The Greater Darwin region has entered a 48-hour lockdown after the detection of four new COVID-19 cases linked to a Central Australian mine.
Key points:
- The 48-hour lockdown applies to the Darwin, Palmerston and Litchfield council areas
- An outbreak linked to a remote mine has grown to five cases
- People can only leave their homes for five reasons
The Smith Street mall in Darwin's CBD stood deserted and shop shutters were rolled down as the lockdown came into effect at 1:00pm local time.
Supermarkets will remain open during the lockdown and the government says supply chains for essentials are sufficient.
But long queues formed at supermarkets around the Top End as people defied instructions not to panic buy.
Under the lockdown, people in the Darwin, Palmerston and Litchfield local government areas, including the Darwin rural area, will only be permitted to leave their homes for five reasons:
- Medical treatment including coronavirus testing and vaccinations
- To get essential goods and services
- For essential work
- For one hour of exercise within a 5km radius
- To provide care to people unable to support themselves.
Masks have to be worn outside the home.
"I cannot rule out the lockdown being longer.
"I cannot rule out expanding the boundaries of the lockdown. If it needs to be longer, if it needs to be wider, it will be."
Territorians are not allowed to travel, including interstate, except for those reasons.
The four new cases are all related to a worker at a major Central Australian gold mine who tested positive for COVID-19 late on Friday night.
Two of the new cases are on the Granites mine site in the Tanami desert, one has since travelled to New South Wales and is being managed by that state's health authorities, and one flew from the mine to Darwin before travelling home to Palmerston on Friday.
ABC News: Caddie Brain
)Both of the positive cases on the mine site are being transferred to the quarantine facility in Howard Springs.
Mr Gunner said the 64-year-old Palmerston man had been in contact with his wife and daughter, and all three are now entering quarantine.
Authorities said 80 passengers on the man's plane, who are deemed "high-risk contacts", are also being contacted and sent into quarantine.
Authorities are increasingly confident they are dealing with the highly infectious Delta variant of the virus.
'There are four things that scare us'
Mr Gunner said contact tracers are dealing with multiple unknowns as they race to prevent an outbreak.
"There are four things that scare us. They are unacceptable to us at this point," he said.
He said 14 people who travelled to Darwin after working at the mine during the period that the worker was believed to be infectious remain unaccounted for.
"While we don't have their information, the safest thing to do is to assume the worst: assume they are positive and assume there are exposure sites," Mr Gunner said.
ABC News: Isabel Moussalli
)Territory Controller Jamie Chalker said he believed some of the 14 people may be out of range camping.
"We are undertaking a litany of enquiries to try and identify their locations and get in touch with them," he said.
Mr Gunner said two close contacts of the initial case had agreed to isolate but had since become uncontactable.
"We are urgently tracking them down, but again, to be safe, we are assuming the worst," he said.
"Finally, we are expecting more cases and we aren't expecting them to be as clear as the new cases this morning.
"There is a much stronger chance that any new cases will have exposure sites, which makes the job of tracing and testing them much bigger."
Road checkpoints established
Mr Chalker said a police operation is underway to ensure compliance with the restrictions.
"We will have [roadblocks] at our major roadways to ensure that people are adhering to the directions as they relate to anyone seeking to enter the Territory.
"If you do not have a bona fide address already established that you are able to comply with the directions, you will be refused entry into the Greater Darwin region at this point of time."
ABC News: Michael Franchi
)He also said no positive tests had been returned in any of the Territory's communities.
Authorities said non-Territorians are able to leave the region but could be subject to restrictions interstate.
Territorians in the Greater Darwin region are being urged to adhere to the restrictions, stay at home and follow updated government advice.
"These directions are in place to protect you, to protect your family, your friends, it is incumbent on all of us to adhere to it," Mr Chalker said.
"If we do that, we may well be able to be through this far quicker than other jurisdictions have had to endure."
Mr Chalker again urged people not to panic-buy at supermarkets, and said existing supply chains were adequate.
A hotline set up to answer questions about the new restrictions can be reached on 1800 193 111.
Anyone with symptoms across the entire NT is urged to get tested.
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2021-06-27 02:06:26Z
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