Australia hotel quarantine blood-testing error means hundreds asked to take HIV test

Police and Protective Services officers stand in the foyer of a quarantine hotel 

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Almost 300 people who went through a scandal-hit hotel quarantine system in Victoria must be screened for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C due to fears of cross-contamination from the incorrect use of blood glucose test devices.

Several of the test devices, which take small samples of blood from the fingertip, were used on multiple people in quarantine in Australia between 29 March and 20 August, despite being intended for repeated use by one person.

Needles in the device were changed after each use, but it is possible microscopic traces of blood remaining within the machine created a clinical risk of cross-contamination and infection.

Melbourne’s quarantine hotels were previously identified as a hotbed for coronavirus infections, with the state of Victoria launching a judicial inquiry into the programme after alleged breaches emerged. 

These include accusations against hotel guards for having sex with guests during quarantine, as well claims that security personnel wore the same PPE for up to eight hours, according to the Herald Sun. 

Over 50 cases of the coronavirus have so far been linked to the city’s failed hotel quarantine. 

The state’s healthcare quality and safety agency, Safer Care Victoria, said there is no risk of Covid-19 being spread by the glucose tests as the disease is not bloodborne.

General practitioner Dr George Crisp told the Telegraph that similar machines can be used repeatedly with no danger to patients if used correctly.

“It depends on the specific device being used,” he said. "We use one in our practice, the same machine over and over again but we use a different test strip. If you take the blood with a disposable strip it doesn’t go back into the machine afterwards. With the correct procedure there should be no risk to patients."

Dr Crisp added that transmission of HIV and hepatitis C is low risk, but said: “Hepatitis B on the other hand is highly transmissible".

"It is a very different virus to hepatitis C. The risk is more likely about the transmission of hepatitis B, but I am curious as it what they were doing to put people at risk.

“Medical practices around the country use machines like this every day without putting people at risk. The risk is likely tiny, but there must have been a break in infection control.”

Over 50 cases of the coronavirus have so far been linked to the city's failed hotel quarantine

Credit: Shutterstock

Victorian health minister Martin Foley said there was currently no evidence of anyone being infected, but the breach was identified by nurses at the Alfred hospital in August, leading to the examination of 28,000 medical records to identify all those people potentially at risk.

In a statement issued by Safer Care Victoria, a spokesperson said they have identified 243 people who had been tested by one of the shared machines during the timeframe in question who will be contacted for screening.

Premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, said “Safer Care Victoria have made some announcements in relation to a clinical error that was made some time ago, very low risk, but you can’t take any risks with these things”.

“You have to follow them up properly and that’s exactly what has happened,” he told a media conference on Tuesday.