In her report tabled to the Victorian Parliament on Thursday, Glass urged the state government to apologise to residents for the impact the immediate detention had on their health and wellbeing while the rest of the state had the chance to prepare for restrictions. “Many residents knew nothing of the lockdown or the reason for it when large numbers of police appeared on their estate that afternoon,” Glass said. “We heard that initially there was chaos. Some people were without food and medicines. At the tower at 33 Alfred St, the focus of the investigation, residents waited more than a week to be allowed outside under supervision for fresh air.
The lockdown lasted five days at eight of the nine towers but because of high infection rates, residents at 33 Alfred Street, North Melbourne, were subject to another nine days of isolation â prompting Ms Glassâ investigation.
Khalid Farah, a resident at 33 Alfred Street, said everyone in the towers supported the lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
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âIt was the way in which it was handled,â he said.
âWe all deserve to be treated like human beings, regardless of whatever is going on in the world.â
Mr Farah said he wanted an apology but more importantly he wanted the government to bring in legislation so that the same thing would never happen again.
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