Two new Covid cases linked to the Holiday Inn were unearthed on Tuesday
It brings the total number of cases associated with the cluster to three
Cases are likely linked to a floor with Covid-positive guests - including the family
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said a nebuliser in one of the rooms is to blame
On Wednesday morning guests were evacuated from the hotel in bin bags
Victorian health authorities have flagged the hotel quarantine cluster could be attributed to a nebuliser used by one of the hotel residents who tested positive to the coronavirus.
The cluster has grown to eight cases; three hotel workers, two returned travellers and a family of three people who were also returned travellers.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton on Wednesday said a man undergoing quarantine was using a nebuliser – which vaporises liquid medication to be inhaled – and some of the vapor escaped up the corridor of his hotel and was able to infect others.
“We think that the exposures are all linked to that event, the use of a nebuliser, which then means that the virus was carried out into the corridor,” he said.
The devices are banned in some Melbourne hospitals due to the risk of infection, with authorities now checking returning travellers to ensure no more nebulisers are brought into quarantine.
The site of the new infections, the Holiday Inn, was shut d
Two new cases linked to the Holiday Inn at Melbourne Airport were unearthed on Tuesday, including a food and beverage worker and an already released returned traveller.