Truck loaded with ‘hazardous’ bins as travellers leave Sydney coronavirus quarantine hotel 

Cleaning out a makeshift coronavirus quarantine camp: Truck is loaded with ‘hazardous’ bins as the last returning travellers finish their two weeks of self-isolation in a Sydney hotel

  • Disposal workers have started grisly process of cleaning out a quarantine hotel
  • Dozens of bins marked for hazardous waste were seen being loaded onto a truck
  • The Merchant Hotel in Sydney’s inner-west has housed travellers with COVID-19
  • Hotel also took in those who have symptoms of virus or cannot isolate at home 
  • Learn more about how to help people impacted by COVID

Disposal workers have started the difficult process of cleaning out a hotel which was being used to self-isolate returned travellers with the coronavirus.

Dozens of garbage bins marked for hazardous waste were seen being loaded onto a truck outside The Merchant Hotel in Sydney’s inner-west on Wednesday morning. 

The hotel in Summer Hill has accommodated overseas arrivals who either have COVID-19, have symptoms of the virus or cannot isolate at home.

Disposal workers have begun the task of cleaning out a hotel in Sydney which used as quarantine for returned travellers suffering from the coronavirus

A masked worker wearing gloves oversaw the operation at the The Merchant Hotel in Sydney's inner-west on Wednesday morning

A masked worker wearing gloves oversaw the operation at the The Merchant Hotel in Sydney’s inner-west on Wednesday morning

The hotel - which has looked after overseas arrivals who either have COVID-19, have symptoms of the virus or cannot isolate at home - has been under police guard to ensure those isolated there do not leave. Pictured: Police van outside hotel

The hotel – which has looked after overseas arrivals who either have COVID-19, have symptoms of the virus or cannot isolate at home – has been under police guard to ensure those isolated there do not leave. Pictured: Police van outside hotel

The hotel has been staffed by registered nurses who can refer those in isolation to more intensive care in hospital if their condition worsens

The hotel has been staffed by registered nurses who can refer those in isolation to more intensive care in hospital if their condition worsens

A NSW Police van was also pictured outside the front door of the hotel – which has been under police guard to ensure those isolated there do not leave.  

It is one of five hotels turned into a makeshift hospitals in New South Wales to isolate coronavirus sufferers without burdening emergency departments.

Dozens of garbage bins marked for hazardous waste were seen being loaded onto a truck outside

Dozens of garbage bins marked for hazardous waste were seen being loaded onto a truck outside

Guests are provided with three meals each day and must stay in their rooms – as with the standard required 14-day hotel quarantine for international travellers in Australia.

The hotels are staffed by nurses from the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, who can refer those in isolation to more intensive care if their condition worsens.

NSW Health chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said the hospitals were ideal for coronavirus patients needing minimal care.

‘We recognise that sometimes if you’ve been a contact of a case, you then are required to self-isolate at home,’ she said.

‘We know not everyone lives in a circumstance where they’ve got a separate bathroom and separate bedroom so, in those cases, the options are the other person in the household goes out and stays with someone else or that person is put in a hotel.’

A spokesperson for Suez, who handled the clean-up at The Merchant Hotel, declined to give details on Wednesday’s operation. 

Daily Mail Australia has contacted NSW Health for comment. 

Pictured: Returned travellers at the Travelodge in central Sydney on April 12. Overseas arrivals must quarantine for two weeks to stop the spread of the coronavirus

Pictured: Returned travellers at the Travelodge in central Sydney on April 12. Overseas arrivals must quarantine for two weeks to stop the spread of the coronavirus

The Australian Government introduced strict quarantine laws on March 30 mandating that all international arrivals enter isolation hotels for two weeks to ensure anyone with the virus does not infect the community.

The new rules came into force after it was discovered two-thirds of the national infections at the time came from overseas. 

More than 7,000 international travellers have undergone 14 days of quarantine in Sydney hotels.

 

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