As communities in north-east Arnhem Land today woke to their first full day of COVID lockdown, the local member for the area says he is concerned over the NT government's messaging of lockdown rules.
On Monday, Elcho Island and the community of Yirrkala went into a seven-day and three-day lockdown respectively after Acting Chief Minister Nicole Manison confirmed COVID-19 had reached the communities.
Yingiya Guyula, the independent Member for Mulka, said while locking down the communities was the right decision, he was worried people were confused about lockdown rules.
"There's a lot of confusion across the community, about what lockdown is and what it means and what is happening, and what are the restrictions," he said.
Mr Guyula said the government needed to spend more time working with remote communities to explain the rules.
"We Yolngu don't come from the cultures of the western science; we need good meetings with our elders and leaders and our health officials.'
Mr Guyula also said the lockdowns, which he recommended being extended to the nearby mining town of Nhulunbuy, were necessary because the NT's borders were reopened late last year.
"Maybe the NT has opened its borders too soon," he said.
NT Health Minister Natasha Fyles told ABC Radio Darwin this morning the reason for the lockdowns was to stop people that might be infected from travelling to outstations and to prevent unvaccinated residents spreading the virus.
Yesterday, Ms Manison said the vaccination rate on Elcho Island was "OK" but sat below other East Arnhem communities.
Vaccination rates in both Yirrkala and Galiwn'ku are above 70 per cent first dose and below 80 per cent double dose for residents aged five and over, according to the latest data provided by the NT government.
'We've never experienced anything like this'
Rarrtjiwuy Herdman, the chairwoman of Miwatj Health Aboriginal Corporation in East Arnhem, said many community members were "quite worried about what's going on".
"It's about containing COVID here on the Gove Peninsula and over in Galiwin'ku and making sure it's not spreading to our remote communities, where access to hospitals, clinics and other essential services are limited," she said.
Galiwin'ku resident Belinda Morton told ABC Radio Darwin's Drive program that there was "a lot of anxiety" in the remote community.
"We've never experienced anything like this," she said on the program yesterday.
Ms Morton said she was worried that COVID cases and lockdowns would exacerbate a number of issues on the island, including transport, food supply and housing.
"I think for people that are based in the community … their access to resources is a really massive challenge," she said.
"And we still have hundreds people in the community living in demountables… largely in family groups, without anything like gardens or any privacy or anything like that.
"It's really problematic, because … there's only one bathroom, one toilet, one everything. It's really challenging, [especially] for families that have babies."
