Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie spoke with Health Minister Natasha Fyles about the information that emerged around the COVID source case

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Katie spoke with Health Minister Natasha Fyles about the information that emerged around the COVID source case · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Well, the majority of restrictions lifted overnight. Still wearing masks,
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: but good to have life back to normality. A lot
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: of people, though, are still up inner arms over the
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: fact that one person, a twenty one year old woman
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: who lied on her border form, could cause this situation.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: This morning, though after much speculation, the woman at the
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  Speaker 1: center of the latest COVID scare for the Northern Territory
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: has spoken out, telling the NT News that her mental
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: health is suffering after being interrogated and labeled a sex worker.
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  Speaker 1: The twenty one year old canswoman, who asked not to
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  Speaker 1: be named, has told the NT News that she was
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  Speaker 1: livid at a post by the Chief Minister on social
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  Speaker 1: media stating her occupation was a sex worker. The Minister
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  Speaker 1: for Health here in the Northern Territory joins me on
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  Speaker 1: the line, Natasha Files.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, Good morning, Katie, Good morning Minister.
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  Speaker 1: How on earth was this woman labeled a sex worker
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  Speaker 1: when she claims she isn't on the Chief Minister's face
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  Speaker 1: bok page so Katie.
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  Speaker 3: The Chief Minister has said that there was a process
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  Speaker 3: failure which later led to information that was factually incorrect.
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  Speaker 3: It hadn't been approved by the Chief Minister being uploaded
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  Speaker 3: to his page. It's really important for people that the
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  Speaker 3: information he gave at the press conference was correct, and
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  Speaker 3: there was an error within his office. As soon as
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  Speaker 3: that was became aware that there had been an error,
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  Speaker 3: it was rectified and that incorrect information was removed.
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  Speaker 1: But how did this information even come about? I mean,
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  Speaker 1: did the words sex worker come from her mouth or
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  Speaker 1: was it a line of interrogation which is initiated by
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  Speaker 1: the government.
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  Speaker 3: So, Katie, there was an error, a process error. I'm
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  Speaker 3: not aware of that detail. As soon as the Chief
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: Minister's office became aware of it, they immediately rectified that
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: on his Facebook page and he has apologized unreservedly to
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  Speaker 3: the individual and more broadly.
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  Speaker 2: What are those other blocks that got COVID? What are
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  Speaker 2: their jobs? Do we know?
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  Speaker 3: So, Katie, I think that it's also really important in
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  Speaker 3: this space that sex workers. Sex work is legal in
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  Speaker 3: the Northern Territory. It's a legitimate industry and they've worked
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: hard to keep their workers and clients safe. And so
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  Speaker 3: she said she's not a sex worker, and that's, you know,
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  Speaker 3: the end of that. In terms of people's occupations, it
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: doesn't matter. What we need is when people are being
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  Speaker 3: interviewed with CDC and police, and it is difficult trying
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: to recollect where you were on certain days, and you
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: may be nervous about that process, but it is used
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: from a health perspective for contact tracing and that's what's important.
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  Speaker 2: Well, and I guess that's the point that I'm trying
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  Speaker 2: to make.
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  Speaker 1: We don't actually have much of an idea of what
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  Speaker 1: those other cases of COVID do for a living, and
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: so I'm just trying to ascertain how at any point,
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: you know, sex worker came into play here with this
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: twenty one year old woman, and.
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: That would be questions for the Chief Minister's office. Katie.
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  Speaker 3: We provided in his speech that he spoke the information
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  Speaker 3: and then incorrect information was published on his page. He's
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: apologized unreservedly for the publication of that incorrect information.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: Minister, does this demonstrate some serious flaws in Facebook being
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: the Chief Minister and the government's form of communication. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: he himself has said that obviously he's not signed off
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: on it, So how does something then end up on
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  Speaker 1: his official Facebook page that he's not signed off on.
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  Speaker 3: Katie, he had attended and then every case the press
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  Speaker 3: conference quite lengthy press conferences with the Territory Controller and
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: the Chief Health Officer, and this information is then provided
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: as another source for people that might have missed that
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: press conference that want to go back and read the detail.
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  Speaker 3: So it's not the only measure that is providing information.
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  Speaker 3: He's certainly spoken at that press conference for some time,
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  Speaker 3: and this was a printed version as he's been uploading
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: to provide that information for people that might have missed
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: it or want to refer back for more details.
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  Speaker 1: I guess what I'm getting at though here is you
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  Speaker 1: know a lot of people look at that official Chief
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  Speaker 1: Minister's Facebook page and you know, get their information from there.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: But the fact is, by the sounds of it, it's
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  Speaker 1: not actually him uploading it. It's somebody else in his office,
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  Speaker 1: and you know a lot of us now questioning whether
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  Speaker 1: it's even being checked off before it goes up online.
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  Speaker 3: Oh, Katie, as I had said in it, I don't
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  Speaker 3: want to keep repeating it. There was a process failure
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  Speaker 3: which led to information that was actually incorrect. It had
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  Speaker 3: not been approved by the Chief Minister to be published
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  Speaker 3: to his Facebook page, and he apologizes unreservedly.
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  Speaker 2: All right, minister.
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  Speaker 1: While this twenty one year old woman may be livered
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: at the claims which have been made. The territory is
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: pretty livid that she sent us into a lockout and
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: costs many businesses thousands of dollars.
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  Speaker 2: Is a five thousand dollar fine enough.
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  Speaker 1: For this person or do we need to look at
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  Speaker 1: further penalties in jail time as we saw in wa
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  Speaker 1: when two men light on their border forms to get
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: to the footy finals recently.
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  Speaker 3: So in terms of the penalties police and the environmental health,
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  Speaker 3: all matters are referred across to police and the penalties
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  Speaker 3: are put in place. And as I just said, it's
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  Speaker 3: really important when people are going through this interviewing process
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  Speaker 3: that they provide that information. We're not really interested, We're
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  Speaker 3: not wanting to judge you on what you've been doing
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  Speaker 3: over the last few days or weeks. We just need
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  Speaker 3: that information kicking get public health measures out. So police
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  Speaker 3: work in this space to provide that additional support. And
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  Speaker 3: if there is breaches of public health orders, there is
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  Speaker 3: penalties in place and police can utilize the number of
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: penalties if they need to.
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  Speaker 1: And so do we know if the police are looking
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  Speaker 1: at doing anything more drastic than a five thousand dollar
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  Speaker 1: fine that.
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  Speaker 3: Would be a question for police around what they can
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  Speaker 3: potentially charge individuals with if they are misleading.
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  Speaker 2: Now, Minister.
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  Speaker 1: Yesterday, the Chief Minister blew up at a press conference
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  Speaker 1: saying it was about bloody time that individual remote community
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  Speaker 1: vaccination data was handed over to the Northern Territory authorities
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: to help save the lives in remote communities. He looked
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: visibly shaken when he was talking about these numbers. He
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: said that there is absolutely a compelling reason why we
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: must have the vaccine data from individual community because our
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: response to a case in that community is then determined
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: by the vaccine rate in that community.
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  Speaker 2: Minister, why can't we just get these numbers the.
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  Speaker 3: Northern Territory Government. We know the doses we've delivered through
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  Speaker 3: our clinics and our services. The Aboriginal Medical organizations report
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  Speaker 3: that to the Commonwealth Government, and we've highlighted the importance
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  Speaker 3: of getting that data so that we know which communities
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  Speaker 3: have high levels or reasonable coverage of vaccine and the
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  Speaker 3: communities that have no protection so that we can protect
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  Speaker 3: them with other measures public health and safety measures to
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  Speaker 3: keep those individuals safe. And so we've been working with
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  Speaker 3: the Aboriginal medical organizations and the Commonwealth to try and
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  Speaker 3: get this data so that we can put the roadmap
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  Speaker 3: in place that the Chiefness outlined earlier this week around
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  Speaker 3: protecting territories in those remote communities who are particularly vulnerable
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  Speaker 3: as we move forward through the pandemic.
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  Speaker 1: Are you as frustrated as the Chief Minister at not
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  Speaker 1: being able to get these numbers.
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  Speaker 3: It is frustrating in the sense that we need this
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  Speaker 3: information to protect those communities, not trying to do anything
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  Speaker 3: adverse with it. We purely want to know what coverage
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  Speaker 3: is in what communities and so we've worked closely with
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  Speaker 3: them and it's from a point that we want to
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  Speaker 3: protect them as we move forward. But we need to
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  Speaker 3: acknowledge that in some communities we've got a high rate
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  Speaker 3: of vaccine, we know that, but in other communities we
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  Speaker 3: have no coverage from the vaccine and we need to
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  Speaker 3: protect those people.
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  Speaker 1: We are going to be catching up with the Australian
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  Speaker 1: Medical Association just a little bit later this hour, but
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  Speaker 1: the Australian Medical Association has this morning called for the
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  Speaker 1: borders here in the Northern Territory to remain closed until
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  Speaker 1: everyone over the age of five can be vaccinated. As
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  Speaker 1: stated in that modeling by the Doughty Institute, should we
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  Speaker 1: be holding off on those borders opening until everyone over
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  Speaker 1: five is vaccinated.
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  Speaker 3: So that's why that modeling and research from the Doughty
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  Speaker 3: Institute was released by the National Cabinet. It was specific
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  Speaker 3: modeling that the Northern Territory Chief Minutes to ask for
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  Speaker 3: on the remote communities, and it clearly shows the higher
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  Speaker 3: the vaccination rate, the less of the impact COVID will
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  Speaker 3: still come. People will still get infected. But if you're
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  Speaker 3: vaccinated and you've got a lot of people the highest
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  Speaker 3: possible in your community vaccinated, your hospitalizations and your acute
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  Speaker 3: illness will be less and that's what is important, and
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  Speaker 3: that's why we've outlined that data.
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  Speaker 1: When is the vaccine for those over the age of
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  Speaker 1: five going to actually be available though we could be
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  Speaker 1: waiting for quite some time, I'm guessing.
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  Speaker 3: So my understanding is that the TGA are looking at
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  Speaker 3: the vaccine. The Commonwealth Minister made comment, i think earlier
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  Speaker 3: this week that he doesn't expect it before Christmas, but
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  Speaker 3: it's certainly being you know, going through those TGA processes
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  Speaker 3: so that we can then get that vaccine into younger children.
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  Speaker 1: All right, Minister, we will push along because I know
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  Speaker 1: that you'll press for time, as are we this morning.
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  Speaker 1: But yesterday we heard from a business owner who is
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  Speaker 1: one of many businesses here in the Northern Territory who've
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  Speaker 1: got serious concerns over the vaccine mandate coming into place
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  Speaker 1: on the weekend. Why is no one sitting down with
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  Speaker 1: these businesses who've got what sounds as though they are
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  Speaker 1: very legitimate concerns at this point over the mandate of
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: the vaccine to.
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  Speaker 3: The vaccine is safe and effective, It's been rigorously tested.
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  Speaker 3: Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade as well as Department
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  Speaker 3: of Health have worked with businesses right through the pandemic.
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  Speaker 3: We've worked with them on their COVID management plans. We've
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  Speaker 3: worked with them at every opportunity so that we can
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  Speaker 3: understand their needs so that they can get back to
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  Speaker 3: business quickly. But at the same time, we protect the community.
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  Speaker 3: So the reason the vaccine is mandated is those are
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  Speaker 3: the professions that are coming into contact with people that
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  Speaker 3: are potentially moving around to the Northern Territory into remote
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  Speaker 3: communities that we need to protect. So we're always happy
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  Speaker 3: to sit down with businesses and talk to them, but
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  Speaker 3: it's not negotiable the vaccine mandate. What we're saying is
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: we're happy to talk in terms of while we've done this,
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  Speaker 3: the importance of it, how it can be implemented from
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  Speaker 3: a practical sense. But the vaccine mandate puts those people
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  Speaker 3: that at a higher risk of spreading COVID. It ensures
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: that that they're vaccinated, which we know that there's less
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: transmission and less severity of illness if they were to
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: catch COVID.
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  Speaker 1: So it sounds as though the government's prepared to sit
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: down with them, But you're not prepared to change your
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: minds in this space in any way.
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: Absolutely not, Katie. The mandate is based on clinical evidence.
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: It is to protect our community, the Northern Territory. Everybody
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: in the territory has done a wonderful job over the
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: past eighteen months. We have been relatively open, relatively free.
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: We've had a couple of lockdowns, we've just had our
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: first lockouts here in the top end, but we've been
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: able to get on with business. I'm not saying that
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: some businesses haven't struggled and really felt the impact of COVID,
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: but what I'm saying is that the mandate is designed
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: to protect the Northern Territory so that we can be
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: free and open and have business you know, doing their
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: going about, you know, working without the impacts of COVID
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: that we've seen, you know in other situations around Australia
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  Speaker 3: with hundreds of days of lockdown and business is being shut.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: Now I know that that. Obviously.
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: One thing that is happening today as of today, which
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: is hopefully going to make life a bit easier for
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: some territories is the fact Nation's Certificate and the check
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: in app set to be linked. Is this kicking in
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: from straight away this morning, yes, Katie.
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: So when I woke up this morning, I went into
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: the Medicare app. So people do need to go back
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: into the Australian government system. And just a couple of
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: weeks ago it only had Victoria and New South Wales
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: that you could link it. Now there is a number
• 11:21
  Speaker 3: of jurisdictions, including the Northern Territory. So what happens is
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: you just link it across and the information can be
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: shared and so you when you check in, it will
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: show that you are checked in and vaccinated. Because I
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: think that some of the feedback over the last couple
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: of days has been when you've been going into businesses,
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: you're busy trying to check in, and then you've also
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: got to show them that you've vaccinated. That can come
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: up on the one screen.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: Well, that is good news.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: I have got one listener question which continues to be
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: raised with us here on three point sixty, and that
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: is it, says Hi, Katie, can you please ask the
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: minister how many Territorians have had adverse reactions to the vaccine.
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: So, Katie, it's important that people understand the difference between
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: the side effects when you get the vaccine. We've been
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: very open that you know, there can be a fever,
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: you can be feeling unwell, and you know almost all
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: of these resolve within a few days and are mild.
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: The Therapeutic Goods Administrations are the TGA. They closely monitor
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: adverse events for suspective side effects, and so I don't
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: have those figures. I'm certainly not aware of large numbers.
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: I know this is important to your listeners, So I'm
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: happy to ask Health and provide some information, you know,
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: around how the TGA reports that back to the community
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: in the coming day.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I can hear them, you know, right now, they'll
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: be saying Katie, How does she not have those numbers?
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: How do we not know how many people have had
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: an adverse reaction, particularly if it's a serious one, Katie.
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: So in terms of there is processes at a national
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: level with TGA, with the therapeutic goods, they closely monitor
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: those adverse events, and it's really important that people feeling
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: unwell and could go on for a few days and
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: you could feel quite unwell. That's a mild side effect
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: as approached to an adverse reaction. But I'm happy to
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: go away and get that information and provide that process
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: back to your listeners.
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: All right, that would definitely be appreciated. We are going
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: to have to leave it there. Health Minister Natasha Files,
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: thanks for your time today. Thank you, and you are
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: listening to Mix one oh four point nine. If you
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: do want to call through eight nine four one one
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: oh four nine