Wilson F1, Watson J2, Cox R3, Evans A4, Grace E5, Reid T6, Ratcliff A7
1 Public Health Services, GPO Box 125 Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, fiona.wilson1@health.tas.gov.au
2 Public Health Services, GPO Box 125 Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, Juanita.watson@health.tas.gov.au
3 Nursing and Midwifery Clinical Quality, Regulation & Accreditation, 7/22 Elizabeth St, Hobart, 7000, raul.cox@health.tas.gov.au
4 Public Health Services, GPO Box 125 Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, alison.evans@health.tas.gov.au
5Ambulance Tasmania, 1-5 Melville St, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, ellie.grace@ambulance.tas.gov.au
6 Public Health Services, GPO Box 125 Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, tanya.reid@health.tas.gov.au
7 Public Health Services, GPO Box 125 Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, alison.ratcliff@ths..tas.gov.au
The Tasmanian Infection Prevention and Control Unit (TIPCU) worked as part of a larger team in Tasmania managing the quarantine process that was put in place due to COVID-19. This disparate team of Government administrators, hotel management, hotel staff, private security firms, biosecurity personnel, airport workers, bus drivers, police and the Australian Defence Force worked together to prevent the incursion of COVID-19 into Tasmania. Numerous challenges arose but TIPCU used them as lessons in how to adapt healthcare focused infection prevention and control principles and practices to non-healthcare settings and events that occurred in the quarantine process. These spanned airports to hotels, to organising smoking and exercise breaks for people in quarantine, meal deliveries, environmental cleaning and arrests. Our involvement in this process highlighted the importance of active listening, communication and building rapport to ensure we could implement safe and effective infection prevention and control practices across the quarantine spectrum.