Global construction company Multiplex has been selected to build the COVID-19 quarantine hub in Mickleham.
The hub, proposed for a site on Donnybrook Road by the state government in April and approved by the federal government last month, will contain 1000 beds with the first 500 to be in use by the end of the year.
The hub was proposed as an addition to hotel quarantine for containing the coronavirus, which has shut down Victoria for the fifth time due to an incursion from New South Wales.
Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said the Centre for National Resilience, as it will be called, would create additional quarantine capacity for the state and enhance the medium and long-term capability to respond to future emergencies and crises.
“This is another step in our ongoing management of the COVID-19 pandemic and increases our ability to continue to safely return travellers into Australia for any ongoing quarantine requirements,” Mr Birmingham said.
“This centre will supplement existing quarantine arrangements during the pandemic and be available to respond to future natural disasters or future health crises in the years to come.
“I thank the Victorian government for the very constructive partnership on this project including the work that has been done with them to design these facilities, and I look forward to activities starting onsite in the coming weeks.”
The centre will be built and owned by the federal government, but operated by the Victorian government for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Mr Birmingham.
The centre will be located next to the existing federal animal quarantine facility.
Its design is informed by public health and infection control experts, according to the state government, and is based on the Howard Springs facility, a cabin-style outdoor accommodation.
The community has voiced its disapproval of the centre being built in Mickleham, with an online petition garnering 1584 signatures since the initial proposal was announced.
Work is expected to begin onsite from early August.
