COVID-19 Update

November 21, 2020

I would like to inform you of the direction of the Chief Health Officer of the NT Government, a direction mostly about contract tracing and COVID-19 safety supervisors, that will take effect on 30 November 2020.

I urge you to become familiar with the requirements detailed in this letter, as taken from the NT Government website and the relevant CHO draft direction and ensure that you and others adhere to them.

Contract Tracing

From Monday 30 November 2020, each premises within our Church MUST record the name, contact number, date, and time of entry for every person who enters, if they are there for more than 15 minutes.

This information must be securely and confidentially kept for 28 days and destroyed at the end of that period. The method for that record-keeping is entirely up to the COVID Safety Supervisor.

COVID-19 Safety Supervisor

Each premises must appoint a COVID-19 Safety Supervisor to ensure the implementation of contract tracing and the safety plan. This person may or may not be the ‘person in authority’.

This person must be able to provide an officer with evidence of the skills and knowledge to undertake their duties upon request. The CHO direction (currently in its draft stage) does not indicate what ‘evidence’ looks like, but the NT Government website offers a list of training that may be treated as ‘skills and knowledge’ such as inhouse training, professional experience and online training.

COVID-19 Safety Plans

Earlier in the year, I requested that all places of worship and any other relevant premises within the Church submit a COVID-19 safety plan to the NT Government. I also requested that our Synod Office be provided with a copy of that safety plan as well. If you haven’t provided Synod Office with the COVID-19 Safety Plan, please do so or indicate when you can.

Also please note that each COVID-19 safety plan must be reviewed at least once every 6 months and the NT Government must be made aware of any changes.

In closing, I encourage you all to visit the NT Government website, in conjunction with reading this letter.

Please do not act on information that does not come from the NT Government – the website and the CHO Direction. The Synod’s COVID-19 safety persons are continuously watching developments in this space and will not offer advice prior to careful analysis and communication with the NT Government.

For any queries or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact our Synod office on 08 8982 3400 or via email on admin@ns.uca.org.au

Many blessings,

Haloti Kailahi

General Secretary