NT borders to still reopen on July 17 despite virus spike in Victoria
THE date for reopening the Territory’s borders will not change despite concerns about a spike in coronavirus cases in Victoria, Chief Minister Michael Gunner says.
Northern Territory
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THE date for reopening the Territory’s borders will not change despite concerns about a spike in coronavirus cases in Victoria.
Nineteen new cases were diagnosed in Victoria on Sunday and 25 on Saturday, with Premier Daniel Andrews reimposing tougher restrictions as a result.
At a press conference today, Chief Minister Michael Gunner said he was confident Victoria would be able to control the increase and said the date for reopening the Territory’s borders – July 17 – would not change.
“I have confidence from our conversations in National Cabinet through the AHPPC about what Victoria is doing they’re taking their responsibility seriously and treating those hot spots seriously,” he said.
“So for me, I’ve got confidence in their approach.”
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Mr Gunner said his government “deliberately took two replication cycles” — the reproduction cycle of a virus — to allow any changes in cases interstate to settle.
“That was the advice given to me about how we handle this and it is a long time for us to be able to monitor and see this trend down,” he said.
“That is my expectation, as a nation we’ve done a really good job on crushing corona. I think that will continue. Victoria has shown that we take this seriously and they will do hard measures locally.”
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Mr Gunner said the Territory was well-prepared for any local outbreaks, which included the establishment of 31 testing centres across the NT.
“Test, trace and trap means that if coronavirus ever comes to the Northern Territory, we will lock it down hard,” he said.
“No matter where it’s found, we will go to a localised lockdown.”
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