hotel,’ he said.
Ms Blazeski said she did not receive any food or water until seven hours later.
The couple are now planning to launch legal action over the matter.
Clinton and Jennifer have penned a letter explaining their reasons to get back home to Sydney
The DHHS says it has no record of entry permits for Mr Galati and Ms Blazeski, who nominate Sydney as their place of residence.
‘We are proactively reviewing the circumstances of people travelling from NSW to assess whether their mandatory quarantine can be carried out elsewhere,’ a department spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Not everyone will be eligible for this exemption – border closures, quarantine and isolation requirements are based on public health advice and are designed to protect the Victorian community.’
The DHHS is yet to comment on the case of Mr Hamence and his partner.
Victoria has declared Greater Sydney and NSW Central Coast a ‘red zone’, meaning anyone who has visited these communities since December 11 can’t cross the order.
Anyone from these areas in breach of this order will be subject to 14-day mandatory hotel quarantine.
Clinton Hamence (left) and Jennifer Papaconstuntinos (right) now regret their decision to travel to Melbourne for a weekend away
Canberra Raiders star is forced into hotel quarantine with his devastated partner after going on holiday to Covid-riddled NSW days before borders shut – as he compares the conditions to PRISON
An NRL star has vented his fury and publicly pleaded for help after he was ordered into hotel quarantine in Victoria, which he compared to as similar to prison conditions.
Canberra Raiders halfback George Williams and his partner Charlotte Lewis are holed up in a Melbourne hotel for 14 days isolation after flying in from the nation’s capital on Monday.
The couple had no idea until they arrived in Melbourne of their fate after they spent two days in Batemans Bay on the New South Wales south coast last week.
Victoria has closed its borders to NSW as both states battle fresh coronavirus outbreaks.
NRL star George Williams and his partner Charlotte Lewis spent two days in Batemans Bay last week, which has landed them in hotel quarantine after flying to Melbourne on Monday. They’re pictured enjoying a night at the fair in Batemans Bay last week
The couple had gone on holiday to Batemans Bay from December 28 to December 30, before travelling to the ACT with the intention of flying back to Melbourne on January 3.
The England-born NRL star, 26, explained the couple checked several times with the Canberra airport beforehand and were informed they were fine to fly back to Victoria.
He took to social media to express his outrage at the situation, which he urged everyone to share.
Williams also uploaded photos of his detention notice and distraught partner in distress while sitting on her luggage.
‘As we landed in Victoria, the rules had now changed literally within an hour of leaving so we had to go straight into mandatory hotel quarantine for two weeks,’ Williams posted.
‘The detention notice states interstate hot or red zone arrivals, which Batemans Bay or ACT is neither so that’s false.
‘This is something we and other ACT travellers was not aware of and there are many in the same situation as on the same Virgin Australia flight who can’t understand this at all, again the airline at Canberra Airport that told us we was safe to travel without any restrictions.’
The state closed its borders to NSW on New Year’s Eve as the state battled a fresh Covid outbreak, with any travellers returning after 11.59pm on January 1 required to enter hotel quarantine.
The NRL star and his partner (pictured) were unaware they would have to go into hotel quarantine when they arrived in Melbourne on Monday
George Williams and his partner Charlotte (pictured on Christmas Day) have been forced into quarantine
Williams also shared an insight into their first night of hotel quarantine, where he described the conditions as similar to prison.
‘The rooms are very small with a window you cannot open meaning fresh air is unavailable to us for two weeks,’ he posted.
‘We are not even allowed to leave the room?! Sorry but criminals all get one hour a day fresh air or out of their cell. HOW IS THIS FAIR? This is wrong. Help!’
He ended the lengthy post with the hashtag #freeus.