Nebulisers have been banned at NT quarantine facilities as a COVID-19 outbreak in Melbourne suspected to have been caused by the device continues to grow.

February 11, 2021

The Northern Territory has banned the use of nebulisers at quarantine facilities as a Victorian COVID-19 outbreak suspected to have been caused by the medical device continues to grow.

Another worker and the spouses of two other staff members at Melbourne Airport’s Holiday Inn tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday

The cluster now encompasses 11 people with four workers, two staff spouses, two released guests and a family of three – who isolated at the hotel after returning from overseas – all diagnosed with the virus.

NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner says people in quarantine facilities who need to use a nebuliser will be transferred to a hospital.

“They’ll be placed in a negatively pressured room. We have extra disease control processes in hospitals,” he told reporters on Thursday.

“Just to be extra safe post what’s happened in Victoria. This is a cautionary step.”

Victorian health authorities suspect a nebuliser, which vaporises medications into a fine mist, may be to blame for the Melbourne outbreak.

The medical device was not declared by one of the family members, who has an underlying health condition and was taken to intensive care on Tuesday.

The new rule comes a day after NT Chief Health Officer Hugh Heggie added the hotel and the northwest Melbourne suburb of Sunbury to the list of hotspots.

Maidstone, Sunshine and Taylors Lakes were also listed as hotpots on Monday.

The Holiday Inn has been closed until further notice for cleaning as contact tracing continues.

More than 135 hotel staff were stood down and told to get tested and isolate at home for 14 days, while 48 guests were moved to the Pullman Melbourne to quarantine for at least another three days.

Health officials believe the 11 cases associated with the Holiday Inn cluster are all infected with the UK variant of the disease.

The NT has recorded 103 COVID-19 cases. All have been quarantine facilities