Covid 19 coronavirus: Victoria quarantine left couple 'humiliated'

A Melbourne couple in quarantine were disheartened to find that only one of them was listed as a resident, after they had been begging the hotel for food.

A couple in hotel quarantine in Victoria were forced to call and beg for more food every day, until they realised only one of them was listed as staying there.

A couple in quarantine at Melbourne's Pan Pacific Hotel were forced to call "three times a day" for more food, until they realised on day 10 of their stay that only one of them was listed as staying in the room.

Kaan Ofli and his partner returned to Melbourne on April 9 and the couple were shuttled to their hotel and placed in the one room.

For 10 days, they received only one meal between them for breakfast lunch and dinner, and would have to call reception and then the Department of Health to beg for more.

"It was one meal we were receiving, one piece of fruit," he said.

"We weren't getting bottles of water or anything like that, we were told to drink from the basin."

Mr Ofli said he and his partner would take turns calling to ask for more, and said they were "embarrassed" to ask.

"We found it humiliating to have to call and plead for the basics," he said.

"It was really disheartening."

Each morning, the couple received a call from one of the nurses working in the hotel to check if they had been experiencing symptoms of coronavirus.

The couple took turns answering, so nurses had spoken to both Mr Ofli and his partner.

"On the 10th day it was the same call asking for symptoms, and it was my partner who answered the call," he told the inquiry.

"She said 'no we don't have any symptoms', and the nurse said 'what do you mean by we?'."

"(My partner) was like 'well there's two of us in here', and the nurse said 'I've only got you in the system'.

Mr Ofli told the inquiry everyone was asked to fill out a dietary form upon arriving at the hotel. He had requested halal food for religious reasons, and his partner had indicated she was allergic to peanuts and dairy.

Upon realising he had not been registered to his room, Mr Ofli said he also realised the meat he had eaten while in quarantine was not halal.

In his submission to the inquiry, he said the couple had initially thought there was a food shortage at the hotel, so it was "a shock" to realise he had not been eating what he thought he was eating.

On his third day in hotel quarantine, occupants at the Pan Pacific were given access to fresh air walks.

Mr Ofli told the inquiry he had asked a guard what had changed, and was advised these breaks had been made allowed after a hotel guest committed suicide.