A man in Western Australia used a rope made from bedsheets to escape mandatory quarantine in Perth under Covid-19 rules to avoid going back to Queensland.
After arriving in the west-coast city on a flight from Brisbane, the 39-year old had his application for entry refused under existing pandemic restrictions, Reuters said.
The man was told to leave the state within 48 hours and as part of protocols, he was taken to Rivervale Hotel for temporary isolation.
Then, according to Western Australia Police in a Facebook post, "he climbed out a fourth floor window and escaped down a rope made of bedsheets" in the early hours of Tuesday, before fleeing.
Police arrested the man across town around eight hours later, and charged him with failure to comply with direction and providing false and misleading information, reports said.
| NEW: Australian Man escapes hotel quarantine using bed sheets tied from fourth-floor window
- WA Police pic.twitter.com/0fzcMlY004 — News For All (@NewsForAllUK) July 20, 2021
They did not disclose the man's identity except to say he tested negative for Covid-19, nor did they give a reason for his alleged actions.
Early this month, a woman was accused of climbing down two hotel balconies and kicking in a door to escape quarantine in the north-east city of Cairns.
Australia has been seeing an increase in infections because of the Delta variant. Three states in Australia have enforced a lockdown to contain the spread of the virus.
Western Australia has carried out strict travel restrictions for people arriving from South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria as part of efforts to stop the spread of the virus.
Free travel is allowed between West Australia and Tasmania, New Zealand and the Northern Territory.
Australia has recorded 1,360 active cases and 915 deaths as of Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins University's tracker.
