Politics

Turns Out Victoria’s Second Wave Of COVID-19 Wasn’t Caused By Horny Security Guards

It looks like rumours of the "horny security guards" were started as a joke

by Rachael Conaghan  14 August 2020
security guard covid-19 victoria

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“Patient zero” for Victoria’s second wave of coronavirus has been identified, and turns out it’s not a horny security guard.

In fact, it appears the salacious story that accused guards of spreading the virus across Melbourne after having sex with people in hotel quarantine is just that — a story.

There’s no debate that Victoria’s hotel quarantine program has been a huge disaster, with an inquiry currently investigating the quarantine breaches that took place. The decision to use private security guards — who were allegedly poorly trained in infection control, given inadequate PPE, and didn’t enforce social distancing — has been heavily criticised.

But according to leaked emails seen by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, it wasn’t a security guard who first caught the virus — it was a night duty manager at one of Melbourne’s busiest quarantine hotels.

On May 25 the night manager at Rydges on Swanston reported they had a fever, and late the next day hotel employees were told they’d tested positive.

It is presumed the employee caught it from a returned traveller, although it’s not known how they became infected. Sources told The Age and The Herald that a “green zone” that was supposed to be safe may not have been suitable to prevent cross-contamination.

After the positive result, seven security guards who were patrolling the hotel were stood down and told to isolate and get tested, as were a small number of hotel staff and health workers. Five of those guards returned positive tests, but it was too late — they spread the virus to their families in Melbourne’s northern and western suburbs, sparking the second wave.

According to The Age officials mistakenly reported that a security guard was the first positive test, but a senior official later corrected this and confirmed it was a hotel employee.

This all begs the questions — where did the rumour about security guards having sex with people in quarantine come from?

Back in July screenshots began circulating on Twitter which supposedly showed a Grindr conversation between a guard and someone in quarantine. Journalists were able to debunk it as a joke between friends.

Regardless, the story was picked up by other outlets and went viral.

People are now criticising media outlets for spreading the story without proper fact-checking.

A Rydges spokesperson said in a statement to Junkee that their employee who tested positive for COVID-19 did not spread the virus to colleagues or family members.

“Rydges on Swanston has been closed to guests since 27 March 2020 and has been operating under the direction of the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions (DJPR) and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) as a Quarantine Hotel, at the request of the Victorian Government,” they confirmed.

“While it has been widely reported in the media [on Friday] that a staff member tested positive on 25 May, 2020, we wish to clarify that colleagues and family contacts of the staff member all tested negative, with the staff member isolating immediately upon getting tested.

“Rydges on Swanston is fully supportive of the Judicial Inquiry into the Hotel Quarantine Program and is currently assisting the Inquiry with its investigations. We look forward to clarification around the source of infection as the Inquiry findings are presented.”

Victoria’s inquiry into hotel quarantine is expected to report by November.