Aaron Bunch Journalist with Australian Associated Press | Collection of published work | + 61 484 008 119 | abunch@aap.com.au
NT to double COVID-19 quarantine capacity
About 1700 Australians returning from overseas are likely to be able to quarantine in the Northern Territory from April.
February 15, 2020
The Northern Territory’s Howard Springs COVID-19 quarantine facility is set to double the number of returning Australians it can accommodate.
About 1700 overseas returnees are expected to be able to isolate there once the Top End’s cyclone season finishes in April, Chief Minister Michael Gunner says.
“(We’ve had) very positive conversations with the Australian government on how we expand the intake,” he told reporters on Monday.
“I’m conscious of personnel issues and cyclone shelter issues.
“We are working towards at least double.”
About 850 people are currently able to quarantine at the former Howard Springs mining camp on Darwin’s outskirts, which has been renamed the Centre of National Resilience.
A fall in the number of people quarantining from interstate would allow more repatriated Australians to isolate in the NT, Mr Gunner said.
“We’ve also had an allocation within the centre for a possible Territory scenario which never eventuated,” he said.
The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine would also reduce risk to the Top End community of a virus outbreak in the centre.