Hot spot arrivals into the NT to be forced into supervised quarantine at own cost
PEOPLE who arrive in the Territory from identified coronavirus hot spots will be forced to spend 14 days in supervised quarantine at their own cost, Chief Minister Michael Gunner has announced.
Northern Territory
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PEOPLE who arrive in the Territory from identified coronavirus hot spots will be forced to spend 14 days in supervised quarantine at their own cost, Chief Minister Michael Gunner has announced.
Speaking at a press conference today, Mr Gunner said arrivals from hot spot areas anywhere in Australia will not only still be required to undergo quarantine after July 17, but will have to do so at the Howard Springs quarantine facility or another approved facility elsewhere in the Territory.
The cost per person for supervised quarantine will be $2500.
“From the 17th of July, when our border arrangements shift to focus on hot spots, we will implement the toughest quarantine system we have had in the Territory since this crisis began,” he said.
“If there are arrivals from hot spots, they will be put into mandatory supervised quarantine, not self-quarantine.
“For most arrivals, people who fly into Darwin, this will mean they will undertake their 14-day quarantine at the Howard Springs facility. For others, in other parts of the Territory, they will quarantine in inspected, certified and supervised accommodation.”
He also said people in supervised quarantine would have to do a COVID-19 test before leaving, and will have 10 days added to their quarantine if they refused.
Travel exemptions for any reason will not be granted to anyone from a hotspot.
“If you are from a hot spot, don’t bother asking for an exemption or a special plan, because the answer from Dr Heggie will be ‘No’,” Mr Gunner said.
“You shouldn’t be coming here in the first place.”
Mr Gunner also said as of July 17, people who were partway through their 14 days quarantine who had not arrived in the NT from coronavirus hot spots would be able to go free.
When questioned about whether Mr Gunner trusts people to tell the truth about travelling through a hot spot, he said people who lie on a statutory declatation could spend “three years in a prison cell.”
NT Chief Health Officer Dr Hugh Heggie said “rapid response teams”, comprising of a range of different public health practitioners, were in place if parts of the Territory needed to be locked down because of an outbreak.
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