Chief Minister says Territory will lock itself down for a minimum six months

THE Territory will lock itself down for at least six months to prevent the spread of coronavirus ... ‘IF you don’t want to be locked in a room, if you don’t want to pay a massive bill, it’s simple: don’t come, stay away!’ — MICHAEL GUNNER

NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner ... ‘If you don’t want to be locked in a room, if you don’t want to pay a massive bill, it’s simple: don’t come, stay away!’ Picture: Glenn Campbell

THE Territory will be under lockdown for at least six months to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).

Chief Minister Michael Gunner said that although measures to protect the NT against coronavirus were performing well, he refused to let the Territory become complacent.

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“We’ve been working to a six-month timeline for a while now,” he said.

“What worries me is people taking what has been a good result in the NT, because we acted fast, we got ahead of this, to be some sign that we might be able to relax. We cannot be complacent here.

“It only takes one person for there to be community transmission and a cluster.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner will provide an update about coronavirus in the Northern Territory.

Posted by The NT News on Thursday, 2 April 2020

“We’ve seen in very recent days what’s happened in the Kimberly, in a remote part of Western Australia.

“We cannot – we have to remain tough and vigilant on this for six months at least and I want to assure Territorians that I will do whatever it takes, and that includes doing it for as long as it takes.”

He said since Monday arrivals to the Territory had plummeted by 75 per cent compared to last Sunday.

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“To give you an idea, over the last 24 hours just 11 people came down the Stuart Hwy,” he said.

“Just 11 on the Barkly (Hwy), none on the Buntine (Hwy), none on the Tanami (Hwy). That tough message, our tough measures, are working.

“From midnight tonight we are getting even tougher. If you come to the Territory, we’ll put you in a room, we’ll keep you there and then we will give you the bill.

“If you don’t want to be locked in a room, if you don’t want to pay a massive bill, it’s simple: don’t come, stay away!”

NT Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker said efforts to monitor travel by road would be amped up through technology, including automatic number plate recognition along back roads.

“The use of automatic number plate recognition will be able to give us an alert which we’ll then be able to allow us to guide our resources more effectively,” he said.

“So as opposed to being permanently locked down on some of those back roads that we know ordinarily are very low use, we can actually have technology assisting us, and then we can have a welcoming party for any of those choosing to go that way to face the appropriate sanction.”