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

0:00
Speaker 1: As I said, at the end of last week, around
0:01
Speaker 1: thirteen thousand people were forced into self isolation as a
0:05
Speaker 1: result of that situation. In Victoria, we heard from locals
0:09
Speaker 1: and visitors who could not book in for COVID testing.
0:13
Speaker 1: On Friday, though, the government announced that they'd be standing
0:15
Speaker 1: up and drive through COVID nineteen testing site at the
0:18
Speaker 1: Netball Stadium Imara to accommodate with the increased demand. Now
0:22
Speaker 1: joining me in the studio is the Health Minister Natasha Files.
0:26
Speaker 2: Good morning to you, morning Wolfy, morning listeners.
0:28
Speaker 1: Now, Minister, why was that decision made to stand up
0:30
Speaker 1: the drive through testing site on Friday?
0:32
Speaker 3: So, Katie, we saw an enormous influx in the number
0:35
Speaker 3: of people needing to get tested. That was pretty evident
0:37
Speaker 3: late last week and your callers were reflection across the community.
0:41
Speaker 3: So Health stood up very rapidly that center at Morra.
0:45
Speaker 3: They also provided additional testing capacity in other territory locations
0:50
Speaker 3: that facility was stood up. There's an underground car park
0:52
Speaker 3: at the Netball Center, so we were able to have
0:54
Speaker 3: upstairs where they could when they could put their ppe
0:57
Speaker 3: on it's called doffing and they could have a space
1:00
Speaker 3: to go downstairs undercover and deliver those tests. They were
1:03
Speaker 3: operating a number of lanes and.
1:05
Speaker 2: So we stood that up.
1:07
Speaker 3: We had around thirteen thousand people Katie that have ticked
1:10
Speaker 3: the form that they've been in Victoria in the last
1:12
Speaker 3: twenty eight days. So obviously the health directions only apply
1:15
Speaker 3: to the last fourteen days, so that does rule out
1:17
Speaker 3: a number of people. But we certainly had thousands of
1:20
Speaker 3: text messages sent out last week letting people know that
1:23
Speaker 3: they'd been hotspots. Some people hadn't been in metropolitan Melbourne
1:26
Speaker 3: or Bendigo, but we certainly saw a significant uptech in
1:29
Speaker 3: those testing numbers.
1:31
Speaker 2: So do you have a more accurate figure.
1:33
Speaker 1: Is it still thirteen thousand people who are going to
1:36
Speaker 1: have to stay in self isolation or do you have
1:38
Speaker 1: more accurate figure?
1:39
Speaker 3: No, so it's not thirteen thousand people. We don't have
1:42
Speaker 3: an exact figure, but that thirteen thousand is twenty eight days,
1:45
Speaker 3: so you could have that down to six and a
1:47
Speaker 3: half thousand. We know that many people have perhaps come
1:50
Speaker 3: to the territory and left. I know some family you
1:52
Speaker 3: know of mine that were in that situation. Many people
1:55
Speaker 3: came up for base in the grass for example. So
1:57
Speaker 3: in terms of our testing numbers. I know your listeners
2:00
Speaker 3: be keen to know, but we did over two and
2:01
Speaker 3: a half thousand tests on Friday alone, and we were
2:04
Speaker 3: able to get sixteen hundred results out to people on Saturday.
2:07
Speaker 3: And between last Wednesday evening when we declared that the
2:11
Speaker 3: hotspot area of Greater Metropolitan Melbourne and Bendigo through to Saturday,
2:16
Speaker 3: we did four and a half thousand tests and all
2:18
Speaker 3: of those came back negative. So we stood that facility
2:21
Speaker 3: up on Saturday. Our teams worked very hard on Friday,
2:24
Speaker 3: appreciate the local media. They got behind the facility and
2:27
Speaker 3: were able to really articulate to people to go online
2:30
Speaker 3: and book that test.
2:31
Speaker 1: So just to really break these numbers down, you said
2:33
Speaker 1: that it wouldn't be thirteen thousand people, it's looking more
2:37
Speaker 1: like it would be six and a half thousand people
2:39
Speaker 1: who'd be in self isolation.
2:40
Speaker 3: So Katie, you can't even use that figure because they're
2:43
Speaker 3: people that indicated they've been in Victoria in the last
2:45
Speaker 3: twenty eight days and so. And also they might not
2:50
Speaker 3: have been in that Greater Metropolitan Melbourne and Bendigo. They
2:53
Speaker 3: may have left the territory. There's a number of factors
2:55
Speaker 3: that would take people off that.
2:57
Speaker 2: So at this stage we don't really know how many
2:59
Speaker 2: are in self isolation. So Katie, we sent out text
3:02
Speaker 2: messages to people.
3:03
Speaker 3: We've seen over four and a half thousand tests in
3:06
Speaker 3: those couple of days alone, and so we certainly believe
3:09
Speaker 3: the significant number have been tested and done the right thing.
3:12
Speaker 3: Environmental Health have been doing spot checks and they've already
3:16
Speaker 3: caught someone out that wasn't where they should have been.
3:18
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, taking that into account, I mean you must
3:20
Speaker 1: have a fair idea though, how many people are in
3:22
Speaker 1: self isolation, given the fact that other police and authorities
3:25
Speaker 1: are going to need to go and do those spot checks.
3:27
Speaker 3: So, Katie, I don't have those specific figures, but what
3:30
Speaker 3: we can say is, and the advice I've got from
3:32
Speaker 3: Health is that they believe that the majority of people
3:35
Speaker 3: who need to be tested have been and those remainder
3:37
Speaker 3: are booked in for tests.
3:39
Speaker 1: I'm just sort of trying to wrap my head around
3:40
Speaker 1: how it's gone from thirteen thousand people all the way
3:43
Speaker 1: down to four and a half.
3:44
Speaker 3: So, Katie, the thirteen thousand figure is people that since
3:47
Speaker 3: the twelfth of May have ticked the box. They were
3:50
Speaker 3: in Victoria since the twelfth of May in the last
3:54
Speaker 3: twenty eight days.
3:55
Speaker 1: Some of them could have been in regional Victoria people
3:57
Speaker 1: locations that are not hot spots. Absolutely, they could have
4:00
Speaker 1: been in a number of places that aren't declared hotspots.
4:03
Speaker 3: They could have come to the territory and returned home.
4:06
Speaker 3: And I do point to that event of base in
4:08
Speaker 3: the Grass. They could have come to the territory and
4:10
Speaker 3: traveled on to other states.
4:11
Speaker 1: So how long are you going to keep this testing
4:14
Speaker 1: site at the Netball Stadium going for? And I understand
4:17
Speaker 1: that there's also additional stuff at both the Darwin Hospital
4:20
Speaker 1: and also the Olla Springs.
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Speaker 3: So the site at the Netball Center, we stood that
4:24
Speaker 3: down late yesterday or yesterday around midday, and that was
4:27
Speaker 3: advice from HPBC and our chief Health officer that Victoria.
4:31
Speaker 2: We didn't need to.
4:32
Speaker 3: Expand the hotspot declaration areas. We had a sufficient capacity
4:38
Speaker 3: at those other locations, so we were able to stand
4:40
Speaker 3: that facility down so we could stand it up again
4:43
Speaker 3: if we needed to.
4:44
Speaker 2: But it served its purpose and provided those additionals.
4:46
Speaker 1: So you feel at this point in time that you
4:48
Speaker 1: are on top of all of that testing now, correct?
4:50
Speaker 2: Okay?
4:51
Speaker 1: I do want to ask we know that the numbers
4:53
Speaker 1: are the latest numbers in Victoria. Five new cases. At
4:57
Speaker 1: this stage we're on sure if they're linked to the
4:58
Speaker 1: existing outbreaks. We do know that now there are forty
5:02
Speaker 1: six cases which are locally acquired coronavirus cases in Victoria.
5:06
Speaker 2: What is the latest advice when it comes to Victoria.
5:09
Speaker 3: So the Chief Health Officer participated in those HPPC meetings
5:13
Speaker 3: which is those National Health meetings all weekend and provided
5:15
Speaker 3: advice back to the Northern Territory government and to myself
5:18
Speaker 3: as Health Minister. We will watch and wait Victoria. One
5:22
Speaker 3: of the concerns Katie is the numbers are promising because
5:25
Speaker 3: they're low, but the person or people were active in
5:29
Speaker 3: the community as late as last weekend and early last
5:32
Speaker 3: week they were transmitting the illness and so whether those
5:36
Speaker 3: people that have picked it up, whether that's become apparent yet.
5:40
Speaker 3: So that's why they're in that seven day lockdown.
5:42
Speaker 1: But so the Melbourne exposure sites, as I understand it,
5:45
Speaker 1: have been expanded. But for us in the territory now
5:47
Speaker 1: does that no longer matter because really the whole state
5:50
Speaker 1: has been declared or what's the situation with the state.
5:52
Speaker 3: So I think the clear advice is anyone that's been
5:55
Speaker 3: in Victoria needs to check the NTG Coronavirus website and
5:58
Speaker 3: the Victorian Health website. They must isolate and get tested
6:02
Speaker 3: if they've been in those hot spots. But there is
6:04
Speaker 3: that additional overlay of those Tier one locations and that
6:07
Speaker 3: has grown significantly, and so people should check because the
6:10
Speaker 3: advice is different if they've been in one of those
6:12
Speaker 3: Tier one locations.
6:13
Speaker 1: It does seem like it's been pretty confusing this time
6:16
Speaker 1: round with the you know, with people sort of wondering
6:18
Speaker 1: whether they need to isolate, exactly what they need to do,
6:21
Speaker 1: and then you go on to the website. No, look,
6:24
Speaker 1: I understand that all the information's on there, but it's
6:26
Speaker 1: pretty hard to wrap your head around.
6:28
Speaker 3: So Katie, Originally, when these cases started to come out
6:31
Speaker 3: of Victoria early last week, we very much followed what
6:33
Speaker 3: Victoria had declared they're Tier one, two and three, trying
6:37
Speaker 3: to avoid declaring that hot spot. When we got to
6:39
Speaker 3: around seventy locations and they were quite a vast area
6:43
Speaker 3: across Melbourne Metropolitan and into Bendigo, our chief Health officer
6:46
Speaker 3: made that decision to call the geographical hot spot and
6:49
Speaker 3: so that covers anyone that has been in that area
6:52
Speaker 3: in that time period. I mean, but there's additional advice
6:55
Speaker 3: because the virus is so contagious, there's and also the timing,
7:00
Speaker 3: there's additional advice for people if they've been in those locations,
7:04
Speaker 3: they have to keep in isolation even when they get
7:06
Speaker 3: a negative test. So we've tried to be as practical
7:08
Speaker 3: as possible. We don't want to keep everyone in isolation
7:10
Speaker 3: for fourteen days.
7:11
Speaker 1: Is the reality here though, that we simply do not
7:14
Speaker 1: have the room to put everybody out of how it's breaks.
7:16
Speaker 3: Those It wasn't based on those decisions. It's the Tier
7:19
Speaker 3: one is based on the Victorian health advice, and that's
7:22
Speaker 3: because they are concerned even if people return a negative
7:25
Speaker 3: test early on, they could still in fact become infectious
7:28
Speaker 3: later on.
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Speaker 1: I mean, there was that breach over the weekend. As
7:30
Speaker 1: we've discussed, Are you worried that this self isolation isn't
7:33
Speaker 1: the safest way to manage this situation?
7:36
Speaker 3: The vast, vast majority of territorians and visitors do the
7:39
Speaker 3: right thing, and we saw that with the enormous numbers
7:41
Speaker 3: that wanted to get tested, Katie, and it's disappointing to
7:44
Speaker 3: see someone has done the wrong thing and you will
7:46
Speaker 3: get caught. If you believe someone you know is doing
7:49
Speaker 3: the wrong thing.
7:49
Speaker 2: Dub them in. It's not acceptable.
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Speaker 1: We've even got the Chief Health Officer, well, the Hugh
7:54
Speaker 1: Hegy is actually in isolation now out at how It Springs, isn't.
7:57
Speaker 3: He Yes, So there has been I'm happy to talk
7:59
Speaker 3: about personally about an employee of Anti Health. He's put
8:03
Speaker 3: out a public statement. He felt that he needed to
8:04
Speaker 3: be upfront with people why he needed to extend his leave.
8:07
Speaker 3: He'd been on some leave. Understand he'd been visiting the
8:09
Speaker 3: grandkids in Victoria and got caught up. So he's at
8:12
Speaker 3: Howard Springs and will remain there until the declarations are
8:15
Speaker 3: potentially changed.
8:16
Speaker 1: Minister is his most recent advice of declaring those tiered
8:20
Speaker 1: hot spots and the different locations is it actually just
8:23
Speaker 1: all a bit too confusing.
8:25
Speaker 3: So, Katie, I've explained it was based on Victorian advice
8:28
Speaker 3: and it still is based on Victorian advice and the
8:30
Speaker 3: risk levels. We tried very hard not to call that
8:33
Speaker 3: geographical hotspot of Melbourne. We know the inconvenience we've seen
8:36
Speaker 3: it over the last few days. You know, families that
8:39
Speaker 3: have planned catch ups, people that have planned holidays. I
8:42
Speaker 3: know people who are now stuck in Victoria. But it's
8:44
Speaker 3: a small price to pay to keep our community safe.
8:46
Speaker 1: All right, minister, We've got a lot of messages coming through.
8:48
Speaker 1: I've got one here. Can you tell me what the
8:50
Speaker 1: situation is with the Melbourne Airport? Is it a hot
8:53
Speaker 1: spot or can you pass through there?
8:55
Speaker 3: So, Katie, you can transit through Melbourne Airport. So we
8:58
Speaker 3: know that it's a hub for flight, particularly Canberra Hobart.
9:02
Speaker 3: But even with the complicated flight schedule now sometimes people
9:05
Speaker 3: go backwards to come up. So maybe from Adelaide you
9:07
Speaker 3: can transit through. We did see earlier this year the
9:11
Speaker 3: Melbourne Airport itself declared a hotspot, so there's always that chance.
9:14
Speaker 3: But right now you can transit through the airport.
9:17
Speaker 2: Okay.
9:17
Speaker 1: Now, over the weekend, one new COVID nineteen case has
9:20
Speaker 1: been recorded. A thirty three year old female who arrived
9:23
Speaker 1: on one of those repatriation flights from New Delhi on
9:25
Speaker 1: the twenty third of May test and positive for COVID nineteen.
9:29
Speaker 1: As I understand that there is another flight which is
9:31
Speaker 1: expected to arrive this morning, isn't there, correct, Katie? So
9:35
Speaker 1: there seems to be a lot less in terms of
9:38
Speaker 1: these cases, particularly when you look at that massive surge
9:40
Speaker 1: that we had just a few weeks ago before those
9:43
Speaker 1: flights were seized.
9:44
Speaker 2: Why do you think that is so, Katie.
9:46
Speaker 3: We worked with the Commonwealth and I'd like to acknowledge
9:49
Speaker 3: DEFAT and the measures they put in place at the
9:51
Speaker 3: point of departure. We had over fifty cases off that
9:54
Speaker 3: flight from India before they were postponed, and just to
9:57
Speaker 3: see this one case to date off that flight is
9:59
Speaker 3: very rare, suing that those measures have made an impact.
10:02
Speaker 2: So we'll continue to work.
10:03
Speaker 3: With the Commonwealth government to make sure we try and
10:05
Speaker 3: stop the cases from coming in, but try and get
10:08
Speaker 3: these people home.
10:09
Speaker 2: All right.
10:09
Speaker 1: Another listener question asking if those passengers are now being
10:12
Speaker 1: transferred through the international airport instead of the RUAAF base.
10:17
Speaker 3: My understanding, Katie, is that they are still going through
10:19
Speaker 3: the raft side of Darwin International Airport. There are plans
10:24
Speaker 3: that at some point they will come across, but we
10:26
Speaker 3: have not transferred that that yet. There needs to be
10:29
Speaker 3: a number of changes made. Why so the raft side
10:33
Speaker 3: has been suitable, but we believe that in terms of
10:36
Speaker 3: having this as a longer term plan, there's changes that
10:39
Speaker 3: we could make that would be even safer and utilizing
10:43
Speaker 3: the international arrival's part. But keeping people separate is the
10:47
Speaker 3: most the way that we should go. But those changes
10:50
Speaker 3: haven't been made. There needs to be some rectifications made
10:53
Speaker 3: before that would happen.
10:54
Speaker 2: When are you expecting those changes? So we won't do
10:56
Speaker 2: it until it's safe. It needs to be checked off.
10:58
Speaker 3: We had the Chief News Alison McMillan up here last
11:01
Speaker 3: week auditing our quarantine program once again, so it would
11:04
Speaker 3: be fully audited and making sure that safety for territorians
11:09
Speaker 3: comes first.
11:09
Speaker 2: But hang on.
11:10
Speaker 1: My understanding is that the RAF area where the flights
11:14
Speaker 1: are currently or where those passengers are currently going through,
11:17
Speaker 1: is entirely separate to the airport, Whereas if they are
11:21
Speaker 1: coming through the international side of things, that would mean
11:24
Speaker 1: that they're actually going through the same airport as the
11:26
Speaker 1: rest of us. And in some cases we're talking about
11:28
Speaker 1: people who are highly infectious, so.
11:30
Speaker 3: We need to make sure that they come through entirely
11:33
Speaker 3: separate through that side. So that is the work that
11:36
Speaker 3: would be undertaken.
11:38
Speaker 2: Do you feel comfortable with that?
11:39
Speaker 3: So, Katie, this is based on evidence and this has
11:42
Speaker 3: been looked at rigorously by a number of people and
11:44
Speaker 3: people with that public health experience, and so I believe
11:48
Speaker 3: we need to set up a structure for the longer term.
11:50
Speaker 3: We're going to be doing these repatriations, and in fact
11:52
Speaker 3: international travel will be like this for a long time
11:55
Speaker 3: to come. So it is a big change, but we
11:58
Speaker 3: will work through to make sure it's absolutely safe.
12:00
Speaker 1: I reckon it's going to be one, which is quite
12:02
Speaker 1: surprising to a lot of people listening this morning. What
12:06
Speaker 1: I look, I guess you know, plenty of people will
12:08
Speaker 1: be feeling very worried that this change could put Territorians
12:11
Speaker 1: at a greater risk.
12:12
Speaker 3: So we'll make sure that the Territorians are not at
12:14
Speaker 3: any risk, Katie. And so when they go through on
12:16
Speaker 3: the raft side, we have improved our structures dramatically since
12:19
Speaker 3: we first had those flights, going back a year ago.
12:22
Speaker 3: We continually change and evolved with the virus. And so
12:25
Speaker 3: they believe the structure, if we have rectifications to the
12:30
Speaker 3: Dalen passenger terminal, that this would be the best way
12:33
Speaker 3: to carefully manage these people.
12:34
Speaker 1: Is this a situation where the federal government don't want
12:37
Speaker 1: to be dealing with these flights down the track? Sorry,
12:41
Speaker 1: like as in going through you know, through the raft
12:43
Speaker 1: site or what's this is changing.
12:46
Speaker 3: It's the same as coming together as one model at
12:48
Speaker 3: Howard's Brings. It's identifying that we're going to have this
12:50
Speaker 3: program in place for many many months. It needs to
12:52
Speaker 3: be sustainable and the advice is that if we make
12:55
Speaker 3: changes to the passenger terminal to keep completely separate, have
12:59
Speaker 3: separate airflow. There's a number of things that have to
13:01
Speaker 3: be dealt with that would be the best way to
13:03
Speaker 3: welcome arrivals into Australia. What happens in other states, So
13:06
Speaker 3: I'm not sure of the specifics at other airports, Katie,
13:09
Speaker 3: what happens in terms of the hotel quarantining for international
13:13
Speaker 3: I've seen the vision through the media where people seem
13:15
Speaker 3: to get off at Sydney Airport and go outside and
13:17
Speaker 3: get on those buses under guard. But we know that
13:20
Speaker 3: for us, it's the safest program that we offer and
13:22
Speaker 3: we want to keep that high standard. So that's why
13:24
Speaker 3: there hasn't been any changes to date. All of this
13:26
Speaker 3: has been worked and.
13:27
Speaker 1: I guess that's why people will be quite surprised hearing this.
13:31
Speaker 1: I mean, would it be safer to have some I
13:34
Speaker 1: don't know, it's some structures set up outside or something instead,
13:36
Speaker 1: so that there's not people actually going through the terminal.
13:40
Speaker 3: So Katie, they're not going to just be coming through
13:42
Speaker 3: the terminal potentially interacting with me or you who might
13:44
Speaker 3: be getting off a domestic or intra territory flight. This
13:46
Speaker 3: will be a completely separate process with significant changes to
13:50
Speaker 3: make sure that that separation is maintained.
13:52
Speaker 1: Minister, can I ask how many people are out at
13:55
Speaker 1: Howard Springs now, Katie.
13:57
Speaker 3: I believe that there was a couple of hundred people
14:00
Speaker 3: that arrived over the weekend from the Victorian hotspots. The
14:04
Speaker 3: numbers we had was around eleven hundred on Friday, and
14:07
Speaker 3: that was made up of two hundred domestic Victorian hotspot quarantines.
14:12
Speaker 3: There was two hundred international but not the vulnerable Australian flights.
14:17
Speaker 3: In terms of the international flights for the repatriated Australians,
14:21
Speaker 3: we did see people leave the facility because they completed
14:23
Speaker 3: their quarantine over the weekend ahead of more arrivals over
14:26
Speaker 3: the next few days. So I think the numbers have
14:28
Speaker 3: grown by a couple of hundred. Those internationals would have
14:31
Speaker 3: gone down, but you'll see more people arrive today.
14:33
Speaker 1: Okay, I do want to ask about this situation at
14:35
Speaker 1: Royal dal And Hospital.
14:36
Speaker 2: We know that a video has emerged.
14:38
Speaker 1: The NT News is reporting of emergency vehicles backed up
14:41
Speaker 1: waiting to admit patients at RDH and it's been shared
14:44
Speaker 1: on the socials and in the media. It was also
14:48
Speaker 1: like it was shared on retolers our Northern Territory Facebook
14:50
Speaker 1: page and well it's said that it's been filmed on
14:54
Speaker 1: May the twenty first, at about four fourteen in the
14:57
Speaker 1: RVO and it shows at least ten St John nty
15:00
Speaker 1: emergency emergency vehicles and ambulances well waiting there trying to
15:05
Speaker 1: admit patients.
15:06
Speaker 2: What's going on?
15:08
Speaker 3: So, Katie, rhodsow In Hospital is one of the busiest
15:10
Speaker 3: hospitals in the country, and particularly the emergency department, and
15:13
Speaker 3: I think everyone that works out there, whether they're involved
15:15
Speaker 3: in administration, cleaning or you know, through to that clinical care.
15:19
Speaker 3: But we have seen a peak in demand. I want
15:21
Speaker 3: to make it clear to territories. We haven't had to
15:23
Speaker 3: call that code yellow, but we certainly have seen significant pressures.
15:26
Speaker 3: I was out at the hospital last week working with
15:29
Speaker 3: the staff, listening to them. They are intensively managing this, Katie.
15:32
Speaker 3: There's not one reason why they're seeing these pressures, but
15:36
Speaker 3: they are managing that bed flow, particularly through the hospitals,
15:39
Speaker 3: to relieve the pressure on the emergency department.
15:41
Speaker 1: So is there bed blockages or is there a situation
15:43
Speaker 1: where you know, you've got people coming into emergency and
15:45
Speaker 1: you don't have anywhere to take them.
15:47
Speaker 3: So what we're seeing is that the overall flow through
15:50
Speaker 3: of the hospital, so we're making sure that we get
15:52
Speaker 3: people in, they get that care, and then we get
15:54
Speaker 3: them out so we can utilize that bed for the
15:56
Speaker 3: next person. But yes, we have seen pressures within our
15:58
Speaker 3: emergency department and the hospital as a whole.
16:01
Speaker 1: Okay, I do want to ask about the vaccine roll out.
16:04
Speaker 1: Where are we at now in.
16:05
Speaker 3: Terms of those numbers, So, Katie, over forty thousand Territorians
16:08
Speaker 3: have been vaccinated and around ten thousand people have had
16:11
Speaker 3: that second vaccination. This week, I believe is the start
16:15
Speaker 3: of the second doses for those Territorians that were the
16:17
Speaker 3: first to receive the astrazeneka. So those numbers will increase
16:21
Speaker 3: of people fully vaccinated and so we'll continue to roll
16:23
Speaker 3: out the vaccine program. We are looking towards the end
16:26
Speaker 3: of the month of seeing more piza coming in, which
16:28
Speaker 3: means we'll expand that program once again.
16:31
Speaker 1: There's been so many people actually ask are we going
16:35
Speaker 1: to need to still self isolate in these situations once
16:39
Speaker 1: we're vaccinated?
16:41
Speaker 3: So Katie, we need to see lots and lots of people.
16:43
Speaker 3: We need to see the majority of our population vaccinated
16:45
Speaker 3: for that herd immunity. But this is something that is
16:48
Speaker 3: starting to be contemplated. Sorry, it is a Monday morning
16:52
Speaker 3: at a national level. So if people are vaccinated, how
16:55
Speaker 3: does that ensure that they perhaps don't have to adhere
16:58
Speaker 3: to some of this. There hasn't been any decisions made yet.
17:01
Speaker 3: We still know that you can get the illness when vaccinated,
17:03
Speaker 3: it's less of an illness. We know that you can
17:05
Speaker 3: still transmit it, so we really need everyone to be
17:07
Speaker 3: vaccinated before we have those conversations.
17:09
Speaker 1: Well, and I guess you know, at the end of
17:10
Speaker 1: the day, it could actually also encourage people to go
17:13
Speaker 1: and get vaccinated.
17:14
Speaker 3: Off the back of what's happened in Victoria. Coronavirus is
17:16
Speaker 3: an ever present threat. We're only a case away from
17:19
Speaker 3: community transmission here in the territory. Go to Coronavirus dot gov,
17:23
Speaker 3: dot NT dot AU. You can book online to get
17:25
Speaker 3: your vaccination there's a range of people that can be vaccinated.
17:28
Speaker 2: Katie.
17:29
Speaker 3: There's the eligibility checker there. You fill that in and
17:32
Speaker 3: you might be surprised to see you can get vaccinated.
17:34
Speaker 2: There's a lot of people who are.
17:35
Speaker 1: Quite confused about this vaccination. Now I've got another message here.
17:38
Speaker 1: It says, Hi, Katie, I'm very confused with this vaccination issue.
17:42
Speaker 1: I heard on the news this morning a doctor saying
17:44
Speaker 1: that if more people get vaccinated, it would stop the spread.
17:47
Speaker 1: But I also but I was also told that being
17:50
Speaker 1: vaccinated doesn't stop you from getting the virus or spreading it.
17:54
Speaker 2: I don't understand, says that text.
17:56
Speaker 3: And Katie, it might be appropriate to get one of
17:58
Speaker 3: our health professionals. I'm not a health profess. But it's
18:00
Speaker 3: like the flu vaccine. You get the vaccine, you could
18:03
Speaker 3: still get the flu, but you don't get that severity.
18:05
Speaker 3: And when we see the herd immunity in our community,
18:08
Speaker 3: we see the illness become less and less of an impact.
18:10
Speaker 3: So just go on and check the eligibility criteria. You
18:13
Speaker 3: might be surprised to find that you can check it.
18:15
Speaker 3: There's a wide range of criteria. Anyone over the age
18:18
Speaker 3: of fifty can access it. So that's the most important
18:21
Speaker 3: message right now, all.
18:22
Speaker 2: Right, Minister.
18:23
Speaker 1: Another message here It says keep the repatriated Australians coming
18:27
Speaker 1: through the Wrath Base or coming through RAF.
18:30
Speaker 2: If it ain't, don't fix it.
18:32
Speaker 1: Government does not need to keep changing it to look
18:34
Speaker 1: like they're doing things.
18:35
Speaker 3: I can assure you we're not doing it so that
18:37
Speaker 3: we look like we're doing things. But hear that point
18:39
Speaker 3: of view. Any changes that will be made to be
18:41
Speaker 3: well communicated with the community so they can understand the safety.
18:44
Speaker 1: When are you anticipating that's going to happen. We don't
18:46
Speaker 1: have a date, Katie, in coming weeks. No, we do
18:48
Speaker 1: not even have that timeframe.
18:50
Speaker 3: There is criteria that needs to be met before we
18:52
Speaker 3: can contemplate that change, and that's not in place.
18:55
Speaker 2: Okay, So what criteria need to be met?
18:57
Speaker 3: So that was what I was saying to you before
18:58
Speaker 3: we need some physical alters. We need to make sure
19:01
Speaker 3: the airflow is completely separate those types of measures.
19:03
Speaker 2: Okay. So it sounds like it could still be a
19:05
Speaker 2: little way off. Yes, all right, And there.
19:08
Speaker 1: Is still no doubt plenty to come on this topic
19:11
Speaker 1: because I know it's got people a little bit concerned.
19:14
Speaker 2: Messages coming through. Yeah, and I can understand that Katie.
19:16
Speaker 3: Any change is obviously concerning, particularly when we've done so well.
19:19
Speaker 3: But this is about the longevity of the program. It's
19:21
Speaker 3: not something that was just thought up randomly. This is
19:24
Speaker 3: based off we've had those Chief Nurse from the Australian
19:28
Speaker 3: Government reports. We've had a number of looking at the
19:32
Speaker 3: role we play with our quarantine, what we've done and
19:34
Speaker 3: how we can continually improve that. And I do point
19:37
Speaker 3: to the fact that when we first welcomed the flights
19:39
Speaker 3: from Wuhan and Diamond Princess, we got on the plane
19:41
Speaker 3: and welcomed those people. There's no way we would do
19:43
Speaker 3: that now we try and minimize that contact. So just
19:45
Speaker 3: to reassure your listeners.
19:47
Speaker 1: Well, Natasha Files the Health Minister, we always appreciate your time,
19:50
Speaker 1: especially this morning and answering all of those questions for
19:53
Speaker 1: us very extensively.
19:54
Speaker 2: We'll catch up with you again soon. Thank you, Thank you,