By JULIUS DENNIS
The NT Government will not clarify whether locals returning from a COVID hotspot will cop the cost of an additional Darwin to Alice air fare.
The quarantine facility in the Mercure Hotel, called Todd Facility, will be closed on March 31, which could mean the $2500 two-week isolation will need to be undergone in Howard Springs.
“The current contract for the Alice Springs Quarantine Facility is until 31 March 2021. Discussions are underway in regards to quarantine capacity in Alice Springs post-March 2021,” is all a COVID bureaucrat would say.
Health Minister Natasha Fyles was no help either: After a day’s delay she directed us back to COVID Media, not answering why there will be no “COVID hotel” in Alice Springs; what impact that would have on the already battling tourism industry; and will there be a repeat of the fiasco in November last year when hundreds of people coming from hotspot South Australia had to wait hours to be processed.
PHOTO: The quarantine facility in Alice Springs due to be closed.