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Katie Woolf spoke with Health Minister Natasha Fyles · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: See Health Minister Attasha Files.
• 0:01
  Speaker 2: Good morning, Good morning Katie, Good morning listeners.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Minister. What is the situation with Sydney right now?
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  Speaker 2: Thanks Katie. So Sydney has been declared a hot spot.
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  Speaker 2: We have seen those cases rise rapidly. It was just
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  Speaker 2: a handful late last week and it's now up to
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  Speaker 2: understand around seventy and we haven't seen today's figures. So effective.
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  Speaker 2: Immediately yesterday the Northern Territory declared not only that Northern
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  Speaker 2: Beaches local government area, but greater Metropolitan Sydney which also
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  Speaker 2: includes the Blue Mountains, Illawarra and the Central Coast, as
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  Speaker 2: a hot spot. So that meant, Katie, that anyone who
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  Speaker 2: entered the territory from those locations when that decision was
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  Speaker 2: made had to go into mandatory quarantine. And there was
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  Speaker 2: a second key point, Katie, which is really important for
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  Speaker 2: your listeners to understand, is that anyone who had arrived
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  Speaker 2: in that Greater Sydney, those areas I just spoke about
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  Speaker 2: since the eleventh of December, we need them to self isolate,
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  Speaker 2: to contact the pandemic hotline and get tested. Please, this
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  Speaker 2: is really important and this is part of our overall
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  Speaker 2: response and it certainly guides us and so people that
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  Speaker 2: have been in that area since the eleventh of December
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  Speaker 2: just need to self isolate get that test. We have
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  Speaker 2: increased our capacity. The pandemic hotlines stayed open last night
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  Speaker 2: till around nine pm. We've doubled the testing capacity, the
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  Speaker 2: number of tests that can be taken excuse me at
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  Speaker 2: RDHYE and so that we can cater for those people
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  Speaker 2: and hopefully we can get those tests turned around fairly
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  Speaker 2: quickly so they can just self isolate at home. We
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  Speaker 2: know it's a disruption, but it's far less of a
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  Speaker 2: disruption than seeing the virus come into the territory.
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  Speaker 3: So that's from the eleventh of December. That's going back
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  Speaker 3: quite a few days. Minister, I assume that a few
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  Speaker 3: flights would have arrived from that area over that period
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  Speaker 3: of time. How many people are you trying to track down, So.
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  Speaker 2: Katie, it's Friday, the eleventh of December. If they've arrived
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  Speaker 2: in the territory from these hot spots areas since that day, yes,
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  Speaker 2: this is hundreds of people. People have completed those border forms.
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  Speaker 2: So we have contacted them via text message and said
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  Speaker 2: to them that if they were in those hot spot areas,
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  Speaker 2: that they must self isolate and get that test. And
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  Speaker 2: as I said, we've put those extra resources into the
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  Speaker 2: testing hoping they get those results as quickly as possible.
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  Speaker 2: And this is based off the clinical advice out of
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  Speaker 2: HPPC and from the New South Wales authorities that we've
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  Speaker 2: seen the viruses. It behaves differently each and every time,
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  Speaker 2: and it's really important that those people rule themselves out
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  Speaker 2: as potentially having the virus so we can keep territory
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  Speaker 2: in safe.
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  Speaker 3: So Minister, just to repeat that, because we've actually got
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  Speaker 3: a caller on the line as well at the moment
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  Speaker 3: whose husband was already sitting in Allae Springs Airport before
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  Speaker 3: Sydney was decleared a hot spot. They flew to Darwin
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  Speaker 3: and he's currently sitting in Howard Springs. But at this stage,
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  Speaker 3: what you're saying now is that if you arrived from
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  Speaker 3: Sydney from one of those hot spot areas on the
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  Speaker 3: eleventh of December, you need to self isolate, you need
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  Speaker 3: to all so contact authorities if you've not been contacted already,
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  Speaker 3: and you've got to get tested.
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  Speaker 2: So Katie, in terms of that traveler, I will get
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  Speaker 2: their details. We've already had contact with our office, and
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  Speaker 2: I know the health authorities have had contact this morning
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  Speaker 2: from some people that are a little uncertain around where
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  Speaker 2: they sit. We will get their details and we will
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  Speaker 2: look into their individual case. The declaration that's made as
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  Speaker 2: anyone arrived in the territory after three pm has to
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  Speaker 2: go into the mandatory quarantine. If you've arrived before that
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  Speaker 2: and you have been in that hot spot since the eleventh,
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  Speaker 2: so it is you know over ten days that period
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  Speaker 2: of time, you still need to self isolate and get tested.
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  Speaker 3: Okay, So and can I just repeat just to make
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  Speaker 3: it really clear for our listeners. So from the eleventh
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  Speaker 3: of December, those people that have now sort of been
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  Speaker 3: added to what you're you're asking them to do, so
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  Speaker 3: they don't have to go into mandatory quarantine. Those who
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  Speaker 3: arrived on the elevenths of December and sort of you know,
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  Speaker 3: further on from then, but they do need to self isolate,
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  Speaker 3: they need to contact authorities and get tested. Now that's
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  Speaker 3: not just for the Northern Beaches, is it that now
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  Speaker 3: includes those other areas as well.
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  Speaker 2: Correct, Katie, So late last week it was declared Northern
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  Speaker 2: Beaches was the hotspot, so some people would have got
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  Speaker 2: the message saying that you've recently arrived into the Northern Territory,
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  Speaker 2: and they would have read that and said, no, I
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  Speaker 2: haven't been on the Northern Beaches. This doesn't include me.
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  Speaker 2: That advice has changed now and it now includes that
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  Speaker 2: greater metropolitan Sydney area, as I said, so they do
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  Speaker 2: need to reach out and get that test, and as
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  Speaker 2: I said, we've placed additional resources to try and make
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  Speaker 2: that happen as quickly as possible. We know it's an inconvenience,
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  Speaker 2: but certainly this virus coming into the territory would have
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  Speaker 2: a huge impact.
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  Speaker 3: All right, Minister, Let's talk about those people who were
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  Speaker 3: obviously on flights here from three pm yesterday. How many
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  Speaker 3: people were on those flights to the Northern Territory when
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  Speaker 3: that declaration was made, So.
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  Speaker 2: Katie, there was around one hundred and thirty people on
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  Speaker 2: a flight that was arriving into Darwin. There was also
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  Speaker 2: a later flight I understand where people had already left
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  Speaker 2: Sydney and were transitting through cans to potentially come to Darwin.
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  Speaker 2: For those people, they won't pay for their quarantine, and
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  Speaker 2: we're also offering if they would like to return to Sydney,
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  Speaker 2: we will pay for that flight because they didn't have
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  Speaker 2: any choice. The decision was made mid air. We're not
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  Speaker 2: in control of quantius and what happens with the aircraft.
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  Speaker 2: We're in control of the decisions to keep territory and safe.
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  Speaker 2: So we have made it clear that travel is not
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  Speaker 2: what it used to be, that these decisions can be
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  Speaker 2: made and can be made mid air. For anyone who
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  Speaker 2: arrives from today, they will pay the mandatory quarantine fee
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  Speaker 2: and there won't be an offer of us covering their flights.
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  Speaker 2: It was just for those people who were literally mid
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  Speaker 2: air and had no choice.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, So is that a new policy of the government.
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  Speaker 3: If a decision like this on a hotspot is made
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  Speaker 3: when a plane is mid air, they will not have
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  Speaker 3: to pay for quarantine.
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  Speaker 2: So, Katie, it's a case by case basis. These decisions
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  Speaker 2: are made, we seek the advice of the Chief Health
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  Speaker 2: Officer of the Territory Controller. But in relation to what
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  Speaker 2: took place yesterday afternoon where we did have that one
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  Speaker 2: aircraft from Sydney and one hundred and thirty passengers, they
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  Speaker 2: won't have to pay for the quarantine at Howard Springs
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  Speaker 2: and if they choose to get on a flight and
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  Speaker 2: return to Sydney. We will cover the cost of that
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  Speaker 2: flight only for those people and I won't predict what
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  Speaker 2: may happen into the future with this hot spot policy.
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  Speaker 1: All right, was there any passengers?
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  Speaker 3: Did we have any flights on their way to Alice
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  Speaker 3: Springs or anything like we did with the South Australia
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  Speaker 3: Hotspot declaration, Katie.
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  Speaker 2: My understanding is that there had a flight had already
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  Speaker 2: landed in Yolara earlier in the day, and so that flight,
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  Speaker 2: because the decision hadn't been made yet, those people fall
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  Speaker 2: into the category if they were from the hot spot
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  Speaker 2: of going into self isolation and getting tested. And we've
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  Speaker 2: put a surge team into into Yolara sorry to take
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  Speaker 2: those tests, and so those people will isolate in their hotels.
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  Speaker 2: So we are looking at the different situations across the
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  Speaker 2: territory and providing the resources to keep people safe.
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  Speaker 3: Minister, what about are you I mean, are you expecting
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  Speaker 3: this situation in Sydney to wursen?
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  Speaker 2: Katie? We don't know. So the Chief Health Officer, I've
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  Speaker 2: come from a cabinet meeting with Hugh Hegy, our Chief
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  Speaker 2: Health Officer. He will speak to Kerry Chant the New
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  Speaker 2: South Wales show in a short while and then they'll
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  Speaker 2: have HPPC again. Today this has escalated. We saw the
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  Speaker 2: extraordinary meeting called on Thursday evening again on Friday and Saturday,
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  Speaker 2: and so we of course are all hoping that this
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  Speaker 2: can be contained as a single cluster to the Northern Beaches.
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  Speaker 2: But as I pointed to, you know, going from just
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  Speaker 2: four cases late last week to close to seventy today
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  Speaker 2: is not looking good.
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  Speaker 3: Obviously, there's still a bit of work to do to
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  Speaker 3: determine exactly, you know, how this clusters started. I know
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  Speaker 3: that some of that has already been done, but to
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  Speaker 3: determine exactly how this cluster in the Northern Beaches started.
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  Speaker 3: Does it make you more concerned or does it concern
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  Speaker 3: you at all about the number of international arrivals that
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  Speaker 3: we've got coming to Darwin at the moment who actually
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  Speaker 3: have tested positive with COVID, So, Katie, the.
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  Speaker 2: Arrivals of international travelers. The Howard Springs facility that's run
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  Speaker 2: by OSMAT is a platinum standard. It has strong plans
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  Speaker 2: around us. We have shown the OZMAT team's gone into
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  Speaker 2: highly infectious environments. We know that these people are a
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  Speaker 2: high risk from where they're coming from overseas. We only
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  Speaker 2: have to look at what's taking place in Europe with
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  Speaker 2: this new strain of virus that it doesn't have many
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  Speaker 2: symptoms and spreads easily. And so it's been acknowledged in
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  Speaker 2: the quarantining reports into hotel quarantine that that Howard Springs Facility,
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  Speaker 2: by the physical nature of the facility as well as
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  Speaker 2: the care that people receive from the ozmat team, is
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  Speaker 2: of the highest standard. We have people out there presently.
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  Speaker 2: I think there's around six hundred people slightly less in
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  Speaker 2: the facility. The next flights won't arrive until early in January,
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  Speaker 2: but certainly we have the resources to keep territory and
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  Speaker 2: safe as well as getting those vulnerable Australians home.
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  Speaker 3: I guess what we're seeing though in some of these
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  Speaker 3: situations is that it can even sort of you know,
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  Speaker 3: it can even be transmitted I guess in that transportation
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  Speaker 3: of people from the airport to the facility, that kind
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  Speaker 3: of thing. Do these incidents that keeps sort of popping
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  Speaker 3: up in other states, do they make you think, all right,
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  Speaker 3: we need to try even harder to do things better
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  Speaker 3: to ensure that we don't end up in the same situation.
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  Speaker 2: So Katie, we don't compromise the safety of territorians. So
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  Speaker 2: every incident interstate, we of course look at it and
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  Speaker 2: see what's happened. But the teams that assist out there,
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  Speaker 2: the staffing model is very strict. The OSMAT team have
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  Speaker 2: got very high procedures in place around ppe and making
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  Speaker 2: sure that infection control is to the higher standard. So
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  Speaker 2: I can absolutely reassure territorians of that, and the nature
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  Speaker 2: in which they're processed certainly is very strict to keep
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  Speaker 2: people safe.
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  Speaker 3: All right, Minister, When is the next sort of announcement
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  Speaker 3: expected to be made on Sydney. I guess we're waiting
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  Speaker 3: for an update from Gladys bire Jiiclian the premiere in
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  Speaker 3: New South Wales a little later this morning. Are you
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  Speaker 3: expecting the situation to change much for us in the
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  Speaker 3: territory after she speaks today?
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  Speaker 2: So Hugh Hegy will participate in that national AHPPC and
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  Speaker 2: he'll advise me as the Health Minister, and we will
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  Speaker 2: certainly have another cabinet meeting if we need to. But
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  Speaker 2: just to make it clear for people right now, what
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  Speaker 2: the situation is is that yesterday afternoon we expanded that
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  Speaker 2: hot spot which was just the northern Beaches to the
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  Speaker 2: Greater Sydney area, and that information is online Katie, for
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  Speaker 2: people to look at where they may have been. And
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  Speaker 2: there's two points. People arriving after three pm, we'll need
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  Speaker 2: to go to mandatory quarantine. If you arrived into the
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  Speaker 2: territory prior to three pm, but right back to the
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  Speaker 2: eleventh of December, please isolate and get tested. And Katie,
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  Speaker 2: I'll send some numbers through to your team, the number
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  Speaker 2: for both advice around border and quarantining and arrivals. And
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  Speaker 2: there's also the testing hotline. And as I can assure territories,
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  Speaker 2: we've put more resources into that testing so that they
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  Speaker 2: can hopefully get the results back quickly.
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  Speaker 3: Minister, should territorians be worried at this point in time
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  Speaker 3: that there could be some people who have traveled from
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  Speaker 3: from Sydney on the eleventh of December and after who
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  Speaker 3: aren't actually quarantining at the moment.
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  Speaker 2: So it is under that excuse me, Katie, under that
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  Speaker 2: direction that they must isolate and get tested. We all
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  Speaker 2: have a personal responsibility. I've been tested. You can hear that.
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  Speaker 2: My voice keeps trying to give way on me. Katie. Here,
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  Speaker 2: if you're not feeling the slightest bit unwell, if something's
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  Speaker 2: not quite right, just reach out for a test. It's
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  Speaker 2: really easy and you can be reassured that you don't
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: somehow have the virus and you could be passing it
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  Speaker 2: on to others. So that's my biggest message. Please just
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  Speaker 2: get tested, just isolate, get tested and wait for those results.
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  Speaker 3: All right, Minister for Health, Natasha Files, It sounds like
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: we could be talking again over the coming days.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you very much for your time this morning. We
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: appreciate it.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you,