The Northern Territory news Wed 28 Apr 2021
NT news
The Northern Territory news; NewspaperNT
2021-04-28
English
Community newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin.; Australian newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin.
News Corp Australia
Darwin
application/pdf
Copyright. Made available by the publisher under licence.
News Corp Australia
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00042
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/836559
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/836854
WEDNESDAY APRIL 28 2021 NEWS 05 V1 - NTNE01Z01MA India flights to resume sooner than expected REPATRIATION flights from India to Darwin will resume earlier than expected as the Top End struggles to cope with an influx of COVID-positive passengers. There are 53 active cases of coronavirus in the Northern Territory, including two hospitalised patients whose conditions are unknown. No new cases were reported on Tuesday. Chief Minister Michael Gunner last week said national cabinet had agreed to push all non-booked repatriation flights from India from May to June. But on Tuesday Prime Minister Scott Morrison said flights had been paused only until May 15, affecting two flights into Darwin and two into Sydney. We agreed, in addition to the measures that were announced after the last national cabinet, to pause direct passenger flights between Australia and India until 15th May, Mr Morrison said. He said about 500 arrivals would be impacted by the change. India reported more than 323,000 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday. Mr Morrison said Australians trying to return from India via a transit hub such as Singapore, Doha or London would also struggle, with those jurisdictions also opting to shut their borders. When asked about the apparent backflip on flights, NT Health Minister Natasha Fyles denied the Territory was put under pressure to resume flights two weeks early. My understanding is that we believe the advice was all flights from May were deferred last Thursday, Ms Fyles said. We worked with the com monwealth over the weekend and theyve assured us that those first two flights are no longer on the schedule. (The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) organised the flight, they provide the manifest, they accept which people get on that flight. The number of passengers on board all flights directly into Australia has been slashed by 30 per cent amid alarming rates of COVID-19 infections in returning travellers. Ms Fyles on Tuesday said 15 per cent of quarantining Aussies from India had tested positive for the virus. Several measures have been deployed to stem the flow of positive cases, including using rapid COVID-19 tests immediately prior to boarding Australian-bound flights. One of the Territorys 53 active cases is at Royal Darwin Hospital in a serious but stable condition. The remaining patients are being cared for at the Howard Springs quarantine facility. The Health Minister also announced hot spot measures for the Perth and Peel regions of Western Australia had been revoked pretty much immediately. Anyone that is in mandatory quarantine is able to exit that quarantine, and equally any incoming flights now with passengers coming from Perth metropolitan or Peel no longer need to enter mandatory quarantine, Ms Fyles said. But people who had been identified by WA health officials as close contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases would be required to remain in mandatory 14-day isolation. The changes come as the NT remains tight-lipped on how many of the required 400 staff it has found to take over the Howard Springs quarantine facility, which is expected to begin operation on May 3. Councillors passionate plea to govt A TERRITORY councillor says he fears for his parents in his hometown of India that is burning with COVID, saying the Territory and federal governments urgently need to do more to help with the crisis. Barkly Regional Councillor and former Labor candidate for Barkly Sid Vashist described the events in India as an absolute disaster that requires immediate action. Every third person in Delhi has COVID Delhi has the same population as Australia, he said. Mr Vashist said he feared for the lives of his parents Dharampal and Sushila Vashist who were residents of Gurugram, southwest of New Delhi. My hometown is burning with COVID. Literally, he said. People are fending for their familys lives. Mr Vashist made an impassioned plea for the federal and NT governments to quickly amp up their aid to India, by sending resources and allowing more Australians to come home. We have the best care (in Howard Springs), we have that knowledge, we need to rally up, he said. Theres people who are literally crying on the phone saying my parents are dying. We need to just push them harder. We can do a lot more. This is a disaster. Its an absolute disaster. Sid Vashist's (inset) parents Dharampal and Sushila Vashist. Picture: Supplied THOMAS MORGAN AND MATT CUNNINGHAM NTS BEST 2021 BURGER Visit www.hospitalitynt.com.au for more information THE BEST VOTE FOR BURGER CHEMICALS. CATERING & CLEANING SUPPLIESCHEMICALS. CATERING & CLEANING SUPPLIES www.shamrockchemicals.com.au sales@shamrockchemicals.com.au Darwin Ph: 08 8947 1777 Alice Springs Ph: 08 8953 3344 C all us now! Disinfectant Detergent | Deodorise Give Your Home Give Your Home or Business the or Business the 3D Treatment!3D Treatment!