Child, under 2, tests positive for coronavirus in the NT, becomes third case in family
A CHILD aged under two years old, with two siblings at a Darwin primary school, has tested positive for coronavirus, becoming the third person in her family to be infected
Northern Territory
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A CHILD aged under two years old, with two siblings at a Darwin primary school, has tested positive for coronavirus, becoming the third person in her family to be infected.
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Health Minister Natasha Fyles said the child was in the care of staff at Royal Darwin Hospital after two other adult family members previously already tested positive for COVID-19.
“This time, (it’s) a small child under the age of two but it’s important to reassure the community this is not community transmission,” she said.
“The initial case became symptomatic and the extended family all became close contacts and have quarantined.
“We have a situation where we now have three contacts from the same family group that have tested positive for COVID-19 in the NT.”
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Ms Fyles said the child had two school-aged siblings, who attended Leanyer Primary School but neither they nor any other family members had tested positive and the whole family had been self-isolating.
“The time frame does not put the school community at risk, the only linkage these children have is that they are enrolled (at the school) but once they became a close contact they did not attend school,” she said.
“The family have done everything they can, this is just a case of managing loved ones returning from overseas and an extended family group.”
Ms Fyles said the fact that there remained no community transmission of the disease in the NT meant social distancing measures were working and urged Territorians to stay the course.
“Everything that everyone is doing is playing a part and we are not seeing that community transmission and we need to keep that up,” she said,
The school-aged children have not attended school since March 25 and the child aged under two is understood to be exhibiting mild symptoms.
Originally published as Child, under 2, tests positive for coronavirus in the NT, becomes third case in family