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Speaker 1: Because I know the thing that is certainly front of

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Speaker 1: mind this morning is the testing. It's the major concern

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Speaker 1: for a lot of territories right now after the government

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Speaker 1: announced at a press conference yesterday that there are those

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Speaker 1: new two new cases of COVID and a number of

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Speaker 1: new COVID nineteen public exposure sites. So people lined up

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Speaker 1: for hours yesterday. Some of them were turned away, some

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Speaker 1: told they need to book an appointment, some of them

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Speaker 1: waited for hours but still couldn't get in. Joining me

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Speaker 1: on the line is the Health Minister, Natasha Files. Good

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Speaker 1: morning to your minister. Let's try that again. Good morning

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Speaker 1: to your minister.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, Good morning listeners.

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Speaker 1: Now, Minister, firstly, do we know if we have any

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Speaker 1: new cases today?

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Speaker 2: So Katie, as soon as we have any new cases,

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Speaker 2: we will let the public know because we know that

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Speaker 2: importantly there may be contact locations that they need to know.

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Speaker 2: But I do not have any new cases to update

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Speaker 2: you on, but testing and the laboratory. You have worked

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Speaker 2: around the clock to make sure the labs have gone

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Speaker 2: around the clock to make sure we get that information

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Speaker 2: as quickly as possible. So as soon as we have

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Speaker 2: any updates, we certainly will share it with territoriums.

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Speaker 1: Is there going to be a SEMC meeting this morning

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Speaker 1: as there has been over the last couple of days.

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Speaker 2: Yes, Katie, So semse has been meeting two and three

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Speaker 2: times a day, So when I finish speaking with you

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Speaker 2: and your listeners, I certainly will be joining that meeting.

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Speaker 1: And then are we expecting the Chief Minister to come

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Speaker 1: out sort of around midday as has happened as.

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Speaker 3: Well, Katie.

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Speaker 2: I haven't had confirmation that that's the plan today, but

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Speaker 2: you've certainly seen that over the last few days. We

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Speaker 2: need to make sure that territorians and we appreciate everybody

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Speaker 2: listening in that we appreciate the role that the media

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Speaker 2: is doing and getting this important information out. But what

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Speaker 2: I can tell you right now, Katie, is the advice

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Speaker 2: from yesterday around those locations and people should be heading

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Speaker 2: to the coronavirus website to check have they been at

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Speaker 2: any of those locations and what they should do from there.

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Speaker 1: Now, before we get into the testing and also the

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Speaker 1: vaccination roll out, can I just ask are you expecting

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Speaker 1: there to be more cases today and are we expecting

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Speaker 1: more exposure sites?

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Speaker 2: So, Katie, we've done an enormous volume of testing. We

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Speaker 2: know that this variant of coronavirus transmits rapidly. That's why

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Speaker 2: we put Darwin and the greater surrounds palmerstan Lichfield into

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Speaker 2: that lockdown. I would expect more cases, but I do

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Speaker 2: not have any cases to update you on right now.

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Speaker 2: But what I do need people to do is to

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Speaker 2: look at those locations to see if they possibly have contacted.

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Speaker 2: And everyone just upholding the lockdown and why they should

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Speaker 2: be staying at home not going out into our community.

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Speaker 1: All right, So at this point in time, realistically we

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Speaker 1: should expect more cases and potentially more exposure sites. But

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Speaker 1: stay in lockdown, stay calm, and just adhere to the

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Speaker 1: health advice that we're being given.

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Speaker 3: At this point, I know lots of people.

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Speaker 2: What can I do. What you can do is just

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Speaker 2: followed the rules, stay in lockdown, exactly as you just said,

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Speaker 2: look at those exposure sites, and Katie, this is a

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Speaker 2: really important point. These exposure sites change. The reason they

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Speaker 2: change is that we have an interview process and we

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Speaker 2: get some initial information and we want to get that

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Speaker 2: out there. We then go back through forensically, we look

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Speaker 2: at receipts, credit card statements, mobile phone bills with these

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Speaker 2: individuals and check that that information is in fact factual,

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Speaker 2: and sometimes the time frames change. We have urged absolutely

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Speaker 2: on the side of caution with the contact locations that

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Speaker 2: were in out yesterday. The health advice is that those

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Speaker 2: people would have been very early on in their illness,

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Speaker 2: with their viral loads very low. But we have urged

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Speaker 2: on that side of caution, noting we're dealing with such

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Speaker 2: a transmissible variance of the virus, and so we do

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Speaker 2: need people in terms of testing. And I know you'll

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Speaker 2: get to the testing numbers and I can talk to

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Speaker 2: you in a second, but we need people who only

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Speaker 2: genuinely need to be tested. So check those exposure sites,

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Speaker 2: and it's tricky. As soon as Bunnings became one, my

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Speaker 2: other half was like, hey, I've been at Bunny but

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Speaker 2: it was a different day. So that's probably a really

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Speaker 2: key piece of information for listeners and also the worried. Well,

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Speaker 2: unless you've got symptoms or you've been at those contact locations,

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Speaker 2: we don't need you to be tested right now, and

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Speaker 2: there'll be more tests over the coming days if you

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Speaker 2: do start to feel unwell or if more exposure sites

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Speaker 2: are added.

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Speaker 1: Okay, I've got quite a bit that I want to

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Speaker 1: get through this morning. So firstly, do you have to

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Speaker 1: make a booking for a test or can you just

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Speaker 1: turn up?

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Speaker 2: No, you need to make a booking, Katie. That became

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Speaker 2: very evident yesterday we tried to cater for people that

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Speaker 2: hadn't made bookings. You need to make a booking. Head

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Speaker 2: to the COVID nineteen website and you can do it

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Speaker 2: all online.

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Speaker 1: Okay, the station was taking calls from concerned territorians waiting

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Speaker 1: for hours and hours to get tested yesterday. The communication

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Speaker 1: was certainly confusing. First we were told you need a booking.

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Speaker 1: Then the Chief Finister stood up at the press conference

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Speaker 1: and said that you didn't and that he would obviously

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Speaker 1: have the capacity or he would make sure that there

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Speaker 1: was those two lanes for people to get tested, and

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Speaker 1: that there'd be additional staff. But there were people who

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Speaker 1: literally waited for hours in those lines. Minister, do we

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Speaker 1: need more staff and maybe another location to handle all

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Speaker 1: of the testing that needs to happen as these exposure

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Speaker 1: sites grow.

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Speaker 2: So, Katie, we're assessing that this morning we had more

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Speaker 2: than seventy staff on site with multiple lanes. We need

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Speaker 2: people to book in for the testing so that we

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Speaker 2: can have their paperwork and the process can be smoother.

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Speaker 2: I absolutely apologize to people that waited. What we did

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Speaker 2: do in the late afternoon early evening, when we realized

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Speaker 2: that we wouldn't get through everybody was police helped us

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Speaker 2: draw a line and we said to people behind that

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Speaker 2: you won't get tested today. People in front of that line,

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Speaker 2: we handed out some priority cards, as I understand, so

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Speaker 2: that they could come back this morning, and we also

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Speaker 2: extended our hours to be open last night to get

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Speaker 2: through over two thousand. That was around twenty three hundred tests, we.

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Speaker 3: Believe, so seventy staff.

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Speaker 1: I know that's a massive number, and staff are working

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Speaker 1: over time and doing their very best to try to

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Speaker 1: get through everybody. D Do we actually need maybe another

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Speaker 1: location and additional staff, So.

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Speaker 2: We're assessing that this morning. But the point that I

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Speaker 2: made earlier Katie, is that we have a lot of

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Speaker 2: worried well turning up to get tested. We need to

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Speaker 2: focus on the people that genuinely may have crossed paths

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Speaker 2: with this virus or people that are symptomatic, because we

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Speaker 2: know the virus has been in our community. I've also

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Speaker 2: got a message for our close contacts Katie, There's only

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Speaker 2: three locations at this stage that are for close contacts,

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Speaker 2: So that's the mine itself. That's the people that were

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Speaker 2: at the bus club Friday evening and people at the

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Speaker 2: zumba class on Saturday morning. If you have been at

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Speaker 2: those locations, we have identified who you are and we

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Speaker 2: will reach out and make sure that you get tested.

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Speaker 2: I certainly had some contact from people that genuinely needed

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Speaker 2: to be tested and their frustration. So that's the message

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Speaker 2: for the close.

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Speaker 1: Contact Okay, do we need to maybe extend the hours

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Speaker 1: that the testing clinic is happening at the moment? Do

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Speaker 1: we need to look at standing it up twenty four hours?

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Speaker 2: We'll look at that. There is capacity for bookings a

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Speaker 2: little while ago, there was still capacity later today, and

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Speaker 2: plenty of capacity tomorrow. We're in this lockdown till Friday

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Speaker 2: at least, and so people just need to be patient.

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Speaker 2: It's not just getting those tests off individuals. We've got

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Speaker 2: significant capacity at our laboratories, but we need to make

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Speaker 2: sure the systems behind it flow. But we're assessing all

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Speaker 2: of that this morning based on the information that's coming

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Speaker 2: to hand around any new contacts potentially.

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Speaker 1: Okay, how many people were tested yesterday.

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Speaker 2: So we undertook around twenty three hundred tests at Marara alone,

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Speaker 2: and then we also had a few hundred at the

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Speaker 2: raw zaw On Hospital site, and we've also got the

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Speaker 2: Palmerston GP Superclinic that was undertaking testing. We have booking

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Speaker 2: numbers today the numbers I have earlier. We already had

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Speaker 2: seventeen hundred people booked in for Maurra, but there's still

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Speaker 2: some capacity there and there's plenty of capacity for tomorrow

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Speaker 2: for Moraro. So I know people want to get tested quickly.

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Speaker 2: We're all in lockdown. You should be remaining at home anyway,

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Speaker 2: and so if people could just be patient.

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Speaker 1: Please, Now how long is it going to take to

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Speaker 1: get the results back?

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Speaker 2: So we're saying forty eight to seventy two hours, But

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Speaker 2: our labs are working through that information and we're trying

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Speaker 2: to turn those test results around as quickly as possible, Katie.

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Speaker 2: We've also looked at the systems that help us turn

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Speaker 2: that around, and Health is trying to make that as

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Speaker 2: efficient as possible so that there's not a lag in

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Speaker 2: the system somewhere that's delaying that information getting out to territory.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I guess you know.

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Speaker 1: At this point in time, presumably we need to make

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Speaker 1: sure that we get all of those results back, particularly

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Speaker 1: those who've been at those exposure sites, before we can

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Speaker 1: actually reopen the territory and before we can come out

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Speaker 1: of lockdown. Are you confident that we're going to be

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Speaker 1: able to get all of those people tested and all

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Speaker 1: of their results back by one pm on Friday.

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Speaker 2: So that's what we're working through with our health officials

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Speaker 2: this morning, and that's why we need people to specifically

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Speaker 2: look at the advice and make sure they genuinely match

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Speaker 2: that that they're not as we we turn them worried

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Speaker 2: well who think they may have been there, or they

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Speaker 2: may not be feeling great and just want to get

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Speaker 2: tested because they know there's COVID in the community. It's

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Speaker 2: a very fine line, but it does have an impact

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Speaker 2: on our system if we have people unnecessarily getting tested.

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Speaker 1: Okay, Now, those additional exposure sites were added yesterday, including

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Speaker 1: a zumba class in Palmerston. We've been contacted by concerned

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Speaker 1: territorians asking if those involved in the zumba class were

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Speaker 1: also those who performed the warm up at the city

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Speaker 1: to serve on Sunday morning.

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Speaker 2: Katie I don't have that information. So what will happen

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Speaker 2: is those people at the Zoomba class and the other

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Speaker 2: two locations, they're our close contacts and they're testing as

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Speaker 2: a priority. If we were to see any positive tests,

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Speaker 2: there would be further contact tracing that would take place,

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Speaker 2: and so that is a priority for us testing those individuals.

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Speaker 2: But because we're all in lockdown, we can't go back

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Speaker 2: and change what potentially may have happened over the weekend.

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Speaker 2: But we're stopping that transmission further by having this hopefully

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Speaker 2: a short but certainly a sharp lockdown.

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Speaker 1: No doubt, though there have been questions asked of those

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Speaker 1: that were at that Zoomba class, given that it is

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Speaker 1: now close contact, it should be fairly straightforward whether they

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Speaker 1: were or weren't involved at the city to serve.

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Speaker 2: On Sunday, okaty I said, I don't have that information

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Speaker 2: of where those people from the Zoomba class have been

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Speaker 2: and we can't preempt they haven't tested positive yet, but

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Speaker 2: absolutely they're testing as a priority and people there is

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Speaker 2: a process around where they have interviews with them whilst

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Speaker 2: they're awaiting test results. But what I'm saying is we

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Speaker 2: have to follow the transmission and we don't have any

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Speaker 2: positive cases from that Zoomba class yet.

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Speaker 1: All right, Minister. The phone line is going absolutely berserk.

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Speaker 1: We're getting a lot of people messaged through. A lot

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Speaker 1: of them obviously are waiting for extended periods of time

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Speaker 1: to get tested. But I have also had a few

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Speaker 1: people get in contact to ask about the welfare of

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Speaker 1: the miners at the Granite mine who are in lockdown.

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Speaker 1: I've been sent photos and also messages about the lack

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Speaker 1: of food and the can conditions that they're facing at

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Speaker 1: the moment. Is the government providing support to the MIND

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Speaker 1: to ensure that they do have food and other provisions.

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Speaker 2: My understanding is yes, Katie. So what we have is

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Speaker 2: the MIND is still being operated the Mind Sight by

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Speaker 2: the management there, but we have sent out an MT

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Speaker 2: team which is a rapid response team and that has

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Speaker 2: both health and police, and so that's to make sure

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Speaker 2: that they're managing their COVID management plan for the COVID

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Speaker 2: safety of those miners. We have heard those health and

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Speaker 2: well being concerned and I understand MIND management has over

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Speaker 2: the last twenty four to forty eight hours put in

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Speaker 2: place a number of measures to try and make it

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Speaker 2: as comfortable as possible at that site, but we certainly

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Speaker 2: acknowledge it's being difficult. It's an operation that's used to

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Speaker 2: basically work and sleep and it's now had to pivot

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Speaker 2: into this COVID management situation.

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Speaker 1: Well, and you know there's quite a number of them

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Speaker 1: out there obviously quarantining. Should those miners who have to

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Speaker 1: quarantine maybe be put on a charter flight and brought

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Speaker 1: to Howard Springs.

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Speaker 2: So NT Health is managing the quarantine and the infection

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Speaker 2: control procedures at the site, and we've undertaken the COVID

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Speaker 2: nineteen testing. Anyone that tests positive will be removed from

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Speaker 2: the site. But those other individuals, the best thing is

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Speaker 2: for them to stay on that site, and that's being

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Speaker 2: managed by the MIND. But we're certainly making sure that

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Speaker 2: Welfare and Newmont, the company that owns the MIND, is

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Speaker 2: working with Health so that they can have some exercise

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Speaker 2: each day, accessing some laundry services and some of those

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Speaker 2: queries that have been raised around food.

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Speaker 1: Okay, Look, there are a lot of people who are

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Speaker 1: concerned about some of those close contacts being at major

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Speaker 1: events on the weekend. When will we have a better

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Speaker 1: idea if any of those close contacts i e. Those

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Speaker 1: who've been at the buff Club and at that Zoomba class,

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Speaker 1: whether they were indeed at any major events on the weekend.

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Speaker 2: So that's been the absolute priority for Health and we've

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Speaker 2: got police also working in with Health is contacting those

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Speaker 2: people that were at the bus club and the Zoomba classified.

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Speaker 2: Those people, we're contacting them and attempting to make contacts

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Speaker 2: so that we can be assured they're in isolation, get

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Speaker 2: their test results and prioritize those test results. So that's

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Speaker 2: the absolute priority for the NT Health team right now.

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Speaker 1: We learned late yesterday the government is set to open

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Speaker 1: an additional vaccine hub at Marara, opening next week. Have

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Speaker 1: all of those spots already been booked out?

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Speaker 2: So Katie I was advised this morning that those spots

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Speaker 2: have already been booked out. So there was close to

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Speaker 2: a couple of thousand appointments put up and they were

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Speaker 2: booked out within six hours. So what we're doing now

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Speaker 2: is we're just working through our confirmed allocation of supply. Equally,

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Speaker 2: I've been working with the Commonwealth around additional supply and

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Speaker 2: if we can place more bookings we certainly will do.

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Speaker 2: So what we also did Katie was we had people

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Speaker 2: aged fifty to fifty nine that were booked in to

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Speaker 2: receive AstraZeneca. Their bookings were canceled when the ATAGI help

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Speaker 2: advice changed around the preferred vaccine. So those people have

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Speaker 2: been automatically rebooked in to receive visa and we've opened

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Speaker 2: this up to the forty to fifty nine age group.

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Speaker 2: So there will be some changes in this space with

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Speaker 2: more bookings coming online, but we've tried to cater for

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Speaker 2: those people that were unfortunately caught up in the change

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Speaker 2: of preferred vaccine, and we certainly will work with the

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Speaker 2: Commonwealth to get more supply. So if people we certainly

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Speaker 2: share with the community when more bookings become available, and

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Speaker 2: if people keep checking that website.

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Speaker 1: Okay, Minister, there's a lot of messages coming through from

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Speaker 1: our listeners. I want to get to at least a

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Speaker 1: few of those. I've got one here that says the

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Speaker 1: chow said yesterday to confirm infection is about a week.

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Speaker 1: So do people need to be retested, Like are we

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Speaker 1: sending casual contact people who have to isolate until a

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Speaker 1: negative result back out into the community without the proper

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Speaker 1: safeguards in place.

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Speaker 2: No, So we're in a lockdown, and anyone that is

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Speaker 2: identified as a contact is in isolation until they receive

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Speaker 2: a negative PET. So what he means is that even

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Speaker 2: though we've identified some close contacts and so far they've

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Speaker 2: only had negative tests, that could change as the virus

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Speaker 2: developed in their body and their viral load lists, and

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Speaker 2: so what he was saying in that comment was, we're

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Speaker 2: not all clear yet even though we've had some negative

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Speaker 2: tests from some of these close contacts, that could change,

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Speaker 2: so be prepared for change over the coming days.

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Speaker 1: Okay, another one here they're asked all that says, well,

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Speaker 1: hang on, sorry, They're just they're coming through so fast

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Speaker 1: that I'm losing them. Then there's one here that says

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Speaker 1: I was in the line at testing for two hours.

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Speaker 1: I was lucky as I arrived at one pm. But

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Speaker 1: the Chief Finister stated there were two lanes for dropping.

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Speaker 1: There was never two lanes for dropping, as the staff

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Speaker 1: were not aware of this. Chief Minister needs to make

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Speaker 1: sure it's in place before saying it at a press conference.

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Speaker 1: The staff were fantastic. My mate was in line for

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Speaker 1: six hours until nine thirty last night.

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Speaker 2: Katie. I've acknowledged that we were overwhelmed yesterday. We put

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Speaker 2: in place mechanisms late in the day to try and

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Speaker 2: care for those people that had waited for significant periods

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Speaker 2: of time. But that I think that highlights that people

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Speaker 2: need to really look at the contact information. They really

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Speaker 2: need to make sure that they're unwell. We don't need

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Speaker 2: unnecessarily people getting tested, but we're assessing the situation. I've

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Speaker 2: been out to Maura this morning and yes, there was

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Speaker 2: a significant number of cars, but that was before the

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Speaker 2: facility had opened. Once those facility was opened and the

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Speaker 2: lanes were going through and flowing, hopefully we'll see a

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Speaker 2: different situation with people making sure they're booked in. But

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Speaker 2: we'll assess that this morning and if we need to

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Speaker 2: make further decisions, we will.

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Speaker 3: Okay there, Like I said, there's a lot coming through.

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Speaker 3: Another one.

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Speaker 1: Hi, Katie, I'm being told that GPS are refusing face

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Speaker 1: to face appointments at the moment.

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Speaker 3: Is this indeed the case?

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Speaker 2: But Katie, you are able to leave your home to

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Speaker 2: seek medical treatment. I think that's really important. Now. If

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Speaker 2: GPS have pivoted to a situation where they're trying to

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Speaker 2: use telehealth, that would be a decision of the GP

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Speaker 2: provider and telehealth can be an excellent tool in actually

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Speaker 2: assessing an illness remotely and making sure that the individual

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Speaker 2: doesn't need to travel from their home and lessen the risk.

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Speaker 2: But that would be a question for individual health providers.

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Speaker 2: But you can leave your home in the lockdown to

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Speaker 2: seek medical treatment, and our essential workers such as frontline

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Speaker 2: health staff, can also leave the home to work.

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Speaker 3: Minista, I don't want to sound like a broken record.

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Speaker 1: We've got a lot more messages coming through about that testing,

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Speaker 1: so I understand that you know that, really we want

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Speaker 1: to make it incredibly clear for people right now. You

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Speaker 1: must make a booking. You must stay in isolation at

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Speaker 1: this point, regardless or in lockdown, regardless of whether you

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Speaker 1: need a test or not. But you really do need

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Speaker 1: to make a booking.

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Speaker 3: Minister.

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Speaker 1: I know that you said that you are assessing this today,

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Speaker 1: but the reality here is surely we want as many

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Speaker 1: people tested as possible, whether they've been to those exposure

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Speaker 1: sites or whether they do have symptoms, so that we

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Speaker 1: can make sure that this thing isn't spreading into the community.

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Speaker 1: Is it time for us to just bite the bullish

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Speaker 1: and either put more staff on or open up another location.

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Speaker 2: So Katie, there's plenty of vaccination booking. Sorry, there's plenty

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Speaker 2: of COVID testing booking appointments tomorrow. Now people, I can understand.

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Speaker 2: People are at home, they're in isolation, they just want

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Speaker 2: to get that test done. But we need to prioritize

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Speaker 2: those people that are genuinely close contacts. But there is

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Speaker 2: there is capacity, it might not just be in the

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Speaker 2: timeframe that you want, and so that's why it's so

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Speaker 2: important that you go to COVID nineteen appointment dot NT

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Speaker 2: dot gov, dot a youth, make that booking and don't

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Speaker 2: head tomorrow until it is your time for a booking.

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Speaker 2: Don't think, oh, if I'm just there, I might get

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Speaker 2: in the queue. And so I had a look before

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Speaker 2: coming on air. There was plenty of bookings for tomorrow.

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Speaker 2: So it might be that you just have to stay

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Speaker 2: at home today and then you can get that test

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Speaker 2: done tomorrow.

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Speaker 3: Minister.

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Speaker 1: The other thing that we're getting loudly and clearly on

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Speaker 1: the text line this morning another message saying I'd definitely

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Speaker 1: be isolating. The zomba at the rex Endure in Parmeston

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Speaker 1: on Saturday morning was deemed high risk and everyone there

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Speaker 1: needs to self isolate they were the same Zoombra instructors

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Speaker 1: that were at the start of the four kilometers at

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Speaker 1: the City to Serve. Now, I really don't want to

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Speaker 1: be responsible here in Scaremonger, but I do want to

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Speaker 1: make sure that we are asking this question and that

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Speaker 1: we're able to get clarity on it.

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Speaker 2: So Katie, you've asked the question, and what I have

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Speaker 2: explained is that the Zoomba class is a close contact,

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Speaker 2: so those individuals are in isolation and getting tested. Any

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Speaker 2: household members of a close contact should also isolate separately

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Speaker 2: from the individual until that contact test result has hopefully

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Speaker 2: come back negative. I will certainly make sure when we

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Speaker 2: get off air that health officials are aware that there

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Speaker 2: is an understanding from the community that some people at

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Speaker 2: that Zoomba class were at another event. But I also

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Speaker 2: need to remind people that we have urged on the

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Speaker 2: side of caution with those contacts. The health authorities believe

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Speaker 2: the viral load was very, very low. Those people tested

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Speaker 2: positive after that, and so we're urging on that side

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Speaker 2: of caution. But I certainly hear the feedback from your

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Speaker 2: listeners and I'll pass that straight on.

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Speaker 1: To Health Health Minister Natasha Files. We appreciate your time

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Speaker 1: this morning. No doubt we'll probably be talking to you

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Speaker 1: every day until this thing is sorted. We really appreciate

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Speaker 1: you speaking to us. I know it's a busy day ahead.

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Speaker 3: Thank you, thank you.