‘Small number’ of people allowed out of Howard Springs quarantine facility on compassionate grounds

A ‘SMALL number’ of people in quarantine in the NT have been allowed out to attend funeral services or visit relatives in palliative care, with a top health official asserting it is safe to do so.

A “SMALL number” of people in quarantine in the Northern Territory have been allowed out to attend funeral services or visit relatives in palliative care, with a top health official asserting it is safe to do so.

In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Territorian, Deputy Chief Health Officer Di Stephens revealed those being housed at the Top End’s Howard Springs quarantine facility after travelling from hot spots had been allowed out for a few hours at a time on compassionate grounds.

Deputy Chief Health Officer Associate Professor Di Stephens in full PPE at the Howard Springs Quarantine Facility. Picture: Supplied/ NT Health

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As political bunfights rage on interstate, particularly in Queensland, about governments refusing to budge on restrictions that prevent people from being with dying loved ones, Professor Stephens said that outside the Territory “in some ways, politics have overridden public health common sense and empathy and compassion”.

NT Health confirmed a “small number” of people at Howard Springs had been granted variations on quarantine under strict conditions, including a person returning a negative COVID-19 test being allowed outside for a maximum of two hours, wearing a mask at all times and physically distancing.

Travel to and from the facility must also be undertaken in an “approved COVID-19 vehicle”. Professor Stephens said people who were in the “terrible situations” of losing – or on the brink of losing – a loved one were willing to follow the rules to be able to say goodbye.

“I think we’ve proved that it is possible to do it safely,” she said.

An NT Health worker checking in on a Howard Springs Quarantine Facility resident. Picture: Suppled/ NT Health

“You just can’t imagine how hard it is to lose a loved one and then have to get on a plane and come to a quarantine facility and not be able to hug the people that you love.”

Professor Stephens said people coming into Howard Springs had escaped lockdown in Victoria, where they had been in “quite terrible circumstances”, and were using the facility as their “pathway to freedom”.

She said the Territory’s quarantine system was underpinned by the need to provide a “compassionate response”.

“We now have people coming from Victoria, to quarantine in Darwin so they can get to South Australia, NSW, Queensland and WA,” Professor Stephens said.

“To me, that’s sad, that they can’t go and quarantine at those places that they need to go.

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“Whilst we need to keep the NT community safe, we can do it in ways that allow people to get on with their lives, and we’re the only jurisdiction that is doing that.

“It kind of is a different emphasis, and I suppose it’s just what Territorians do very well. You know, we care about people.”

The Territory has not recorded a case of COVID-19 since August 1.