From 30 November 2020, the Chief Health Officer is introducing new directions to help keep Territorians safe. 

These directions will require all businesses with a COVID-19 Safety Plan to review it every six months and appoint a COVID Safety Supervisor, and those business that were required to close at the start of the year will commence collecting customer contact details to assist with contact tracing. 

Dr Hugh Heggie said the new draft directions were about strengthening our resilience as we work as a nation to open our domestic borders by Christmas. 

“As we start to travel more over the wet season and visit family and friends over the festive period it is important that we take these extra steps to protect the health of Territorians,” he said. 

“We have been working with the business community to put these draft health directions together so we can increase our ability to test, trace and trap and quickly respond should the need occur.”

The NT Health team and small business champions will be spending the next few weeks reaching out to businesses and organisations to seek feedback on the draft CHO Direction and to help them get ready. 

From 30 November 2020, most of the businesses and venues that were required to close earlier in the year as part of the NT response to COVID-19 will be required to collect the contact details of persons attending their business. This includes:

·         Businesses selling food and beverages on premises – like cafes, restaurants, pubs and bars.

·         Cinemas and other entertainment and amusement venues.

·         Casinos and TABs.

·         Hairdressers, barbers, and other beauty therapy services – like nail salon and tattoo parlours.

·         Tourism operators – like bus or boat tour operators.

·         Swimming pools, gyms, indoor sporting facilities, and health and wellness centres – such as pilates studios.

·         Places of religious worship.

·         Libraries, art galleries and museums.

Territorians and visitors will be required to provide their contact details and their time of entry to these businesses if they attend for more than 15 minutes to assist with contact tracing should it be required.

The method used to record customer contact details will be up to the business owner to decide, provided all the requirements can be met. Businesses will be encouraged to use electronic methods such as a QR Code where possible, as this provides a secure, contactless and hygienic way of collecting details.  

From Monday 30 November 2020 all businesses and organisations with a COVID-19 Safety Plan will be required to review their plan every six months and appoint a COVID Safety Supervisor. COVID Safety Supervisors can be the owner or occupier or another person with the necessary skills such as a work health and safety officer. They will be responsible for implementing their businesses COVID-19 Safety Plan and any Chief Health Officer Directions.

Dr Heggie said, NT Health would be working with businesses and organisations to gather feedback on the CHO Direction before it comes into effect on 30 November 2020, to make sure it meets business and community needs while also protecting the health of Territorians. 

“It’s also timely to remind people not to become complacent and to remember to do the simple things such as practising high levels of personal hygiene and physical distancing, particularly from people you don’t know or haven’t seen in a while.”

For more information visit https://coronavirus.nt.gov.au/