COVID quarantine concern as NT Chief Minister says flights from India may need to be reduced
By
Steve Vivian
Posted 1hhour ago, updated 18mminutes ago
Mr Gunner says he will negotiate with the Commonwealth regarding management of the flights from India.(
ABC News: Michael Franchi
)
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Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner says he is currently not in favour of pausing flights from India into Darwin.
Key points:
- Mr Gunner said he was "concerned" about India's rising infection numbers
- Twenty-two Australians who returned from India to the NT have tested positive since the weekend
- Mr Gunner said he was open to advice on reducing the frequency of flights from the nation
Mr Gunner's comments follow a week of climbing infection numbers at the Howard Springs quarantine facility driven by the arrival of returning Australians from India — a country in the grip of a growing COVID
crisis.
"We are concerned about the COVID rate and we are concerned about the situation in India," Mr Gunner said.
"This in many respects increases the humanitarian need to help Australians return from India, which is the purpose of the flights that come through Darwin.
"I wouldn't be automatically in the 'stop-the-flights' category ... it might be clinically that we need to do that, but I will take that advice."
However, Mr Gunner, speaking on ABC Radio Darwin this morning ahead of today's National Cabinet meeting, did flag the possibility the India flights may need to be wound back to reduce pressure on Howard Springs.
"There's definitely a problem in India ... our conversation with the Australian government is then about how do we practically handle that," Mr Gunner said.
Health authorities say Howard Springs is dealing with its most cases since it began taking repatration flights last year.(
AAP: Glenn Campbell
)
"It might be that we need to reduce the scale or scope of the timing of flights from India, knowing that we are seeing an increased infectivity rate amongst passengers.
"At the moment for me the need to help has increased, but how do we do that in the right way here to reduce pressure? So I think that might be going to the timing of the flights."
Keep up to date with the latest news on the pandemic with the ABC's coronavirus page
NT Health Minister Natasha Fyles yesterday confirmed Howard Springs was dealing with its
highest number of positive COVID-19 cases since it began handling international repatriation flights last year.
This morning NT Health authorities said four new COVID-19 cases had been recorded in Howard Springs among returned travellers from India in the past 24 hours.
There are 24 active COVID cases at the quarantine facility, 22 of which are returned travellers from India, the Chief Minister's office said.
India reported 295,041 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday, the biggest daily rise reported in any country.
NT health authorities say that since the weekend, 22 people have tested positive for COVID after returning from India.(
ABC News: Alan Dowler
)
The unfolding crisis in India prompted the Australian Medical Association NT branch president Robert Parker to suggest yesterday that health authorities look "very seriously" at pausing repatriation flights coming into Howard Springs from India.
National Cabinet was meeting today for the second time this week.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison asked to meet with state and territory leaders twice a week to try to get Australia's troubled vaccine rollout back on track.
Chief Health Officer Dr Hugh Heggie will be replaced by Dr Charles Pain during his period of leave.(
ABC News: Felicity James
)
Mr Gunner was set to attend today's national Cabinet meeting following an announcement this morning that Dr Hugh Heggie, the Northern Territory's Chief Health Officer and its most prominent public health official throughout the pandemic, was now on leave.
A statement from the NT Health Department said Mr Heggie was on recreational leave for the next six weeks, starting today.
The Northern Territory's Deputy Chief Health Officer Dr Charles Pain will act as the Chief Health Officer in Mr Heggie's absence, the statement said.
There have been a total of 137 recorded COVID-19 in the Northern Territory, according to NT health authorities.
All cases have been related to international or interstate travel, with no cases of community transmission.
