Calls for Victorian arrivals to be put into strict quarantine in NT immediately, instead of waiting
NT HEALTH organisations and Aboriginal bodies are demanding all travellers from Victoria be forced into mandatory quarantine in the Northern Territory, effective immediately
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NT HEALTH organisations and Aboriginal bodies are demanding all travellers from Victoria be forced into mandatory quarantine in the Northern Territory, effective immediately.
The Territory is the only jurisdiction where arrivals from the coronavirus-ravaged state aren’t either sent back home or put into enforced hotel lockdown.
Chief Minister Michael Gunner on Wednesday announced Victoria would be deemed a hotspot, meaning anyone who has been in that state in the past 28 days must go into lockdown for 14 days at a government-run facility or secure hotel at their own expense from July 17.
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In contrast, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced today that all Victorians will be completely banned from entering the Sunshine State when it reopens its borders tomorrow, not even to go into hotel quarantine at their own expense.
“From noon, July 10, visitors from Victoria will no longer gain access or be able to quarantine in Queensland. They will be turned around,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
Speaking on Mix 104.9 today Australian Medical Association NT president Dr Robert Parker and Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance NT CEO John Paterson both called for all Victorians coming into the Territory to immediately be placed into mandatory supervised quarantine.
Dr Parker said the Gunner Government was risking an outbreak in the Territory by failing to take the Victoria outbreak seriously enough.
“Trusting people to do the right thing is obviously having problems,” said Dr Parker.
“This is a very dangerous bug and obviously with the major spike in Victoria, we have to be incredibly careful with letting high risk populations into the territory with our very vulnerable indigenous populations.”
NT Aboriginal bodies, including the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress and the Northern Land Council, also say the new measures Mr Gunner has announced should be enforced immediately in light of self-isolation breaches in the NT since June 15.
Police have handed out at least 50 fines since June 15 after catching people breaching self-isolation rules.
Mr Gunner said he was “open” to bringing back forced quarantine for hotspot arrivals before July 17.
Authorities are currently preparing the Howard Springs centre and the Ross Facility in Alice Springs for forced quarantine arrivals.
The military has been called in to secure the border between Victoria and South Australia and NSW to prevent people coming through, while anyone travelling from Victoria into Tasmania without a valid reason from today will be put on the first flight back.
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Victoria recorded 134 new cases of coronavirus yesterday, with seven COVID-19 patients in intensive care.
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