Reporter receives ‘confusing’, conflicting advice on home quarantine

A journalist who travelled back to Melbourne with her young family from Wollongong on New Year’s Eve says she was given the incorrect advice about the need to quarantine at home.

Senior reporter at The Age, Henrietta Cook, applied for a permit to return home after Wollongong was re-classified as a red zone.

The permit clearly stated they needed to quarantine at home.

“The next morning we got up and went to The Alfred for a test, and the nurse said you are fine you don’t need to quarantine for 14 days, you just need to quarantine until you get your negative test result,” she told Heidi Murphy on 3AW Drive.

They questioned the advice with numerous DHHS officials, and were advised they were free to leave their apartment once their results were negative.

“I think there was perhaps some confusion because there’s all these different groups coming back from NSW.”

Eventually they were told the advice they had been given was incorrect, after questioning numerous times.

“It was the most confusing series of advice from health officials, and hard to get your head around and figure out what the right thing to do is,” Ms Cook said.

“My concern is that a lot of people may have been told incorrect advice, and are walking the streets when they should be at home undertaking home quarantine.

“I was contacted by quite a few people after writing that story who had received similar conflicting advice.”

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