Home quarantine changes for NT travellers as Territory bans non-vaccinated arrivals
Travellers will need to be fully vaccinated to travel to the NT, with home quarantine starting Monday but being abolished before Christmas. HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW.
Northern Territory
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UPDATE: TRAVEL into the Northern Territory will be overhauled from Monday, with a reliance rapid antigen testing, a new traffic-light system and home quarantine for Darwin and Alice Springs.
Hailing the success of the home quarantine trial, Chief Minister Michael Gunner said arrivals from both interstate and overseas Covid-19 hotspots would be able to quarantine for just seven days.
Participants will be tested at regular intervals before, during and after quarantine, with housemates able to attend work and go about life.
Home quarantine will be available in Greater Darwin and Alice Springs at first, with participants required to be fully vaccinated, have adequate 4G mobile reception and use the Good2Go app.
A red-orange-green traffic light system would replace the existing hotspot system.
Bringing forward dates for the abolition of interstate quarantine, Mr Gunner also effectively slammed the Territory’s door shut on the unvaccinated.
“If you’re eligible to be vaccinated, and you are not fully vaccinated, you are no longer welcome in the Territory, no matter where you are coming from,” he said.
The changes to the home quarantine system come after a 40 day trial which Mr Gunner said had “gone well”.
“It has reinforced for us that while these people are coming from high risk areas, because they are fully vaccinated (and having) regular tests, the risk can be well managed and the risk after the first week is negligible,” Mr Gunner said.
“Covid testing is our best weapon the defence and Territory pilot program has taught us so long as arrivals from red zones are fully vaccinated, get tested before they come here and get tested again after they arrived here, the risk of spread in the Territory is very low.”
From Monday, rapid antigen testing will be stood up at all major Territory airports.
Travellers in home isolation will also be tested on day five, eight and 14 after arrival.
Home quarantine would then be abolished on December 20, five days before Christmas, with rapid antigen testing to screen arrivals.
“There will still be a testing regime in place for random red zones, but home quarantine will end a month ahead of the plan and five days before Christmas,” Mr Gunner said.
Parap resident Kate Nichols said the changes to quarantine gave her enough confidence to immediately book flights to visit her family in Sydney.
“I didn’t think I could go home for Christmas but since the rules have changed, now I can,” Ms Nichols said.
“It’s a great surprise.
“It will be great to be able to see friends and family and have a swim at the beach.”
EARLIER: TRAVELLERS arriving in the NT will be required to be fully vaccinated, regardless of where they’re coming from.
And under current plans, home quarantine will end before Christmas, on December 20.
The announcements come under a raft of new rules Chief Minister Michael Gunner has revealed.
In a press conference, Mr Gunner said he would not allow the Territory to be put at risk by non-vaccinated or partially vaccinated people.
The changes to the home quarantine system come after a 40 day trial which Mr Gunner said had “gone well”.
“It has reinforced for us that while these people are coming from high risk areas, because they are fully vaccinated (and having) regular tests, the risk can be well managed and the risk after the first week is negligible,” Mr Gunner said.
“Covid testing is our best weapon the defense and Territory pilot program has taught us so long as arrivals from red zones are fully vaccinated, get tested before they come here and get tested again after they arrived here, the risk of spread in the Territory is very low.”
From Monday, rapid antigen testing will be stood up at all major Territory airports.
Fully vaccinated travellers from red zones will be able to undertake seven days of home quarantine, provided they have returned a negative PCR test within 72 hours of coming to the Territory and they take a rapid antigen test on arrival.
They’ll then have to home-quarantine for seven days in either Darwin or Alice Springs.
Those travellers will then be tested on day 5, then on day 8 after finishing quarantine. They’ll then be tested for a final time on day 14 and are not allowed to leave the high vaccination zone until after that test comes back negative.
In other changes to the home quarantine program, other people staying in the home will not have to be tested as well.
Come December 20, Mr Gunner said there would be no more home quarantine.
“Every single person that comes to the Territory will get a rapid test done when they arrive and because of that, we will no longer require fully vaccinated arrivals from red zones to quarantine,” he said.
“There will still be a testing regime in place for random red zones, but home quarantine will end a month ahead of the plan and five days before Christmas.
“I know some people will say this is weakening our protection. That’s wrong.
“By the end of the year, the only people allowed to enter the Territory will be people who are fully vaccinated, who get tested as soon as they arrive. That is strong. That is safe.”
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