One of the problems we have at Howard Springs is they required an additional 400 staff to ramp it up to capacity. As of last week I heard they had recruited only 70. Additionally there is a shortage again of rental housing in Darwin, rents have strongly increased - how many people would want to relocate to Darwin for a 12 month contract - I would think most appropriately qualified medical staff would be happily employed where they are at the moment. I think it will be some time yet before they are operating to capacity. An additional point.... we are getting quite a few positive cases from India. Last week the Deputy CMO was warning that our local system could easily be swamped if the hospital is required... We have only 18 intensive care beds in Darwin so it wouldnt take much to make it a major issue for the Northern Territory.
Pausing repat flights from India fixes that issue.