The Northern Territory has recorded two new local cases of COVID-19 overnight, Chief Minister Michael Gunner says.
Key points:
- Two people in Katherine, a 33-year-old woman and a 67-year-old man, have tested positive to COVID, taking the current NT cluster to 37 cases
- Robinson River will transition from a lockdown to a lockout
- Katherine's lockdown has been extended for another 48 hours, pending further test results
Both cases are in Katherine: a 33-year-old woman who is the mother of a student at McFarlane Primary school and has connections to a previous positive case, and a 67-year-old man.
The number of cases in the outbreak now stands at 37.
There are now 423 close contacts, three of which are yet to be located.
The Katherine Centrelink office has been listed as a new close contact exposure site.
Anyone who visited Centrelink between 9:40am and 1:30am on Monday, November 15 must get tested immediately and isolate for 14 days.
The full list of current NT public exposure sites can be found on the NT government's coronavirus website.
A returned international traveller in Darwin's Howard Springs quarantine facility has also tested positive in the reporting period.
No new cases have been recorded for the second consecutive day in Robinson River, the small community first threatened by the outbreak early last week.
The community will move from a lockdown to a lockout effective immediately, which is expected to end on December 1.
A lockout means fully vaccinated residents will be able to move about the community freely while wearing a mask but they must stay within the Robinson River area, which includes the surrounding homelands.
"Robinson River has shown all Territorians how a lockdown can be done and won in a remote community — a highly vaccinated community, a high rate of testing and responding rapidly to an outbreak," Mr Gunner said.
No new cases have been recorded in the Binjari and Rockhole communities under hard lockdown.
Mr Gunner said the results of "critical" tests taken from residents in Rockhole, Warlpiri Camp, Katherine East and Binjari were due back later today.
He said it was "highly likely" there would be more COVID cases detected in Katherine East due to continued positive wastewater results in that area.
Katherine lockdown extended
Katherine will remain in lockdown for a further 48 hours until 6pm Wednesday as authorities await the results of 1,300 COVID tests conducted in Katherine and surrounding communities, Mr Gunner said.
Authorities have also detected traces of COVID-19 in nearby wastewater catchments.
Four out of the current 37 cases are in hospital.
The condition of a 65-year-old woman who was previously receiving oxygen has improved.
The other cases include a 78-year-old Binjari woman, a male healthcare worker in his 40s and a man with underlying health conditions.
Acting Chief Health Officer Charles Pain said while he was pleased no new COVID cases were detected in Binjari, "we are expecting more".
"They are in a hard lockdown to protect them,' he said.
Dr Pain said the NT's COVID situation was "stable at the moment", and he thanked residents in Katherine and surrounding communities for coming forward to get tested.
"I think if we can hunt down those cases in Katherine, that we expect to see there, [and] maintain our current controls for a reasonable period, I am optimistic. I am very hopeful," he said.
Conditions in hard lockdown
NT Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker said police were providing care packages to locked-down communities.
He said an extra 30 NT police officers and about 40 Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel were on the ground in Katherine and surrounding areas helping people get tested.
Commissioner Chalker said he had requested further ADF support, "just to really focus on compliance and education".
"I'm not requiring ADF to do any enforcement," he said.
Commissioner Chalker said officers were on the ground making sure people in locked-down areas like Binjari and Rockhole had access to food and power.
He said he was disappointed that about eight Binjari residents broke COVID rules by leaving the community yesterday.
"Under the cover of darkness, they walked through a back track and ultimately got into the Katherine area," he said.
"Six of them were adults and they've now received $5,024 fines."
About 200 close contacts are in Howard Springs quarantine facility, Dr Pain said, with that number expected to rise in coming days.Commissioner Walker said
Vaccine mandate claims public servants
Mr Gunner confirmed 400 public servants were set to lose their jobs after the NT's vaccine mandate took effect on November 13.
He said that amounted to a reduction of around 300 positions, which he said would not have an impact on service delivery and would be used as a $30 million budget savings measure.
Mr Gunner said that would allow the government to revise its wages offer to NT public servants, who have criticised a planned four-year wage freeze with $1,000 annual bonuses.
The revised policy put to unions this morning now includes a $4,000 lump sum bonus in the first year and an annual $2,000 bonus for the remaining three years.
"If there's a better idea that sticks to the funding envelope, I am all ears," Mr Gunner said.
"If the unions propose an alternative that's more expensive than this, then the only way to pay for it will be with job cuts, and I'll expect them to include in any proposal, what jobs they think could be cut to pay for it."
Mr Gunner again urged Territorians to get vaccinated, labelling anyone who argued against his government's vaccine mandate for most workers as an "anti-vaxxer".
"If you are anti-mandate, you are absolutely anti-vax," he said.
"If you support anybody who argues against the vaccine, you are an anti-vaxxer."
Quarantine death in Howard Springs
Commissioner Chalker today said an investigation was underway into the death of a 77-year-old man at the Howard Springs quarantine facility.
Commissioner Chalker confirmed during a press conference this morning the man arrived in Darwin on an international repatriation flight.
He said advice given to police so far indicated the death is not related to COVID-19.
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2021-11-22 05:40:16Z
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