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Speaker 1: The territory's borders opened yesterday to fully vaccinated Australians. At

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Speaker 1: the same time, the situation in Central Australia continues to

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Speaker 1: cause concern. Now joining me on the line for an

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Speaker 1: update is the Health Minister Natasha Files.

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Speaker 2: Good morning to you.

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Speaker 3: Good morning, Katie, Good morning.

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Speaker 2: Listen now, Minister.

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Speaker 1: The bord has opened obviously to the Northern Territory yesterday

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Speaker 1: about two thousand arrivals touchdown in Darwin and Dallas Springs.

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Speaker 1: How are things looking at this stage? Did any positive

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Speaker 1: cases arrive yesterday?

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Speaker 3: So Katie, I'll head into the Health and Emergency Management

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Speaker 3: briefing once we finished speaking and we'll be fully updated

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Speaker 3: on the situation from our health officials and the Territory Controller,

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Speaker 3: and then we'll step out and make sure the community

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Speaker 3: is aware of the latest information. But things are going well.

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Speaker 3: It is concerning that we have got a number of

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Speaker 3: cases that have spread from that top end cluster that

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Speaker 3: Winn in Pacastin and now it's gone further down into

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Speaker 3: the Barsley in Central Australia. But we are stepping forward

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Speaker 3: into the new normal with those borders reopening without quarantine,

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Speaker 3: but there is still public health measures with that testing

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Speaker 3: regime in place, so it certainly reflects the efforts of

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Speaker 3: territory and in getting vaccinated and achieving no high vaccination rates.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and we will talk a little bit more about

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Speaker 1: the situation in Central Australia in just a couple of moments.

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Speaker 1: But I do want to ask there's been concerns raised

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Speaker 1: about testing capacity. Arrivals must present a negative COVID test

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Speaker 1: and agree to be tested on days three and six

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Speaker 1: of being in the Northern Territory. How is that testing

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Speaker 1: going after day one yesterday?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, Katie, So this is something that I know across

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Speaker 3: the country. We've seen a surgeon the need for testing

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Speaker 3: and some people are panicking that they're not getting results

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Speaker 3: before they get on flight. So just to reassure the

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Speaker 3: community of the regime, you do need to have that

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Speaker 3: test seventy two hours or less, so that when you

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Speaker 3: land in VAO and you can present a negative test.

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Speaker 3: If for some reason that is interrupted, our health officials

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Speaker 3: will book you in for a test here in the territory.

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Speaker 3: They will ask you to head to your residence and

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Speaker 3: isolate until you receive a negative test results. So you

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Speaker 3: could receive the results from interstate that you were waiting

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Speaker 3: on and then you're free to move about the community

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Speaker 3: or you will need to go and get that test

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Speaker 3: in the territory and get that result. So in terms

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Speaker 3: of testing, we are increasing our capacity throughout the holiday period,

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Speaker 3: but people do need to bear with us. It is

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Speaker 3: stepping forward. Domestic trouble isn't what it used to be

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Speaker 3: and there is a lot of changes. But I think

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Speaker 3: our teams are doing a great job and we just

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Speaker 3: asked for patients from the public.

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Speaker 1: So just to go back to that, some people are

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Speaker 1: arriving and despite obviously being tested into state, they've not

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Speaker 1: received their results back. Yesterday we learned that those people

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Speaker 1: will now have to isolate until they get their test results.

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Speaker 1: So they don't have to go into Howard Springs to isolate.

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Speaker 1: Do they are able to isolate in their homes, their

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Speaker 1: airbnb or in their hotel room?

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Speaker 3: Correct, So if they can just have patients show the

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Speaker 3: border officials that they had a booking thread tests they

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Speaker 3: undertook that test. They're still waiting on the result. We know,

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Speaker 3: particularly out of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, that

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Speaker 3: there is significant delays in the testing. So despite their

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Speaker 3: best efforts, they've inadvertently been caught up in this. We'll

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Speaker 3: book them for a test. They must isolate, Katie, at

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Speaker 3: that location that you just said. They don't have to

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Speaker 3: go to Howard Springs, but it is important they isolate.

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Speaker 3: But as soon as they get that result, if it

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Speaker 3: comes through form inter state, you know that afternoon, they're

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Speaker 3: fine to move about the community. And equally, they do

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Speaker 3: need to get a test in the territory within the

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Speaker 3: first seventy two hours. So I do urge them to

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Speaker 3: keep that booking, go and get that test, and that

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Speaker 3: provides them with that coverage. That is a requirement as well.

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Speaker 2: All right.

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Speaker 1: Can I confirm as well for those people arriving who

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Speaker 1: have to have these three tests that they are free.

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Speaker 3: Yes, Katie, So this is something that's been talked about

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Speaker 3: around the country. We very much know that testing is

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Speaker 3: an important public health measure because we can catch COVID early,

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Speaker 3: we can isolate people and care for them. Yes, our

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Speaker 3: test is free. There are some providers that we'll charge

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Speaker 3: for those trouble tests, but if you're booking through the

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Speaker 3: NTG system, it is absolutely no cost.

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Speaker 2: Now does that go both ways?

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Speaker 1: If you're traveling from the northern territory into another state

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Speaker 1: and you need to test done before you leave.

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Speaker 2: Is that free as well?

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Speaker 3: Yes, Katie, all the NTG testing is free.

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Speaker 1: Okay, We've had quite a number of listeners contact us

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Speaker 1: over the last few days, so not just since these

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Speaker 1: border rules changed, but over the last few days to

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Speaker 1: say that there's been delays in getting test results back.

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Speaker 1: How long does it take to get a test result

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Speaker 1: back from one of those PCR tests.

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Speaker 3: So, Katie, it should be within about forty eight hours.

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Speaker 3: We are prioritizing our close contacts and we should aim

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Speaker 3: to have close contacts of our outbreak within twenty four hours.

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Speaker 3: But yes, there has been a surge in testing, and

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Speaker 3: I spoke to Healthy yesterday about this, asking them to

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Speaker 3: work through the system. We don't believe it's in our laboratories.

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Speaker 3: It's getting information to people looking at how we can

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Speaker 3: absolutely ensure that is within a reasonable timeframe, because I

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Speaker 3: too have had people raise four days with me and

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Speaker 3: that's not acceptable for the purposes of what we're trying

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Speaker 3: to achieve. So we are focused on reducing that.

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Speaker 1: I mean, two thousand arrivals yesterday alone. Do we have

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Speaker 1: the capacity to be able to deal with tests like

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Speaker 1: that number.

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Speaker 3: Yes, Katie, our love can turn around about ten thousand

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Speaker 3: tests a day, and we're working towards when travel really

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Speaker 3: is back to more normal situations in that February onward space.

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Speaker 3: We want to be able to do that ten thousand

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Speaker 3: tests a day because, as I just said, testing is

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Speaker 3: such a key part of the public health response. So yes,

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Speaker 3: we've got the capacity. It's working through the systems of

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Speaker 3: getting that information back to individuals. And I do understand

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Speaker 3: there is sum delayed at the moment, and we apologize

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Speaker 3: for that, and I'm working with Health to see how

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Speaker 3: we can streamline that.

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Speaker 1: So the testing isn't having to be sent into state

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Speaker 1: or anything, is it.

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Speaker 2: It's being done right here in the territory.

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Speaker 3: Katie, were both our testing for COVID and the genomic

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Speaker 3: sequencing is being done here in the territory. The only

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Speaker 3: tests that are centers interstate is that wastewater testing because

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Speaker 3: it's a highly specialized machine.

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Speaker 1: All right, moving along, three new cases obviously out of

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Speaker 1: Central Australia yesterday, Tenant Craig two of those, as I understand,

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Speaker 1: presented to the hospital there in Alice Springs.

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Speaker 2: Are you concerned about.

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Speaker 1: This situation that we've got unfolding in Central Australia.

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Speaker 3: I am concerned. I'm particularly concerned because of the low

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Speaker 3: vaccination rate within Tenant Creek and the Barkley region. So

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Speaker 3: that's why we made the decision to extend that lockdown

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Speaker 3: until five pm on Wednesday, the twenty seven of December.

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Speaker 3: So we really need the community to come forward and

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Speaker 3: get vaccinated. We saw that in Catherine, Katy and a

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Speaker 3: big shout out to your listeners in Catherine. I know

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Speaker 3: there's many. Catherine has achieved eighty nine percent fully backed

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Speaker 3: as of late last week, so it can be done.

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Speaker 3: And that's why we are concerned because we don't have

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Speaker 3: those vaccination rates in that community.

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Speaker 1: What is the vaccination rate in Tenant Creek? I know

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Speaker 1: that Steve Edgington was fairly critical on the show yesterday

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Speaker 1: saying that there hasn't been a great deal of communication

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Speaker 1: between the government and him as the local member and

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Speaker 1: the people of Tenant Creek.

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Speaker 2: What is the vaccination rting Tenant I.

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Speaker 3: Completely disagree with that comment. He's had access to the

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Speaker 3: act in Chief Minister on the Territory Controller every day

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Speaker 3: since Tenant Creek has been in the outbreak. The vaccinating

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Speaker 3: Tenant Creek right now is eighty three percent first dose

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Speaker 3: and sixty nine percent fully vaccinator, So we really need

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Speaker 3: to see that fully backs rate up closer to ninety percent,

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Speaker 3: but certainly well over eighty percent. And the Barklay more

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Speaker 3: broadly Katie is fifty percent first dose and thirty eight

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Speaker 3: percent second dose.

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Speaker 1: Okay, Now, there was some serious concerns raised yesterday by

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Speaker 1: doctor Robert Parker from the AMA. Medical staff in Central

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Speaker 1: Australia are worried about the cases and the fact that

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Speaker 1: clinics in Central Australia are closed.

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Speaker 2: Take a listen to what he'd told us yesterday on

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Speaker 2: the show.

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Speaker 4: I think he's going to put a major pressure of

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Speaker 4: hospital to try and cope. Said this is this is

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Speaker 4: information overs from colleagues or obviously very concerned about what's

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Speaker 4: about to happen. There's very little resource outside the hospital,

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Speaker 4: which means that people who are ready sick are going

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Speaker 4: to end up in the hospital or potentially overwhelming resources.

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Speaker 4: So yeah, that was the information. Because of the clinics

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Speaker 4: been closed, because of other resources not potentially being available,

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Speaker 4: it's going to put a lot of pressure on the

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Speaker 4: hospital to cope, and it's it's likely to be quite major.

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Speaker 1: Have we got the capacity to deal with further cases

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Speaker 1: of COVID in Central Australia.

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Speaker 3: Yes, Katie. We have around eighty remote primary healthcare clinics

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Speaker 3: right across the Northern Territory. Some of these clinics service

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Speaker 3: a small number of people. These are primary health care clinics.

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Speaker 3: They provide important primary health care. But what we do

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Speaker 3: see every Christmas January holiday period is people that work

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Speaker 3: in those clinics want to go back to family and friends,

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Speaker 3: and so staffing those clinics is impacted. Every year. We

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Speaker 3: have got our plans in place around how we can

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Speaker 3: ensure that people at es their medicine that is organized

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Speaker 3: well in advance. And then in terms of COVID, the

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Speaker 3: Department's been doing work to make sure that with this

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Speaker 3: unique situation we're in this year, we can still provide

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Speaker 3: vaccine and testing across the Northern Territory.

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Speaker 1: So what is the go At the moment those nine

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Speaker 1: clinics closed because there's not the staff there to keep

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Speaker 1: them open.

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Speaker 3: So there's eighty clinics across the territory, Katie. Fifty are

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Speaker 3: managed by the MTG, in about thirty by the Aboriginal

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Speaker 3: Medical organizations. What happens through the Christmas festive period is

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Speaker 3: that we make sure that we visit those clinics a

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Speaker 3: couple of times a week to make sure people have

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Speaker 3: their medicine and they're getting those services. Emergency care is

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Speaker 3: provided by a different system and that is also put in.

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Speaker 1: Place, so you believe that even if we see further

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Speaker 1: cases in Central Australia, that it's not going to have

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Speaker 1: a massive impact on the hospital system and that you've

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Speaker 1: got the capacity there to deal with any of those

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Speaker 1: cases that we end up with.

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Speaker 3: So, Katie, a separate question around COVID and how our

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Speaker 3: hospital system will manage If people are highly vaccinated, our

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Speaker 3: health system won't be burdened. Is where we have people

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Speaker 3: not vaccinated that become more critically unwell and we have

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Speaker 3: to care for them. So that's why we need to

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Speaker 3: get those vaccination rates up.

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Speaker 1: So how many intensive care beds do you have that

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Speaker 1: could take COVID patients in Alice Springs right now?

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Speaker 3: TEDI, I don't have the exact figures in front of me,

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Speaker 3: but in terms of our springs, we have a couple

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Speaker 3: of negative pressure rooms. We would then shift across to

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Speaker 3: having an infectious diseases ward and having COVID award, so

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Speaker 3: we would make sure that COVID and non COVID patients

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Speaker 3: that kept completely separately, and then we would start to

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Speaker 3: put in place those plans that we've been working on

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Speaker 3: for many months now.

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Speaker 1: But you must have an idea of how many beds

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Speaker 1: you know you've got that would have ventilators, et cetera

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Speaker 1: if you do have people that become quite unwell.

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Speaker 3: So Katie, we've got about one hundred ventilators in the

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Speaker 3: Northern Territory. What we would start to see and we've

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Speaker 3: got a COVID outbreak right now, and if we saw

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Speaker 3: people needing hospitalization.

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Speaker 4: You need to.

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Speaker 3: Remember from the seventy cases arouncastin and the top end,

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Speaker 3: we ended up with about five in hospital and too

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Speaker 3: in intensive care. So if we started to see those

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Speaker 3: numbers build, we would close down other parts of the

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Speaker 3: hospital and shift the resources to doing COVID care. And

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Speaker 3: this is all being planned and work through from a

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Speaker 3: clinical perspective many months ago.

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Speaker 1: All right, this onmicron variant, I know that it seems

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Speaker 1: to be spreading quite quickly in some of the other states,

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Speaker 1: So there seems to be significant case numbers in the

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Speaker 1: likes of New South Wales.

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Speaker 2: Queensland is obviously on high alert as well.

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Speaker 1: Are you worried about this and we'll just spread in

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Speaker 1: other states?

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Speaker 2: See us lockdown again.

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Speaker 3: So Katie, you know it's a new variant, and of

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Speaker 3: course we should be concerned. We were concerned about Delta

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Speaker 3: and how the vaccine would work with it, and that

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Speaker 3: proved to be successful. So we've got no reason to

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Speaker 3: think that Omicron would significantly change our plans. But we're

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Speaker 3: certainly still learning more about the variant, and our NTY

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Speaker 3: health officials are continuing to participate in daily HPPC meetings

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Speaker 3: and interact with other states so we can have that

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Speaker 3: best advice to pair for.

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Speaker 2: Territory all right?

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Speaker 1: In the National Cabinet? Are they due to meet again today?

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Speaker 3: Tadymondus standing?

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Speaker 2: Is?

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Speaker 3: I think it's tomorrow Our health ministers we were messaging

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Speaker 3: yesterday and we're going to catch up later today or

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Speaker 3: early tomorrow morning. So there's certainly strong communication between the

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Speaker 3: Commonwealth of States and territories making sure everyone has all

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Speaker 3: the information they need.

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Speaker 2: Is everyone all on the same page here?

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Speaker 1: I mean, is everybody planning to stay opened, but making

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Speaker 1: sure that as many people as possible a vaccinated.

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Speaker 3: That's our plan, Katie. We need to move forward. We

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Speaker 3: need to go from a pandemic to an endemic. Vaccine

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Speaker 3: is the key, and it's never too late to get vaccinated.

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Speaker 3: And for some listons that may have been apprehensive, we're

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Speaker 3: not going to ask questions if you turn up now

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Speaker 3: for your first dose and some dose is better than none,

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Speaker 3: and it does take a couple of weeks for that

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Speaker 3: amenity to build, so it's never too late to get vaccinated.

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Speaker 3: But no, our plans are moving forward with vaccination testing

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Speaker 3: regime and other public health measures such as mask wearing.

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Speaker 1: Well Health Minister Natasha Files, we are going to have

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Speaker 1: to leave it there. Thank you very much for your

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Speaker 1: time this morning, but also thank you to making yourself

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Speaker 1: available to us each and every week on the show

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Speaker 1: and also throughout the Week that was. We appreciate it,

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Speaker 1: and we know you've been very busy throughout the year,

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Speaker 1: as has every health minister around the nation, so we

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Speaker 1: really appreciate the time that you give us each and

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Speaker 1: every week.

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Speaker 3: Thanks Katie. I feel like I might have lost my

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Speaker 3: spot on the Week that was. It's been a while,

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Speaker 3: it has at will see a bit of normality and

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Speaker 3: to you and your team and all your listeners. Thank

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Speaker 3: you for sharing such important information with territori ins and

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Speaker 3: we know sometimes the interviews get a little bit gied up,

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Speaker 3: but you know it's all about getting that information out

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Speaker 3: to your listeners, so I wish them all are there

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Speaker 3: and merry safe Quistmas.

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Speaker 1: Well, thank you very much minister, and we will talk

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Speaker 1: to you again in the new year.