NTG scraps tests for interstate arrivals as Covid cases ‘peak’

Interstate arrivals into the Territory will no longer have to take rapid antigen tests and check in via the G2G app with the overwhelming number of Covid-19 cases now being acquired locally.

UPDATED: INTERSTATE arrivals into the Territory will no longer have to take rapid antigen tests and check in via the G2G app with the overwhelming number of Covid-19 cases now being acquired locally.

In making the announcement on Sunday, Chief Minister Michael Gunner said the peak of arrivals ahead of the end of school holidays had now passed and the change would free up almost 100 front line workers.

“Our analysis indicates that Covid cases in the Territory as a proportion of our population is now roughly in line with the rest of the country,” he said.

Interstate arrivals will still be required to fill in a border entry form and get tested if they develop symptoms, with unvaccinated travellers still barred from entry.

Meanwhile lockouts in several communities, including Alice Springs will end as scheduled at 2pm on Sunday, while travel restrictions will be in place between communities and major centres for seven days with non-essential transport to cease.

Mr Gunner said despite pressure from both sides of the debate to relax or strengthen restrictions, the government’s approach was about “getting the balance right” between caring for the seriously unwell and restoring freedoms for other Territorians.

“We don’t spend hours every day poring over the data and agonising over these decisions just to piss people off,” he said.

Chief health officer, Hugh Heggie, said the new approach was “very appropriate” with the outbreak having reached its peak.

“This is a tipping point, the main thing that I would ask you (is to) get the needle, that’s the most important thing that you can do,” he said.

“We do have some communities and some individuals across the Territory that have chosen not to have the vaccine yet, well you are putting yourselves at risk.”

Dr Heggie said he was “not worried about the numbers” given the “very effective treatments” now available for those with serious symptoms.

“Very soon in the Territory we’re going to have antiviral treatments, I’ve ordered them through the national stockpile and they’ll be here shortly and those antivirals like the one for influenza we can have available across the Territory,” he said.

Emergency Controller, Jamie Chalker, said supply chain issues currently impacting Territory supermarkets would start to ease from tomorrow after eight freight trucks were able to cross into the NT from South Australia, with more on the way from NSW and Queensland.

EARLIER: EXHAUSTED officers are being spread dangerously thin as the new burden of Covid-19 enforcement adds extra mental stress to NT Police’s depleted ranks.

The situation has become so bad that there could be just a single police car patrolling the Darwin sector at various times, according to the NT Police Association (NTPA).

Despite the government saying it was spending an additional $10m to support Covid duties, NTPA president Paul McCue said frontline police were being subject to growing workloads and urged border policies to be scrapped.

To deal with the pandemic, roughly 100 officers have been dedicated to Covid duties.

It has added an extra burden to NT Police, which last financial year recorded a spike in attrition rates to over 8 per cent of its workforce.

Mr McCue said officers were reporting back instances where even the highest of priority jobs were taking hours to respond to.

NTPA President Paul McCue said officers police were short-staffed. Picture GLENN CAMPBELL

“That’s dangerous for them, that’s dangerous for the community, and of course they are then the ones bearing the brunt of the dissatisfaction from communities when they eventually do arrive,” he said.

“Community safety (is) being jeopardised because obviously police are short staffed.

“They are doing everything they can, but the numbers just aren’t there.”

More than 80 per cent of officers reported an increase in duties since the start of the pandemic, an NTPA survey said. “We’re seeing a bit of a perfect storm as to why we’re short staffed,” Mr McCue said.

A police officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said officers who were being deployed for Covid operations were still being expected to complete their duties upon returning from deployment.

“No one picks up your slack,” the officer said.

“The community is suffering as well, because some of those crimes aren’t being investigated.”

The officer said he “didn’t think the workload was going to decrease”.

Blain MLA and former NT police officer Mark Turner said he was worried about the impact stress was having on officers who lived in his Palmerston constituency.

“My electorate has got a huge amount of police officers and their partners in it, I know that the police are very tired,” Mr Turner said.

He said in one instance, a constituent of his had to sleep on the veranda of their burgled home while waiting for swamped police to attend and do forensics.

Mr Turner called on the government to implement minimum staffing levels, saying at times there could be just one van active in the Palmerston sector.

On a “good day”, he said there would be two to three vans manned in Palmerston.

“There’s a domestic violence incident, they’ll get there as quickly as they can, but while (officers) are dealing with that, they’re hearing on the radio that the next one’s happening as well,” he said.

Police Minister Nicole Manison said extra funding had been allocated to the Territory’s Covid response. Picture: Julianne Osborne

Police Minister Nicole Manison said the government would “always back” police in doing their job.

“The Territory Labor government has provided another $10m in funding, in addition to the previously announced $20m, to specifically support Covid operations,” Ms Manison said.

“We are recruiting well above attrition and no other government has ever invested more into our police.”

The government said it had recruited 189 police constables, 47 police auxiliaries and 10 Aboriginal community police officers since January last year, and a further 46 officers would graduate next year.

NT Police lost 95 officers in the year to March 31, 2021, and the department’s annual report later revealed an 8 per cent attrition rate of officers across the Territory.

Deputy commissioner Michael Murphy said the Territory’s Covid-19 response had “put huge demands on our officers”.

Mr Murphy conceded it was possible only one van could patrol parts of Darwin at any given time, but said “it would only be for a short period of time”.

“We are currently facing high rates of domestic violence. That is an issue the whole community should be working together on to fix,” he said.