I’m not sure that Howard Springs is capable yet of 2,000. I thought they were upgrading it so it could cope with 1500- just 750 people per week.
I’m all for quarantining people in a Covid safe way but many solutions such as the ‘build it and they will come’ solution introduce a number of extra touch points where Covid can ‘leak’ out.
Howard Springs is or was a facility for 3000+ for Inpex. Quarantine it started at 500/750/1500? Surely it’s at 2000 already? Ramp it up to capacity. The cyclone season is over, that’s why the CM said it wasn’t being fully utilised.
There is another facility not far away Wickam Point? It’s where the marines quarantined, not sure how many 500? Whoops the marines are still coming so it’s not available.
Point is, I am sure with a bit of digging there are facilities close to suitable that wouldn’t take much. Then it is all about the man power and staff.