Self-quarantine for vaccinated Aussies still far off for the NT, says Chief Minister Michael Gunner
Chief Minister Michael Gunner has said there are no plans to allow vaccinated Australian travellers to self-isolate at home in the near future, despite Prime Minister Scott Morrison hinting at a trial on Friday.
Northern Territory
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MICHAEL Gunner has said there’s no plans to allow vaccinated Australian travellers to self-isolate at home in the near future, despite Prime Minister Scott Morrison hinting at a trial on Friday.
It comes as the Northern Territory reported zero new cases of Covid-19 from roughly 2500 tests.
Speaking to the Sunday Territorian, the Chief Minister said vaccinated Australians still needed to quarantine if they were coming from a hot spot.
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“Vaccinated people are far more protected against the virus than non-vaxxed but that doesn’t mean they can’t bring it to the Territory and transmit it,” Mr Gunner said.
“Our population is the most vulnerable in Australia and we must protect our most vulnerable against this virus.”
Mr Gunner said the jab rollout remained a priority for the time-being, more than six months after the first vaccines were administered.
“Our biggest focus is vaccinating Territorians,” he said.
“We are double the national average and we lead the nation on (vaccination) rates but we remain way off where we need to be.”
He said there was no timeline for rolling out each of the four phases of the new plan agreed to by national cabinet on Friday.
Mr Morrison revealed – after the virtual meeting with state and territory leaders – that the first phase of the plan, dubbed the “current phase”, would see the piloting of “alternative quarantine options, including home quarantine for returning vaccinated travellers”.
“We have agreed a new deal for Australians on the pathway out of Covid-19, a pathway from a pre-vaccination period, which is focused on the suppression of the virus, on community transmission cases, to one that sees us manage Covid-19 as an infectious disease like any other in our community,” Mr Morrison said.
“The work that we have already done … shows that a vaccinated person doing quarantine for seven days is stronger than an unvaccinated person doing quarantine for 14 days.”
A trial of “alternative quarantine arrangements” would be conducted in South Australia. Mr Morrison said the current phase would involve a mass vaccination program, while also reducing international arrivals to prevent further leaks of the highly transmissible Delta variant.
National cabinet also agreed to use lockdowns as a last resort.
On Saturday, Mr Gunner, in a post on social media, said 103 casual contacts from the Stuart Park Corner Store were isolating, with 71 negative results so far and the rest outstanding. He said there were 195 close contacts so far identified at the Buff Club, of which 167 had returned a negative result while 28 were still pending. Close contacts from the Stuart Park venue will need to isolate for a full fortnight.
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