‘We felt it was safe to open the park again’: National park reopens after COVID scare

Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park has reopened following a four-day emergency closure

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ULURU-KATA Tjuta National Park reopened at 1pm on December 24 following a four-day shutdown at the request of Traditional Owners who were worried about a potential COVID-19 outbreak.

The park was closed on December 21 after two flights from Sydney arrived in Yulara around the time of the hot spot declaration for Greater Sydney, the NSW Central Coast, the Blue Mountains and the Illawarra.

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The Mutitjulu Community Aboriginal Corporation (MCAC) asked that the park remain shut until all people from those flights had either tested negative for COVID-19 or had been repatriated to Sydney.

MCAC chief executive Thalia Bohl-van den Boogard explained that by Thursday last week that goal had been accomplished.

“So we felt it was safe to open the park again,” she said.

“We didn’t want to keep (the park) closed any longer than was necessary. We wanted to get things going again for those people who had stayed and done the right thing. So we were quite happy to open it again.”

Ms Bohl-van den Boogard said the testing and repatriation process went well, but she questioned the decision to allow a flight from Sydney carrying hot spot travellers to land in Yulara despite the NT government’s hot spot declaration.

“It would’ve been better if those people hadn’t been there in the first place. But it was probably unavoidable given the circumstances.

“The testing team came down from Alice Springs. They worked around the clock to get people tested.

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“We worked exceptionally well with Parks. We tried to be open and clear with Voyages (the tourism company that operates Ayers Rock Resort) in our communications. We also worked really well with the local police. So that was all really positive.

“We’re getting better at (the process) with every new hotspot declaration. I don’t think it’s over yet so we better get used to it.”