Dannii Minogue sparks outcry after she quarantines in a private residence instead of a hotel.
Australian singer and TV presenter Dannii Minogue returned from the Covid-19 hotspot, the United States, with her 10-year-old son, Ethan, over the weekend.
The 48-year-old singer avoided hotel quarantine after flying into Queensland. Instead of paying $2800 for the hotel quarantine bill, she headed straight to the Gold Coast residence with her son.
Australians have been left outraged as other travelers have to pay nearly $3000 for mandatory hotel quarantine upon their return to Australia. The public is claiming the exemption granted to Minogue by the Queensland government is ‘ridiculous and unfair.’
After Covid-19 cases spiked in the state of Victoria, inbound travelers are being forced for hotel quarantine at their own expenses as a measure to prevent the threat of a second wave of the pandemic.
One outraged citizen tweeted:
https://twitter.com/thejimmalo/status/1282587289839779842
Another tweeted:
‘This is wrong… Dannii Minogue should have been put in hotel quarantine just like everyone else who comes to Australia is.’
A similar comment read:
“This is utter BS. Why are the rich and famous exempt? Makes me absolutely sick to my stomach.”
@DanniiMinogue I am disgusted in your get out of jail card, i am stuck in London looking after my dying mum, fighting to save my career as a paramedic in Sydney and can’t go back coz of the 14 day quarantine rule, you however slip through the net. Disgusting!
— wayne smith (@waynesmith999) July 13, 2020
Hitting back to critics, Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young denied giving any special treatment to the sister of pop star Kylie Minogue. She stated that Minogue was exempt from the 14-day hotel quarantine as part of a COVID safe industry plan submitted by an independent third party.”
Young said:
“She has a COVID-safe plan which is being managed by an independent third party. That’s the reason that she got that exemption.”
“There are a number of people who have come under that category I’ve given an exemption to because they have third party arrangements in place, that I’m confident they meet all the requirements that we have in place for hotel quarantine.”
Defense force personnel, consular officials, maritime workers, entertainers, sportspeople, and flight crews are among those who are exempt from mandatory hotel quarantine.
While in the comfort of a luxury property, the 5-foot-2 Minogue and her son will be subject to the same conditions of hotel quarantine until their 14-day quarantine is up. No one is allowed to visit the residence, and the mother and son will be tested for infection multiple times.
Minogue shares her son with her ex, English model Kris Smith, with whom she split in 2012.
The singer is back in Australia to film a reality television show. No evidence suggests that she has breached any COVID-19 restrictions.
