Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie Woolf spoke with AMA Australian Medical Association President Dr Robert Parker

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Katie Woolf spoke with AMA Australian Medical Association President Dr Robert Parker · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Mix one O four point nine dot comtu for all
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  Speaker 1: the latest news and information now three sixty with Katie Wolf.
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  Speaker 1: Everyone is listening Mix one oh four point nine one
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  Speaker 1: hundred percent.
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  Speaker 2: If you just missed the interview with the Health Minister
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  Speaker 2: Natasha Files. We know that plenty of people tested over
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  Speaker 2: the weekend two and a half thousand, actually four and
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  Speaker 2: a half thousand, I think it was I need to
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  Speaker 2: find those notes. Four and a half thousand tests have
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  Speaker 2: now been conducted on those people who've been in self
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  Speaker 2: isolation around the territory following on from the COVID hotspots
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  Speaker 2: in Victoria. Two and a half thousand tests over the weekend.
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  Speaker 2: But I think you know, the very big news to
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  Speaker 2: come out of that interview is that we are going
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  Speaker 2: to be moving towards a model out at the airport
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  Speaker 2: where we no longer have those repatriation flights going through
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  Speaker 2: the raft base or through RAFF. They're going to be
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  Speaker 2: going through the international Airport. No date yet as to
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  Speaker 2: when that change is going to happen, but no doubt
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  Speaker 2: plenty of you probably listening and feeling a little bit
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  Speaker 2: confused by that situation, wondering why that is going to
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  Speaker 2: be the case. Anyway, we'll talk more about that throughout
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  Speaker 2: the morning. But joining us on the line right now
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  Speaker 2: is doctor Robert Parker, who is the head of the
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  Speaker 2: Australian Medical Association here in the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning to you, Dr Parker.
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  Speaker 4: Morning Katy.
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  Speaker 3: Now, I'm not sure if you heard.
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  Speaker 2: That interview with the Health Minister, doctor Parker, but by
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  Speaker 2: the sounds of things out at the airport in we
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  Speaker 2: still don't have a timeframe, but it looks as though
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  Speaker 2: they're going to be moving away from this model where
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  Speaker 2: repatriated Australians go through RAF and they're now going to
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  Speaker 2: be going through the International Airport separately, obviously to all
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  Speaker 2: other travelers at some point down the track. I know
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  Speaker 2: you hearing this for the first time, doctor Parker, but
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  Speaker 2: what's your reaction to that.
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  Speaker 5: Well, I can't quite work out why they're interchange with Katie.
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  Speaker 5: I mean, it's a reception process and to my mind,
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  Speaker 5: keeping it away from where all the general traffic occurs
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  Speaker 5: of the airport seems very sensible. So I can't quite
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  Speaker 5: work out why they've made the decision to switch from
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  Speaker 5: raft to the main terminal. I would have thought that
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  Speaker 5: the and I mean I can't see quite how raft
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  Speaker 5: coincides with Ozmat and the withdrawal of Ozmat.
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  Speaker 4: So something's working white change to my view, Yeah, and.
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  Speaker 2: I think that's probably what a lot of people are
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  Speaker 2: feeling at the moment.
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  Speaker 3: Dr Parker.
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  Speaker 2: It does sound as though there's still plenty of details
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  Speaker 2: that need to be worked through. The Health Minister did
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  Speaker 2: say that there's you know that there are other sort
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  Speaker 2: of measures that need to be in place before they
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  Speaker 2: can move to this model. But I know plenty of
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  Speaker 2: people listening will be feeling concerned.
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  Speaker 4: Well, that's right.
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  Speaker 5: I mean there's a lot more of the general public
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  Speaker 5: going through the airport terminal, and the potential for transmission
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  Speaker 5: from overseas carriers to the general public, I suppose is
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  Speaker 5: higher if people are exiting through the terminal. So again,
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  Speaker 5: if things aren't broken, things seem to be working quite
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  Speaker 5: well through the wrath process, why change it?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, now, doctor Parker, we know over the weekend a
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  Speaker 2: large volume of people would test it.
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  Speaker 3: The government ended up will popping up.
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  Speaker 2: I guess you'd say this additional testing site at the
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  Speaker 2: Marara Netbull Stadium to try to ensure that everybody who
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  Speaker 2: was going to have to go into self isolation was
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  Speaker 2: able to get tested. I mean, as a result, we've
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  Speaker 2: seen four and a half thousand tests over the course
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  Speaker 2: of the weekend. This is obviously good news that people
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  Speaker 2: are getting out making sure that they're getting tested and
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  Speaker 2: that they've come back negative.
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  Speaker 4: Excellent news, Katie.
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  Speaker 5: Obviously you know the amount of concern and we're obviously
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  Speaker 5: very aware it's happening in Victoria at the moment, So
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  Speaker 5: it's really good that people are aware of it and
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  Speaker 5: making sure that they're not passing the virus onto family
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  Speaker 5: members and to others.
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  Speaker 2: Now, I guess the hotspot declaration and the way in
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  Speaker 2: which we manage the situation here in the territory following
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  Speaker 2: on from what was going on in Victoria was sort
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  Speaker 2: of done quite differently, you'd have to say last week
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  Speaker 2: to what we've seen in previous situations. How are you
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  Speaker 2: feeling seeing that more teared approached and following Victoria's lead.
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  Speaker 5: Well, again, I think things have got to change, and
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  Speaker 5: there's obviously even though we're not up to the standards
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  Speaker 5: of immunization, we're expecting things are evolving.
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  Speaker 4: More people are immunized.
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  Speaker 5: I think we have to look at adapting processes, so
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  Speaker 5: you know, things are different to thoy were six months ago,
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  Speaker 5: and I think we probably have to look at some
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  Speaker 5: change processes as a result.
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  Speaker 2: And then with you know, with those those hot spots declared,
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  Speaker 2: how like how are people feeling and how are some
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  Speaker 2: of some of our health staff feeling. Then as we
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  Speaker 2: have more and more people coming into the territory who
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  Speaker 2: are potentially exposed to COVID, well.
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  Speaker 5: I suppose there's a level of anxiety again because of it. Particularly,
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  Speaker 5: I suppose since there's no really effective processes of the
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  Speaker 5: at road board is now to check whether you know,
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  Speaker 5: to check.
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  Speaker 4: People as they work before.
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  Speaker 5: And I can understand, you know, it's very difficult a
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  Speaker 5: suddenly get a police process up overnight and it takes
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  Speaker 5: weeks off in the organized rosters and whatever. So I
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  Speaker 5: can understand why that hasn't happened. But again, I think
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  Speaker 5: there is a significant concern about, you know, the potential
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  Speaker 5: for someone with an ac the virus to come to
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  Speaker 5: the territory and again split it to the indigenous community
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  Speaker 5: where it'd be massive implications.
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  Speaker 2: So those road borders obviously are concerned from your perspective
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  Speaker 2: at this.
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  Speaker 5: Point, well, yeah, I mean, you know, obviously you can
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  Speaker 5: be you know, it doesn't take that long to drive
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  Speaker 5: from Melbourne to the Northern Territory border, so you could
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  Speaker 5: potentially be in contact with a positive case in Melbourne
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  Speaker 5: and two days later be across in the NT potentially
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  Speaker 5: in Alice Springs, shedding.
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  Speaker 4: The virus around.
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  Speaker 5: So you know, air travel certainly is more of a problem,
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  Speaker 5: but you know, the virus still has this two week
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  Speaker 5: transmission time and certainly very very easy for someone to
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  Speaker 5: travel from the Victorian hotspot across an empty border and
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  Speaker 5: be spreading the virus around in the territory.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, does it also sort of highlight doctor Parker
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  Speaker 2: from your perspective, why if you're eligible, people do need
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  Speaker 2: to make sure that they get vaccinated.
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  Speaker 5: It's essential that the entire Australian population is vaccinated at
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  Speaker 5: some stage. It's the anyway we're going to progress with life.
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  Speaker 5: This virus is going to be around for probably the
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  Speaker 5: next couple of decades and the only way we're going
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  Speaker 5: to effectively deal with it is for everyone to be
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  Speaker 5: immunized against it, to basically get back to life as
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  Speaker 5: we once knew it before the virus emerged.
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  Speaker 2: Now, I also wanted to ask about this situation out
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  Speaker 2: at Royal Dale and Hospital. I know that the NT
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  Speaker 2: News was reporting today there'd been a video of emergency
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  Speaker 2: vehicles backed up waiting to admit patients at the hospital.
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  Speaker 2: It's been shared on social media and in the media
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  Speaker 2: more broadly. That video obviously has It's from the twenty
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  Speaker 2: first of May and it shows that at least ten
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  Speaker 2: Saint John NT emergency vehicles, including ambulances and patient transport
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  Speaker 2: cars they're they're sort of waiting to admit patients. What
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  Speaker 2: is the situation at the moment, Well, my understanding is
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  Speaker 2: that things that are a lot better today than they work.
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  Speaker 4: Probably a couple of weeks ago. But there'll be peaks
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  Speaker 4: and troughs.
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  Speaker 5: I mean, unfortunately there is as I pointed out now
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  Speaker 5: that it's Minister Hunt a.
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  Speaker 4: Couple of years ago.
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  Speaker 5: The charity hospital the two to three Times is busy as.
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  Speaker 4: Other hospitals in Australia. There's a lot of activity. You
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  Speaker 4: pay tribute to all.
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  Speaker 5: The clinical and sports stuff and work at the hospital
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  Speaker 5: to provide continuing high care to Territorians and need hospital care.
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  Speaker 5: But there will be some days that are busier than others. Today,
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  Speaker 5: I gather is less of a busy day, but you
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  Speaker 5: never know. What's going to happen, you know, Wednesday, Thursday,
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  Speaker 5: it might happen again.
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  Speaker 2: And doctor Parker, I'm assuming that we also have to
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  Speaker 2: have sort of an areous at a side that is there,
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  Speaker 2: should we require it for COVID as well for COVID cases.
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  Speaker 5: Well, again, there is already places in the hospital. There
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  Speaker 5: is an active process to screen for COVID and to
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  Speaker 5: place people who are potentially lost at COVID away from
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  Speaker 5: other patients. So that's continuing. It's obviously dealing with the
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  Speaker 5: current level of risk and is that rams up offs
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  Speaker 5: health authorities. We'll have to think about different ways.
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  Speaker 4: Of dealing with it.
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  Speaker 2: But at this point in time, we are sort of
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  Speaker 2: you know, we're not as busy out at the hospital
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  Speaker 2: as what we've spoken about in previous times.
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  Speaker 3: So we've had cod yellows and other things going.
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  Speaker 5: On, that's right, you know, And again there will be days.
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  Speaker 5: I mean, there's no doubt we probably need more resources
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  Speaker 5: at some stage in the territory. And yeah, I mean
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  Speaker 5: in the end we need more resources for a higher
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  Speaker 5: level of need.
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  Speaker 4: But the hospital will be.
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  Speaker 5: More busy or less busier times and it's hard to
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  Speaker 5: predict that.
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  Speaker 2: Well, doctor Robert Parker, head of the AMA here in
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  Speaker 2: the Northern Territory. It's always good to catch up with you.
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  Speaker 2: We always appreciate your time.
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  Speaker 4: Now is Coaty good to talk to you.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you