NT Government should mandate patrons leaving contact details at hospitality venues: AMA NT President

PATRONS should be forced to leave contact details at cafes and restaurants, the AMA NT has claimed, to speed up contact tracing in the event of a COVID-19 superspreader event

THE Territory’s peak medical body is calling for the NT government to make leaving contact details at cafes and restaurants mandatory to speed up contact tracing.

AMA NT president Robert Parker also urged the government not to allow travel from metropolitan Melbourne to the Territory until there had been no reported community transmission in two weeks. The request for greater monitoring comes as the Territory prepares to open borders with regional Victoria from this Monday.

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Other states such as New South Wales and Queensland have made it mandatory for patrons to leave their name, address, time of arrival and other details, such as phone number and email address, so contact tracers can rapidly touch base with them in the event someone at the cafe is diagnosed with COVID-19.

The measures are considered the most effective way to stop so-called superspreader events from escalating.

Dr Parker said the measure should be rolled out in the Territory, saying contact tracing was the only way to effectively bring a COVID-19 outbreak under control.

“I think it should be done,” he said. “If you get COVID in that particular location you know who’s been there.”

Holly Smith, a waitress at Shenannigans, showing how people can scan into the popular Darwin watering hole. Picture: Katrina Bridgeford.

Dr Parker also said the NT should only open up to Melbourne travellers “when there’s been two weeks of no community transmission”.

However, Chief Minister Michael Gunner has seemingly rejected the idea, saying he would continue to listen to the Chief Health Officer and his team.

“Over the past seven months there have been a lot of armchair experts bagging their expert advice and our decisions, but each time they have been proven wrong,” Mr Gunner said.

However, he did say the NT government would consider additional measures to track down any new outbreaks.

“We are working on more options right now to help us stay the safest place in Australia.

“This includes new options to help with contact tracing.”

Shenannigans waitress Holly Smith said the popular Mitchell Street watering hole was required to sign in patrons from 10pm.

“It does make me feel safer, and many of the patrons I’ve talked to about it too,” Ms Smith said.

She said Shenannigans’ owners, who also operate venues across the country, had imposed signing in nationwide.

Shenannigans requires patrons to use their mobile phone cameras to scan a QR code and submit details, but currently only after 10pm.

It comes as NT Health also considers rolling out sewage testing for SARS-CoV-2 to determine whether the virus could be lurking in some communities. Other states and territories have used sewage testing to detect traces of the virus.

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Mr Gunner said the NT was now the envy of the rest of the country, but constant vigilance for the virus would have to become a “new normal”.

“The rest of Australia is gradually becoming as safe as we are, but there is no vaccine and there won’t be for a while,” he said.