Hoop in shock at lack of security

VICTORIAN jockey Anthony Darmanin was surprised by the absence of health and safety protocols when he returned home to Melbourne on Friday after Tasmanian racing was shut down by the State Government last Thursday.

What shocked Darmanin was the lack of security and scrutiny in the process of flying from one state to another.

“I arrived at the Launceston airport and nobody asked me anything about my travel arrangements and I was not temperature-tested or asked any questions about whether I had been in contact with anyone who may have been infected with the coronavirus,” Darmanin said from Melbourne.

He boarded a Qantas flight on Saturday morning without anyone questioning him why he was leaving the state and there was no questionnaire to fill in while on the flight.

“The plane was about threequarters full and when we all departed the plane there was no security or officials there to ask questions — we were just free to head to baggage collection and once we collected our bags we were free to go wherever we liked. I collected my bags and made my way to the taxi rank and headed home to self-isolate for 14 days.

“I am just amazed that there was nobody there to at least tell us what we were required to do. Maybe not everyone on the plane knew they had to self-isolate and who knows if any one of them had the virus.

“I was even prepared to be taken aside and be escorted to a hotel room to isolate for 14 days, but there was not an official in sight.”

Darmanin and Craig Newitt were the two jockeys involved in a coronavirus scare two weeks ago that caused the suspension of a race meeting in Launceston. They were placed in isolation because they had come into contact with Victorian rider Mark Zahra, who was notified by NSW Health that a passenger he was close to on a flight from Sydney to Melbourne had subsequently tested positive to coronavirus.

Zahra’s COVID-19 test came back negative so the Tasmanian riders were cleared and the industry heaved a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived because Tasmania had only one more race meeting before being shut down last Thursday.