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Speaker 1: Now joining me on the line is the Health Minister

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Speaker 1: Natasha Files.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, Good morning Katie, Good morning listening.

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Speaker 1: Now, Minister, why did we first find out about this

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Speaker 1: positive COVID case in the Northern Territory well via Queensland media.

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Speaker 2: Oh, Katie, that was nothing deliberate. We were alerted yesterday

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Speaker 2: morning that there was a confirmed positive case of COVID

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Speaker 2: in a return traveler. There was another member of the

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Speaker 2: Legend's Liberit Assembly that was speaking to the media and

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Speaker 2: so I waited till they finished before I held my

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Speaker 2: press conference. But the secure NT press release was as

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Speaker 2: soon as all the information was confirmed and brought together,

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Speaker 2: that was sent out. So there certainly wasn't anything deliberate there.

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Speaker 2: We were trying to get that information out as quickly

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Speaker 2: as possible to territory.

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Speaker 1: I mean, were you a bit peeved though? Like the

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Speaker 1: reality of it is. I was reading an article out

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Speaker 1: on the Courier Mail of what the Queensland Chief Health

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Speaker 1: Officer was saying about Darwin and the Northern Territory being

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Speaker 1: implicated well before that press release came out from SECURINGT

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Speaker 1: So Katie.

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Speaker 2: In releasing the information, we wanted to make sure we

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Speaker 2: had everything to reassure territories that there was very minimal

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Speaker 2: risks to our community. So we needed to confirm the

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Speaker 2: number of as close in casual contacts and so we

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Speaker 2: were certainly getting all of that information and as I

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Speaker 2: just explained, it wasn't anything deliberate. The timing was the

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Speaker 2: statement was sent out on the website, that statement should

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Speaker 2: have gone out, and then not long after that I

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Speaker 2: spoke to media. So we certainly wanted territories to have

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Speaker 2: that information and as much as possible to reassure them.

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Speaker 2: We've had no community transmission in the territory and people

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Speaker 2: here of cases and Katie I get this, so it

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Speaker 2: feels like day in, day out, week in, week out,

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Speaker 2: of is there a case that we're going into lockdown

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Speaker 2: based on rumors that we wanted to have as much

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Speaker 2: information to reassure the community because it is concerning to

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Speaker 2: know that someone has tested positive and they were on

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Speaker 2: a flight, but we believe there's very minimal risk to

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Speaker 2: the community as that individual our system works. They went

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Speaker 2: straight from dal On International Airport to the Howard Springs

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Speaker 2: facility on.

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Speaker 1: Correct me if I'm wrong, though, did that flight arrive

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Speaker 1: on Friday night?

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Speaker 2: So the flight arrived on Friday night Saturday morning, Katie,

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Speaker 2: is my understanding early hours of the morning, the gentleman

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Speaker 2: went straight from down International Airport across to the Howard

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Speaker 2: Springs facility and then within the first twenty four hours

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Speaker 2: a test is taken. That test was processed through the

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Speaker 2: lab and as soon as we had a confirmed positive

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Speaker 2: case yesterday morning, we put that information out to the community.

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Speaker 1: When were those close contacts notified? Though, And the concern

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Speaker 1: that's been raised with us obviously on the show yesterday

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Speaker 1: is it some are worried that those close contacts within

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Speaker 1: out in the community.

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Speaker 2: So, Katie, the way the virus works and the way

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Speaker 2: our system works is if we have a positive case

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Speaker 2: and we need to make sure it's a genuine positive case,

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Speaker 2: we do get cases where it's not a genuine case.

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Speaker 2: So once it's confirmed that there's a positive case, CDC

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Speaker 2: then work with the individual to identify who would have

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Speaker 2: been in close and casual contact. So everyone on that

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Speaker 2: plane should have had a mask on. The individual had

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Speaker 2: a mask on, but they got the manifestof Jetstar and

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Speaker 2: identified the people in the roads surrounding them, so there's

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Speaker 2: very minimal risk. But this is the system working, so

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Speaker 2: the person had gone straight to Howard Springs. We have

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Speaker 2: seen very minimal transmission of the virus on aircraft, and

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Speaker 2: as I said, we also have people wearing masks in

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Speaker 2: those facilities, So I can absolutely understand the concern of

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Speaker 2: people that may have come in contact. It's quite a

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Speaker 2: scary thought that you know you've perhaps crossed paths with someone.

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Speaker 2: But the system has worked in this case.

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Speaker 1: So right now, obviously there were those twenty people seated

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Speaker 1: around him on that flight and four airport stuff. They've

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Speaker 1: all been contacted and are in quarantine. Now when are

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Speaker 1: you anticipating the results from both them and also those

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Speaker 1: casual contacts.

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Speaker 2: And to come back to the point, so Rikati, that

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Speaker 2: you were just asking me this individual in terms of

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Speaker 2: being infectious, he had that mask on. It has to

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Speaker 2: be a period of time to see whether he's trained

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Speaker 2: admitted that to other people. So the close contacts and

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Speaker 2: the casual contacts I understand will be tested today. We

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Speaker 2: needed to wait seventy two hours to see if there

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Speaker 2: was any transmission. We don't want to test people yesterday

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Speaker 2: say nope, everyone's all clear in this situation, and then

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Speaker 2: it was too early for that testing to take place.

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Speaker 2: So the seventy two hour periods from exposure will ensure

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Speaker 2: we get accurate test results and some individuals will need

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Speaker 2: to remain in isolation till the negative tests. Others will

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Speaker 2: need to remain in contact, in isolation, sorry, in quarantine

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Speaker 2: for the fourteen days. But our health teams and so are.

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Speaker 1: You confident You're confident at this point in time, did

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Speaker 1: all of those casual contacts, all of those close contacts

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Speaker 1: you're confident that they will return negative results?

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Speaker 2: So, Katie, I mean, I can't preempt that. The advice

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Speaker 2: I've got is that everyone was wearing masks. The risk

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Speaker 2: of transmission is very, very low, but we're working through that.

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Speaker 2: And the other work that's continuing, Katie, is the contact

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Speaker 2: tracing work. So we've identified those close contacts based off

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Speaker 2: the flight and some interactions at the airport and casual contacts.

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Speaker 2: And as we've seen in this COVID in contact tracing

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Speaker 2: space across Australia and the world, there is a chance

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Speaker 2: that you know, the close contacts could be more or

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Speaker 2: could be less. They're reviewing CCTV footage, they're working through

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Speaker 2: those details. So we have identified everyone on that slide

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Speaker 2: as a casual contact and the people seated around him

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Speaker 2: as close contacts, and that work has continued over the

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Speaker 2: last twenty four hours.

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Speaker 1: All right, now, we do know that the Maderna vaccine

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Speaker 1: is set to roll out into the Northern Territory. What

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Speaker 1: age group is it going to be available to?

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Speaker 2: So, Katie, Maderna will be available for everyone age twelve

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Speaker 2: and above in the territory.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so everyone over the age of twelve. I've just

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Speaker 1: had a message come through from Mark. He was in

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Speaker 1: Howard Springs and was wondering if you could if I

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Speaker 1: could ask why the vaccines are not being administered out

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Speaker 1: there at Howard Springs as well. Would that be a

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Speaker 1: good way to get people vaccinated.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm certainly happy to ask Kelse if it's possible.

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Speaker 2: I think that some of the information provided to date

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Speaker 2: has been if people are in a quarantine facility, there's

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Speaker 2: a potential that they could get the illness, or they

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Speaker 2: could be infected with the illness, and we don't want

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Speaker 2: to give them the vaccine potentially and then have them

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Speaker 2: become unwell. That's when I've asked that question before. But

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Speaker 2: I'm more than happy as people conclude their fourteen days

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Speaker 2: if it makes it easier for them, would it be

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Speaker 2: clinically faced to provide them with the vaccine? You know,

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Speaker 2: That's what the whole point of rolling this out in

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Speaker 2: the philacies is is to make it easier for people

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Speaker 2: to access the vaccine as easy as possible, because it's

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Speaker 2: our best tool in fighting COVID nineteen.

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Speaker 1: Now we know as well that the vaccine passport is

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Speaker 1: going to be something which is going to be critical

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Speaker 1: I think in terms of us reaching that eighty percent.

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Speaker 1: But how exactly are they going to work? I mean,

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Speaker 1: this is a big point of contention at the moment

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Speaker 1: that a lot of businesses and a lot of regular

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Speaker 1: Territorians are wondering about.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, o Kadian. It's pushing through to the next phase

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Speaker 2: of the virus and trying to get life back to

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Speaker 2: normal as quickly as possible, and the Chief Minister outlines

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Speaker 2: our plan last week and there's certainly plenty of questions

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Speaker 2: around it. The way we see the vaccine passport working is

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Speaker 2: similar to the check in app. When people attend a venue,

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Speaker 2: it will link through and it'll show their vaccine status

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Speaker 2: on a screen. So it'll either be I think the

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Speaker 2: talk is a purple screen if you're vaccinated, and so

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Speaker 2: people can easily present that and it's based in an

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Speaker 2: app so that the information is always up to date.

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Speaker 2: And so we need to start to think about COVID

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Speaker 2: just as we think about no smoking, or we think

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Speaker 2: about fire safety or troop hazards and water on floors.

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Speaker 2: Coronavirus will be an ever present threat in our community,

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Speaker 2: and what steps do we take to keep our community

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Speaker 2: safe when we're out and about.

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Speaker 1: Minister A few messages coming through another one here, Katie,

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Speaker 1: are you able to ask are those twenty four close

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Speaker 1: contacts all in quarantine at Howard Springs now or are

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Speaker 1: they in their homes?

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Speaker 2: So, Katie, my understanding is that they were all either

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Speaker 2: in Howard Springs or heading to Howard Springs. They were

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Speaker 2: working through logistics yesterday to get people to the facility.

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Speaker 1: Do they have to pay for themselves if they're in

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Speaker 1: a situation like that where they've been an unforcedure situation

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Speaker 1: where they've sat next to or sat near someone that

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Speaker 1: has COVID.

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Speaker 2: Katie, minunderstanding off previous situations like this is no, they

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Speaker 2: don't have to pay that fee to go into the

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Speaker 2: quarantine facility because they're doing their part to keep our

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Speaker 2: community safe, and that's part of our skilled management structure.

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Speaker 2: Is that quarantine if we know that there've been a

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Speaker 2: close contact of a positive case.

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Speaker 1: Okay, I want to move forward and talk a little

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Speaker 1: bit more about our health system. We know that there's

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Speaker 1: been massive concern over recent weeks. We've been contacted on

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Speaker 1: the weekend from listeners saying that a loved one had

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Speaker 1: been sent home still unwell and quite seriously unwell detail

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Speaker 1: which I won't go into on air, but very unwell

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Speaker 1: and sent home from the emergency department because there were

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Speaker 1: no beds now waiting to try and get in to

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Speaker 1: theater for a procedure. Are we back in a code

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Speaker 1: yellow situation at the moment or is this just normal

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Speaker 1: stuff at our hospital at the moment.

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Speaker 2: So, Katie, I can't speak to that case because I

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Speaker 2: don't know all the facts. But what I can reassure

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Speaker 2: territories is our doctors, our nurses, our hospital stuff make

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Speaker 2: clinical decisions with a lot of expertise and evidence each

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Speaker 2: and every day. So I can't speak to the specifics

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Speaker 2: of that case. I do remind people, and I was

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Speaker 2: mentioning this on Friday, kat If you are at the

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Speaker 2: hospital and you don't believe you're receiving the care that

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Speaker 2: you should be, you can ask to speak to the

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Speaker 2: patient advocate and they will help you. Talk to the

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Speaker 2: clinicians and everyone understand the situation at hand. Equally, if

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Speaker 2: someone has less the facility and they feel their condition

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Speaker 2: has deteriorated, go back to ED or go to your GP.

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Speaker 2: But in terms of the hospital, we recognize that there's

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Speaker 2: been pressures on wheyds are in hospital and we're taking

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Speaker 2: action to ease that.

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Speaker 1: But so not back in a code yellow at this

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Speaker 1: point in time.

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Speaker 2: So, Ktie, what a code yellow is it? And identify?

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Speaker 1: So we've spoken about that before, But are we back

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Speaker 1: in a code yellow at this point in time?

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Speaker 2: No, Katie, I've already answered that for you just a

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Speaker 2: couple of minutes ago.

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Speaker 1: No, okay, So we are obviously still under some pretty

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Speaker 1: extreme though inside our emergency department if we've got patients

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Speaker 1: being turned away or send home because there's not access

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Speaker 1: for them into a ward or they're not able to

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Speaker 1: get into the theater for a procedure. I know that

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Speaker 1: you've spoken about over well the last couple of days,

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Speaker 1: and you're on the show obviously on Friday talking about

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Speaker 1: those additional aged care beds, But how quickly are we

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Speaker 1: looking like having something like that actually open up and

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Speaker 1: these beds become accessible, Katie.

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Speaker 2: I just need to point something out. I haven't been

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Speaker 2: advised that there's capacity issues at the hospital. We know

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Speaker 2: it's an extremely busy hospital where if people need urgent

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Speaker 2: medical care they should either cultural zero or contact their GP.

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Speaker 2: In terms of the hospital, our staff manage the facility

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Speaker 2: we've got and the bed numbers. In terms of the

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Speaker 2: age care, we know that on average there's about fifty

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Speaker 2: patients in our hospital Palmerston and Rozalen Hospital system that

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Speaker 2: require an age care beds. So the commonwealths have responsibility

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Speaker 2: for this, but we've seen over many years where they

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Speaker 2: allocate provisional beds but the providers don't end up building

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Speaker 2: those beds and bringing them online. So the Northern Territory

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Speaker 2: government has fitted and been successful in being provisionally awarded

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Speaker 2: sixty beds and this will also include a dementia ward.

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Speaker 2: So we're very committed to working with the Commonwealth to

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Speaker 2: provide appropriate age care for territory, but also is that

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Speaker 2: burden on our hospital system and will work as quickly

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Speaker 2: as we can to deliver that.

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Speaker 1: So where are they going to be located?

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Speaker 2: The kd that is underway in terms of consultation, investigation

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Speaker 2: on what would be the best location, what would be

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Speaker 2: the best model of delivery for that, and will continue

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Speaker 2: to update the community as we make decisions. But we

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Speaker 2: got this sixty beds funded about four weeks ago.

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Speaker 1: But so four weeks ago sixty beds, I mean, realistically,

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Speaker 1: how soon are they going to become operational?

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Speaker 2: The kd dout is an important point. I think realistically

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Speaker 2: it will take a couple of years. But I want

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Speaker 2: to assure the community we're working in earnest We're also

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Speaker 2: working in the mental health space. And that latest round

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Speaker 2: of age care approvals from the Commonwealth also saw funding

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Speaker 2: to some existing age care providers for infrastructure. So there

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Speaker 2: is action in this space from both levels of government.

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Speaker 1: But so still a couple of years away. I mean

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Speaker 1: that is a long time for what for those families

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Speaker 1: that are waiting for a space, for an age care

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Speaker 1: space for a loved one, what do we do in

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Speaker 1: the meantime?

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Speaker 2: To Katie, as I just explained, this is something that

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Speaker 2: the process is that people bid on those beds. We've

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Speaker 2: seen plenty of allocation of beds over the years, but

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Speaker 2: we're not seeing those beds that are provisionally funded coming

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Speaker 2: through to being built. So the government has taken this

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Speaker 2: matter into our hands and we're working as efficiently as

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Speaker 2: we can off the back of being funded for those

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Speaker 2: sixty beds.

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Speaker 1: And so again I'll ask what do we do in

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Speaker 1: the meantime?

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Speaker 2: So, Katie, this is an issue that has been around

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Speaker 2: for a very long time. We do have age care providers.

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Speaker 2: We're looking at working with them. It's quite a complex

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Speaker 2: space in terms of age care provision, and we're looking

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Speaker 2: at what leaders we can pull in the meantime, even

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Speaker 2: if it's four or six beds here or there, that

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Speaker 2: will make a difference on our hospital system.

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Speaker 1: Now, what about the mental health capacity at the moment?

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Speaker 1: I know it was confirmed last week that part of

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Speaker 1: the surgical ward I believe it was, or one of

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Speaker 1: the wards at Royal Dale Hospital was being used for

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Speaker 1: those mental health patients that flow on. How far off

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Speaker 1: are we from those additional mental health beds coming online?

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Speaker 2: So, Katie, there's a number of things that we're doing

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Speaker 2: in that space. We're reshaping within the emergency department to

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Speaker 2: have better diagnosis space, so have rooms in that rather

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Speaker 2: than the cubicles. We're looking at short term beds, so

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Speaker 2: in the next three or so months, can we bring

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Speaker 2: some existing infrastructure online. We're also looking at in terms

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Speaker 2: of the existing county and JIU wards, can we fit

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Speaker 2: more beds in there whilst we build those eighteen beds.

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Speaker 2: Acknowledging that it takes time to build, particularly mental health infrastructure.

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Speaker 2: That is very specific. What can we do in the

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Speaker 2: short term because we as you've just highlighted, people are

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Speaker 2: getting beds, but they're in wards within the main tarer

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Speaker 2: of the hospital, which.

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Speaker 1: I would imagine is not ideal when you talk about

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Speaker 1: the treatment of the those patients.

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Speaker 2: Oh, correct, Katie. It's not wonderful for anyone. But our

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Speaker 2: staff are working and this is why it's so important

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Speaker 2: that we do clinical planning, that we do infrastructure planning.

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Speaker 2: But there is a lot happening in the space that

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Speaker 2: will ease the pressures on particularly the top end hospital beagecare.

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Speaker 2: We see one or two age care patients within our

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Speaker 2: regional hospitals and Alice Springs, but there's a significant number

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Speaker 2: in Rozalen and again same with the mental health. We're also, Katie,

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Speaker 2: in the mental health space, hospital is not a great

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Speaker 2: place for people, so that corresponder model is really important.

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Speaker 2: And also cybercute beds working with our community providers, and

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Speaker 2: we have funded eight additional beds recently to try and

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Speaker 2: keep people in a supported situation but not an acute setting.

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Speaker 1: All right, So just taking a very quick look back

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Speaker 1: at with those sixty beds that have been provided provisional

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Speaker 1: funding for age Care, there's still a couple of years

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Speaker 1: off in reality with those mental health beds, the ones

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Speaker 1: not know not within the next few months, some capacity

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Speaker 1: in different places to fit people in. But with the

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Speaker 1: ones that you are working on that are going to

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Speaker 1: be long term you know, beds or placements in mental

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Speaker 1: health care, how far off are we from those being

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Speaker 1: complete and operational.

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Speaker 2: So Katie, this funding's just come through, and as I

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Speaker 2: said previously, we'll update the community as we have specific

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Speaker 2: time frames. And I hate to cut you off, but

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Speaker 2: I do have to get into Parliament, so the bells

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Speaker 2: that we've certainly got to get in there in the

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Speaker 2: next minute or.

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Speaker 1: Okay, I just want to ask you then very quickly,

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Speaker 1: we got a text yesterday from Woody his forty six

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Speaker 1: year old wife had a stroke on Saturday afternoon. Luckily

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Speaker 1: she is okay. She couldn't get a CareFlight chopper for

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Speaker 1: unknown reasons. She's out at Dundee. He was forced to

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Speaker 1: carry her in the car and transport her by ambulance.

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Speaker 1: The issue that they've got out there is phone reception.

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Speaker 1: It's intermittent at the time and due to overloading the

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Speaker 1: tower once they left the driveway, they've got no opportunity

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Speaker 1: then to get in contact with anybody. What are we

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Speaker 1: doing out at Dundee for these people, for these residents

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Speaker 1: to make sure that we do not have situations like this?

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Speaker 2: So Katie, I don't know all the details of that

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Speaker 2: in terms of communications, where we certainly need to can

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Speaker 2: we look at upgrading those to make sure people have

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Speaker 2: got it? But the PHN, the primary Health Network, is

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Speaker 2: working closely with the Progress Association. It's trying to work

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Speaker 2: out is it an emergency type care or is it

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Speaker 2: GP primary healthcare. But there certainly has been working that

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Speaker 2: The Progress Association out there at Dundee was successful in

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Speaker 2: gaining a workforce Development grant to engage a consultant so

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Speaker 2: we can scope the health needs of that growing community.

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Speaker 2: So I look forward to working with the community around

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Speaker 2: this into the future and the PHN.

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Speaker 1: All right, I know we've run out of time. We

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Speaker 1: will leave it there. I was going to ask you

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Speaker 1: about Parliament, but we've run out of time. Thank you

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Speaker 1: very much for your time this morning, Minister.

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Speaker 2: Thank you