The Northern Territory has reported a new confirmed case of coronavirus for the first time since April 6.
Key points:
- The man had flown to Darwin via Brisbane on Monday, after returning from a virus hotspot in Melbourne
- The NT's top health official said the testing regime was 'working well'
- The NT opens its borders to interstate travellers on July 17
The case is a Darwin local in his 30s who returned to the Territory via Brisbane from a virus hotspot in Melbourne.
NT Health Minister Natasha Fyles said the Darwin man had quarantined in Melbourne after returning from overseas, and then spent time with family in one of the city's hotspots.
"People will be anxious hearing this, but can I assure Territorians that this individual followed all the precautions," she said.
"This is a returned traveller and all the precautions have been followed so there is a very low risk to the community."
She said the man had flown to Darwin via Brisbane on Monday and returned a positive test result for coronavirus last night.
"We will be getting in touch with some of those on the Brisbane-to-Darwin flight as we look into this," she said.
"The people on the flight, 836, from Brisbane to Darwin on Monday, the contact tracing will now be undertaken," the Health Minister said.
"But this serves as a reminder that even though it has been since April 6 we had our last diagnosed case in the Territory, I can understand that people will be anxious hearing this news."
"We have measures in place to protect our community, these measures have been followed. This is not a case of community transmission."
Health checks system 'working'
The NT's Chief Health Officer Hugh Heggie said it was not possible to maintain appropriate physical distancing on a plane, but that the risks were still "relatively low" for passengers.
"What this positive case shows is that our system is working, that we are detecting these cases," Dr Heggie said.
"I do expect that we will be seeing more like this for up to the next year or so," he said.
The NT is set to open its borders to interstate travellers from July 17.
The Territory had eradicated coronavirus in clinical terms late last month, having gone four weeks since the most recent case recovered.
It had been 60 days since the last confirmed case of COVID-19 in the Northern Territory.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiUmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTA3LTAyL250LXJlcG9ydHMtbmV3LWNhc2Utb2YtY29yb25hdmlydXMvMTI0MTQ2NDTSASdodHRwczovL2FtcC5hYmMubmV0LmF1L2FydGljbGUvMTI0MTQ2NDQ?oc=5
2020-07-02 00:22:43Z
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