No exemption for NT family with medical issues quarantining in Howard Springs facility

A DARWIN mum, who had to join her three underage children — two of whom have medical issues — in Howard Springs quarantine when they were evacuated from their boarding school, had hoped for a medical exemption. But ... no such luck

Liam, Cadel and Ethan Da Costa have been in the Howard Springs quarantine facility since Monday. Picture: Vanessa Farmer

A MOTHER, who had to join her three underage children in Howard Springs quarantine after they were evacuated from their Adelaide boarding school, remains in high spirits.

However, Darwin resident Vanessa Farmer said she was hoping an exemption could be made, given two of her sons had ADHD.

Passengers from Adelaide have entered quarantine in Darwin. Picture: Che Chorley

Upon hearing news her children would be returning from South Australia and heading straight for quarantine on Monday, Ms Farmer packed her bags and put her life on hold to join them.

While they were able to avoid paying $10,000 for the four of them to quarantine, her boys’ medical condition had raised a few issues, with the boys not coping well with enclosed spaces – but they were making the most of it.

“One of my boys was out of medication as we arrived,” she said.

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“We’re getting someone from medical to go to the chemist and get a script so we got that sorted … (but) he’s grumpy, he gets angry from time to time, but it is what it is.

“We’ve tried to do some online learning. Unusually for the boys I’m not restricting their screen time – it’s open slather.”

Ms Farmer said she was hoping a medical exemption would be made for her and her children, but she was aware workers at the facility had their hands full and were not expecting the volume of people they had received in the past few days.

But for the meantime, she said her family was surviving in quarantine and couldn’t complain too much.

“They gave us some children’s packs, the Wi-Fi is pretty good, we saw Darwin had their power issues (on Wednesday) and we have had none of those problems, we’ve been fully airconditioned” she said.

“We can’t complain. We’ve been fed three times a day and the staff are doing the best they can.”

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Secure NT said for privacy reasons it would not comment on the situation of individuals.

Originally published as No exemption for NT family with medical issues quarantining in Howard Springs facility