By Mitchell Clarke
A grieving family’s approved request to leave hotel quarantine in South Australia to attend a loved ones funeral has been cancelled with no notice or explanation.
Daniel, surname withheld, has spent 14 days in an Adelaide hotel quarantining with his wife and two kids after being granted an exemption to travel into South Australia on compassionate grounds.
The Berwick family had approval from SA Health to say goodbye to Daniel’s father, who was terminally ill, but he sadly passed away as the family were finalising their application.
South Australia Police had given the family an exemption to leave quarantine to attend the funeral, according to Daniel’s wife, who did not wish to be identified.
“Driving over and being approached at the border, the police looked over our file and said it’s all good,” she said.
“We tried getting in contact with SA Health numerous times to confirm with them what would be happening on the funeral day with the police escort, but we never heard back from them,” she explained.
On the sixth day of their quarantine stint at the Pullman hotel, and after no response from the Health Department, the family were informed their exemption had been cancelled.
“It’s just heartless. I can’t explain our emotions. We were so distraught. It’s hard enough grieving such a loss to also have to go through such a challenge,” Daniel’s wife explained.
“The kids have just cried. They keep saying they’re ‘sick of the all disappointments’.
“My husband was livid, but we can’t do anything. He hasn’t even had a chance to grieve yet because he’s dealing with all of this. It’s hard enough to lose your father, but to not be able to attend his funeral is unjust.”
The family had been planning to head over to Adelaide prior to his passing, but didn’t have a spare $6000 to splurge on the compulsory accommodation.
“It’s been hard. We’re not wealthy people, we’re just everyday, working people, so we don’t have a spare $6000 lying around,” she added.
The family sought assistance from La Trobe MP Jason Wood and Gembrook MP Brad Battin, who both pleaded their case to Federal and South Australian authorities.
But Mr Battin said further attempts to grant an exemption failed.
He said similar incidents, most recently in Queensland but now in South Australia, had appeared to put the economy before compassion.
“It makes me sick that they make exemptions when it comes down to money, but not for someone saying goodbye to their dad,” he said.
“I understand rules and protecting communities and I understand South Australia’s model of not wanting to have Victorians come in, but there needs to be compassion, and there hasn’t been here.
“A son should never have to miss the funeral of his father. To me, that just defies logic, and it defies humanity.”
Daniel even suggested attending the outdoor burial of his father alone under police escort, while also being dressed in PPE, but the request was still denied.
Thankfully, and only due to flexibility from the funeral parlour, the funeral was able to be shifted to the day the family leave quarantine.
“We wanted to say goodbye to him as early as possible. It’s been almost three weeks and we didn’t want the family to have to grieve even longer,” Daniel’s wife added.
“SA Health should be looking after people, but they haven’t done that at all here.
“We are very frustrated and feel there needs to be major changes to the health system. They are less concerned about our health and more so about potential disease getting out in the community – even though we were tested negative.”
The Gazette has attempted to contact SA Health.
