Department of Health
Royal Darwin and Palmerston Hospitals are restricting visiting hours from Friday 19 March to minimise the risk of transmission of COVID-19 to patients.
At this stage there is only one confirmed case of COVID-19 in the Territory.
Executive Director of Medical Services, Dr Charles Pain, said the Territory was in the fortunate position of having very low prevalence of COVID-19 cases and was putting in place the best possible preparations to minimise the impact of the virus in the NT.
The following restrictions to visits at both hospitals will apply:
• Visiting hours are restricted to 10 -12 noon and 5-7 pm each day (except for Maternity and Paediatrics)
• Only ONE visitor per patient per visiting session.
• No visitors aged under 16 permitted (unless they are the parents of hospitalised children)
• Exemptions to these visiting rules will apply in special circumstances, such as palliative care, via request to ward managers.
Elective surgery category 2 and 3 have been postponed, elective surgery for category 1 continues. Elective surgery is being managed as per our existing protocols and will be rescheduled in due course.
"We regret any inconvenience these changes will have for our patients as well as their families and friends," Dr Pain said.
"We believe these changes are in the best interests of patients during this challenging period and to slow down the spread of this virus as much as possible."
