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Speaker 1: Mix one O four point nine dot comtu for all

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Speaker 1: the latest news and information now three sixty with Katie Wolf.

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Speaker 1: Everyone is listening Mix one oh four point nine one

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Speaker 1: hundred percent.

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Speaker 2: If you just missed the interview with the Health Minister

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Speaker 2: Natasha Files. We know that plenty of people tested over

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Speaker 2: the weekend two and a half thousand, actually four and

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Speaker 2: a half thousand, I think it was I need to

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Speaker 2: find those notes. Four and a half thousand tests have

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Speaker 2: now been conducted on those people who've been in self

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Speaker 2: isolation around the territory following on from the COVID hotspots

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Speaker 2: in Victoria. Two and a half thousand tests over the weekend.

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Speaker 2: But I think you know, the very big news to

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Speaker 2: come out of that interview is that we are going

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Speaker 2: to be moving towards a model out at the airport

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Speaker 2: where we no longer have those repatriation flights going through

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Speaker 2: the raft base or through RAFF. They're going to be

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Speaker 2: going through the international Airport. No date yet as to

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Speaker 2: when that change is going to happen, but no doubt

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Speaker 2: plenty of you probably listening and feeling a little bit

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Speaker 2: confused by that situation, wondering why that is going to

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Speaker 2: be the case. Anyway, we'll talk more about that throughout

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Speaker 2: the morning. But joining us on the line right now

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Speaker 2: is doctor Robert Parker, who is the head of the

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Speaker 2: Australian Medical Association here in the Northern Territory.

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Speaker 3: Good morning to you, Dr Parker.

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Speaker 4: Morning Katy.

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Speaker 3: Now, I'm not sure if you heard.

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Speaker 2: That interview with the Health Minister, doctor Parker, but by

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Speaker 2: the sounds of things out at the airport in we

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Speaker 2: still don't have a timeframe, but it looks as though

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Speaker 2: they're going to be moving away from this model where

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Speaker 2: repatriated Australians go through RAF and they're now going to

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Speaker 2: be going through the International Airport separately, obviously to all

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Speaker 2: other travelers at some point down the track. I know

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Speaker 2: you hearing this for the first time, doctor Parker, but

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Speaker 2: what's your reaction to that.

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Speaker 5: Well, I can't quite work out why they're interchange with Katie.

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Speaker 5: I mean, it's a reception process and to my mind,

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Speaker 5: keeping it away from where all the general traffic occurs

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Speaker 5: of the airport seems very sensible. So I can't quite

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Speaker 5: work out why they've made the decision to switch from

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Speaker 5: raft to the main terminal. I would have thought that

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Speaker 5: the and I mean I can't see quite how raft

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Speaker 5: coincides with Ozmat and the withdrawal of Ozmat.

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Speaker 4: So something's working white change to my view, Yeah, and.

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Speaker 2: I think that's probably what a lot of people are

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Speaker 2: feeling at the moment.

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Speaker 3: Dr Parker.

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Speaker 2: It does sound as though there's still plenty of details

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Speaker 2: that need to be worked through. The Health Minister did

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Speaker 2: say that there's you know that there are other sort

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Speaker 2: of measures that need to be in place before they

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Speaker 2: can move to this model. But I know plenty of

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Speaker 2: people listening will be feeling concerned.

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Speaker 4: Well, that's right.

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Speaker 5: I mean there's a lot more of the general public

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Speaker 5: going through the airport terminal, and the potential for transmission

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Speaker 5: from overseas carriers to the general public, I suppose is

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Speaker 5: higher if people are exiting through the terminal. So again,

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Speaker 5: if things aren't broken, things seem to be working quite

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Speaker 5: well through the wrath process, why change it?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, now, doctor Parker, we know over the weekend a

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Speaker 2: large volume of people would test it.

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Speaker 3: The government ended up will popping up.

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Speaker 2: I guess you'd say this additional testing site at the

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Speaker 2: Marara Netbull Stadium to try to ensure that everybody who

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Speaker 2: was going to have to go into self isolation was

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Speaker 2: able to get tested. I mean, as a result, we've

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Speaker 2: seen four and a half thousand tests over the course

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Speaker 2: of the weekend. This is obviously good news that people

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Speaker 2: are getting out making sure that they're getting tested and

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Speaker 2: that they've come back negative.

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Speaker 4: Excellent news, Katie.

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Speaker 5: Obviously you know the amount of concern and we're obviously

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Speaker 5: very aware it's happening in Victoria at the moment, So

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Speaker 5: it's really good that people are aware of it and

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Speaker 5: making sure that they're not passing the virus onto family

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Speaker 5: members and to others.

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Speaker 2: Now, I guess the hotspot declaration and the way in

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Speaker 2: which we manage the situation here in the territory following

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Speaker 2: on from what was going on in Victoria was sort

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Speaker 2: of done quite differently, you'd have to say last week

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Speaker 2: to what we've seen in previous situations. How are you

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Speaker 2: feeling seeing that more teared approached and following Victoria's lead.

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Speaker 5: Well, again, I think things have got to change, and

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Speaker 5: there's obviously even though we're not up to the standards

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Speaker 5: of immunization, we're expecting things are evolving.

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Speaker 4: More people are immunized.

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Speaker 5: I think we have to look at adapting processes, so

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Speaker 5: you know, things are different to thoy were six months ago,

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Speaker 5: and I think we probably have to look at some

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Speaker 5: change processes as a result.

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Speaker 2: And then with you know, with those those hot spots declared,

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Speaker 2: how like how are people feeling and how are some

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Speaker 2: of some of our health staff feeling. Then as we

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Speaker 2: have more and more people coming into the territory who

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Speaker 2: are potentially exposed to COVID, well.

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Speaker 5: I suppose there's a level of anxiety again because of it. Particularly,

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Speaker 5: I suppose since there's no really effective processes of the

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Speaker 5: at road board is now to check whether you know,

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Speaker 5: to check.

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Speaker 4: People as they work before.

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Speaker 5: And I can understand, you know, it's very difficult a

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Speaker 5: suddenly get a police process up overnight and it takes

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Speaker 5: weeks off in the organized rosters and whatever. So I

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Speaker 5: can understand why that hasn't happened. But again, I think

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Speaker 5: there is a significant concern about, you know, the potential

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Speaker 5: for someone with an ac the virus to come to

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Speaker 5: the territory and again split it to the indigenous community

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Speaker 5: where it'd be massive implications.

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Speaker 2: So those road borders obviously are concerned from your perspective

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Speaker 2: at this.

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Speaker 5: Point, well, yeah, I mean, you know, obviously you can

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Speaker 5: be you know, it doesn't take that long to drive

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Speaker 5: from Melbourne to the Northern Territory border, so you could

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Speaker 5: potentially be in contact with a positive case in Melbourne

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Speaker 5: and two days later be across in the NT potentially

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Speaker 5: in Alice Springs, shedding.

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Speaker 4: The virus around.

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Speaker 5: So you know, air travel certainly is more of a problem,

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Speaker 5: but you know, the virus still has this two week

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Speaker 5: transmission time and certainly very very easy for someone to

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Speaker 5: travel from the Victorian hotspot across an empty border and

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Speaker 5: be spreading the virus around in the territory.

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Speaker 2: I mean, does it also sort of highlight doctor Parker

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Speaker 2: from your perspective, why if you're eligible, people do need

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Speaker 2: to make sure that they get vaccinated.

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Speaker 5: It's essential that the entire Australian population is vaccinated at

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Speaker 5: some stage. It's the anyway we're going to progress with life.

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Speaker 5: This virus is going to be around for probably the

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Speaker 5: next couple of decades and the only way we're going

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Speaker 5: to effectively deal with it is for everyone to be

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Speaker 5: immunized against it, to basically get back to life as

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Speaker 5: we once knew it before the virus emerged.

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Speaker 2: Now, I also wanted to ask about this situation out

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Speaker 2: at Royal Dale and Hospital. I know that the NT

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Speaker 2: News was reporting today there'd been a video of emergency

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Speaker 2: vehicles backed up waiting to admit patients at the hospital.

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Speaker 2: It's been shared on social media and in the media

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Speaker 2: more broadly. That video obviously has It's from the twenty

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Speaker 2: first of May and it shows that at least ten

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Speaker 2: Saint John NT emergency vehicles, including ambulances and patient transport

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Speaker 2: cars they're they're sort of waiting to admit patients. What

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Speaker 2: is the situation at the moment, Well, my understanding is

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Speaker 2: that things that are a lot better today than they work.

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Speaker 4: Probably a couple of weeks ago. But there'll be peaks

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Speaker 4: and troughs.

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Speaker 5: I mean, unfortunately there is as I pointed out now

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Speaker 5: that it's Minister Hunt a.

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Speaker 4: Couple of years ago.

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Speaker 5: The charity hospital the two to three Times is busy as.

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Speaker 4: Other hospitals in Australia. There's a lot of activity. You

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Speaker 4: pay tribute to all.

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Speaker 5: The clinical and sports stuff and work at the hospital

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Speaker 5: to provide continuing high care to Territorians and need hospital care.

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Speaker 5: But there will be some days that are busier than others. Today,

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Speaker 5: I gather is less of a busy day, but you

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Speaker 5: never know. What's going to happen, you know, Wednesday, Thursday,

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Speaker 5: it might happen again.

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Speaker 2: And doctor Parker, I'm assuming that we also have to

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Speaker 2: have sort of an areous at a side that is there,

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Speaker 2: should we require it for COVID as well for COVID cases.

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Speaker 5: Well, again, there is already places in the hospital. There

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Speaker 5: is an active process to screen for COVID and to

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Speaker 5: place people who are potentially lost at COVID away from

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Speaker 5: other patients. So that's continuing. It's obviously dealing with the

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Speaker 5: current level of risk and is that rams up offs

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Speaker 5: health authorities. We'll have to think about different ways.

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Speaker 4: Of dealing with it.

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Speaker 2: But at this point in time, we are sort of

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Speaker 2: you know, we're not as busy out at the hospital

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Speaker 2: as what we've spoken about in previous times.

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Speaker 3: So we've had cod yellows and other things going.

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Speaker 5: On, that's right, you know, And again there will be days.

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Speaker 5: I mean, there's no doubt we probably need more resources

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Speaker 5: at some stage in the territory. And yeah, I mean

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Speaker 5: in the end we need more resources for a higher

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Speaker 5: level of need.

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Speaker 4: But the hospital will be.

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Speaker 5: More busy or less busier times and it's hard to

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Speaker 5: predict that.

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Speaker 2: Well, doctor Robert Parker, head of the AMA here in

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Speaker 2: the Northern Territory. It's always good to catch up with you.

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Speaker 2: We always appreciate your time.

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Speaker 4: Now is Coaty good to talk to you.

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Speaker 3: Thank you