Community in the Barkly enters snap lockdown as new case emerges
Ali Curung in the Barkly region has entered a snap lockdown with a new Covid-19 case diagnosed on Sunday afternoon.
Northern Territory
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BREAKING: Ali Curung, a community in the Barkly region, will enter a snap lockdown until 5pm on Wednesday as a new case was detected there on Sunday afternoon.
The community has a low first dose vaccination rate of 44 per cent for people aged 16 years and over.
Anyone who has been in Ali Curung and Tennant Creek since December 10, must immediately isolate, get tested for Covid-19 and remain in isolation until they receive a negative result.
Those people who have since left the area and are in transit – must stop at the nearest Covid-19 testing facility.
Anyone who has travelled interstate is highly encouraged to get tested.
UPDATE: Seven new cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in the Northern Territory in the 24 hours to Sunday noon, all linked to the Katherine cluster.
A woman in her 60s woman with a pre-existing medical condition has been transferred to the Tennant Creek Hospital along with a woman in her 50s from the Wuppa Town Camp.
A male and a female in their 40s have been transferred to Alice Springs for medical care and a male and female in their 20s have also been taken to the Tennant Creek Hospital.
The final case is a child from Tennant Creek who is a known household contact of an existing case.
Health Minister Natasha Fyles said all residents from the Wuppa Town Camp have been tested for coronavirus.
“Considering these case numbers we’re actively considering extendingf the Tennant Creek lockdown but we haven’t made a decision on that,” Ms Fyles said.
“A decision will be made tomorrow but it’s likely we’ll extend the lockdown.”
There were also two positive cases recorded on Sunday who arrived from Johannesburg on December 12 and are in the Howard Springs quarantine facility.
There are now 10 positive cases from that flight.
There were 230 Covid-19 tests conducted in Tennant Creek on Saturday.
SUNDAY: Health Minister Natasha Fyles will give an update on Covid in the NT, after one case was recorded yesterday.
Tennant Creek is expected to have their lockdown lifted tomorrow.
It also comes one day before NT’s borders will be open to the rest of the country.
More information to come later this morning.
SATURDAY: ONE case of Covid-19 was recorded overnight, while a case announced on Friday has since been moved into intensive care.
Health Minister Natasha Fyles announced on Saturday the new case, a child, was recorded in the Howard Springs quarantine facility.
“They were from the Katherine region and had been there for their infectious period,” she said.
She added two of the four cases from Tennant Creek, diagnosed on Friday, have since been taken to Alice Springs Hospital, with one in ICU.
The other two are in Tennant Creek Hospital.
Ms Fyles also said 26 close contacts linked to the two cases in Yulara, recorded on Friday, have been identified and will be taken to Howard Springs.
5.30PM FRIDAY
PARTS of the NT with some of the lowest vaccination rates in Australia are now at the centre of an escalating Covid crisis, after four new cases were detected in Tennant Creek.
Tennant Creek, with a double-dose vaccination rate of just 70 per cent, was put into a three-day snap lockdown on Friday after the discovery of four cases.
Tennant Creek, with a double-dose vaccination rate of just 70 per cent, was put into a three-day snap lockdown on Friday after discovery of four cases. The infections have been linked to the Katherine cluster, which now totals 100 cases.
The four infected people included a woman in her 40s, who was infectious in the nearby Wuppa Town camp, and who had close links to the Katherine cluster.
The other three cases are a woman in her 40s, a woman in her 20s and a child.
One of the four infected has been taken to Alice Springs Hospital.
Masks will be mandatory for the entire Barkly region, which has a dismal double-dose vaccination rate of 35 per cent.
Authorities on Friday blamed religious leaders and social media misinformation for low rates of vaccine take up in the region.
There were also two cases detected in Yulara who arrived on Jetstar flight JQ667 from Brisbane. They were close contacts of a positive case in Queensland but it was not yet known whether they have the Delta or Omicron variant of the virus.
Announcing the lockdown in Tennant Creek, Acting Chief Minister Nicole Manison urged Barkly residents to get vaccinated as soon as they could.
“The vaccination rate in Tennant Creek is 83 per cent first dose and 70 per cent double dose,” Ms Manison said.
“This is frustratingly low, disappointingly low.
“We also know the Barkly regional vaccine rates are among the lowest in the Territory.”
Chief health officer Dr Hugh Heggie opted to place Tennant Creek in a full lockdown, rather than just a lockout, because of the town’s sluggish uptake of vaccines.
Lockouts, where only the unvaccinated or partially-vaccinated must adhere to lockdown rules, are only used when a region’s vaccination rate exceeds 80 per cent double dosed.
In reaction to the new cases, authorities have also placed strict new testing requirements around anyone who has recently travelled to other parts of the Territory from Tennant Creek. Ms Manison said the testing requirement was in response to Tennant Creek’s status as a major transit point, and because many had left the region for the festive break.
“We are also implementing a direction to anyone who has led Tennant Creek in the last seven days,” she said.
“You must isolate and get a PCR test. You must remain isolated until you receive a negative result.”
Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker urged motorists travelling through the Barkly on the Stuart Hwy to “avoid Tennant Creek if you can” and stop at other locations.
Mr Chalker said a mask mandate for Kalkargingi, Daguragu and Timber Creek would end at 5pm Friday.
Chief health officer Dr Hugh Heggie said the low rates of vaccination in the Barkly had been caused by a combination of online misinformation from primarily American activists, as well as Pentecostal preachers.
“That’s all rubbish,” Dr Heggie said. “I want to be very clear that the evidence around the world is that we got our safe vaccines and they have been approved.”
The snap lockdown in Tennant Creek came on the same day as New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria reported big jumps in daily infections of Covid-19.
Ms Manison ruled out any changes to the NT border rules set to come into effect from Monday, despite fears the Omicron variant is driving up infections.
“We have to learn to live with Covid, but what we’re doing as a government is making sure we’ve slowed Covid as much as possible.”
From Monday, arrivals will need a test 72 hours before and after coming to the NT, and on day six after arrival. Arrivals from Queensland will this weekend also be required to get a rapid antigen test at the airport after a spike in cases.
EARLIER
EIGHT cases of Covid-19 were recorded overnight, including four from Tennant Creek.
Acting chief Minister Nicole Manison said two cases were recorded in the Howard Springs quarantine facility: a woman in her 30s and a teenage boy. They are considered low risk.
The further four cases are: a woman in her 40s with links to the Katherine cluster, who tested positive at the Tennant Creek Hospital. she was infectious in the nearby Wuppa Town Camp.
The other three cases are a woman in her 40s, a woman in her 20s and a child.
Contact tracing has begun. Tennant Creek will remain in lockdown until Monday, 5pm.
Ms Manison said the vaccination rate in Tennant Creek was 83 per cent first dose and 70 per cent double dose, which she described as “frustratingly low, disappointingly low”.
A mask mandate has been put in place for the entire Barkly region. All residents in the Wuppa Town Camp will be tested and eligible Territorians offered Covid-19 vaccines.
People are permitted to travel through Tennant Creek but most only stop for fuel.
A further two cases, unrelated to Katherine and Tennant Creek, were recorded in Yulara were recorded overnight. The men in their 20s are close contacts of a man who travelled on JQ667 from Brisbane to Yulara. They are considered low risk, having tested and isolated when required.
Timber Creek and Kalkarindji will exit lockout but maintain a mask mandate.
EARLIER: TENNANT Creek will be put into an immediate lockdown for 72 hours after two people from the region tested positive for Covid-19.
Barkly MLA Steve Edgington stated on social media two positive cases were recorded.
Anyone who has been in Tennant Creek since December 10 must immediately isolate, get tested for Covid-19 and remain in isolation until they receive a negative result.
Acting Chief Minister Nicole Manison will provide a Covid-19 update on Friday morning amid a growing number of Covid cases across Australia.
There were no new locally-acquired cases reported in the Territory on Thursday.
There are concerns about the virus having been seeded beyond Katherine in recent days, following three positive cases associated with Timber Creek and one in Kalkarindji.
The Katherine cluster, the largest local outbreak in the Territory since the pandemic began, has now exceeded 90 cases.
Ms Manison and Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker are expected to update these numbers at 12pm Friday.
Community transmission across the rest of Australia has increased markedly in recent days as states reopen their borders.
There were 2213 new cases reported on Friday morning in New South Wales, up from just 552 cases just a week ago.
On Friday, authorities reported 1510 cases in Victoria, 64 cases in South Australia, 20 in Queensland and 20 in the Australian Capital Territory.
The Territory is scheduled to commence quarantine-free travel to Darwin, Katherine and Alice Springs next Monday, December 20.
More to come.
UPDATED THURSDAY AFTERNOON: THE Opposition has slammed the lack of a press conference to update Territorians on the Covid situation in the Territory.
There was no media conference held on Thursday, on the same day one new case was reported in the Territory, an arrival aboard a repatriation flight from Johannesburg.
The case is having his infection genomically sequenced to determine whether it is the Omicron variant or not.
In a statement released on Thursday, Deputy Opposition Leader Gerard Maley said the government had “questions to answer” about two local cases which reportedly travelled to the Royal Darwin Hospital.
“That information is yet to be made public and it’s a serious concern that Labor has failed to keep Territorians up to date,” Mr Maley said.
The NT News understands no new exposure sites have been found by health authorities.
The absence of any press conference comes a day after Acting Chief Minister Nicole Manison performed a major U-turn, making changes to the Territory’s travel arrangements which come into effect on December 20.
Chief Minister Michael Gunner’s office has been contacted for comment.
THURSDAY MIDDAY UPDATE: There has been one new case of Covid-19 diagnosed in the NT.
The case is not linked to the NT outbreak, with the total number of cases remaining at 94.
The case arrived on a repatriation flight from Johannesburg and is in quarantine at the Centre for National Resilience. Genomic sequencing is underway.
Meanwhile, almost 3200 tests were undertaken on Wednesday and wastewater testing in Tennant Creek has returned positive results.
The Tennant Creek drive through testing facility is open from 7am to 2pm and is located at the Greyhound Transit Centre on Paterson Street.
Residents are all urged to get tested.
THURSDAY MORNING UPDATE:
The NT Government has yet to announce further Covid exposure sites almost 24 hours after two people tested positive after travelling to Royal Darwin Hospital from Timber Creek.
It is still unknown whether the mother and child were in the Darwin community before heading to hospital.
The mother and son caught a bus from Timber Creek to Darwin via Katherine testing positive to Covid-19 upon arrival at RDH for surgery.
WEDNESDAY UPDATE: A mother and her son who caught the bus from Timber Creek to Darwin via Katherine have tested positive for Covid-19.
The pair are among 11 new cases diagnosed overnight.
Four cases were linked to the Katherine outbreak, including the mother and son.
The woman in her 30s and her son who is under the age of 10 were on their way to the Royal Darwin Hospital for surgery.
Part of the pre-op process includes a Covid-19 test, which is when the positive result was discovered.
Contact tracers are now trying to track down anyone who spent time on the Greyhound bus with the pair.
Meanwhile, a woman in her 20s, who was a close contact of a previous case, is in the Howard Springs quarantine facility, while a teenage boy was detected through a testing blitz in a high risk street in Katherine East also tested positive.
Five of the new cases are from a repatriation flight from Johannesburg, South Africa and all five are in the Howard Springs quarantine facility.
Another was an aircrew member from a recent London flight who was also in quarantine while another person was in home quarantine.
There were 2700 tests done in the 24 hours to 12.30pm Wednesday, including 1214 in the Big Rivers region.
There are 194 close contacts so far and 164 have been contacted and are isolation. Of those, 152 tests have come back negative.
OVERNIGHT UPDATE: THE Territory’s biggest Covid-19 cluster has hit 90 cases after two further cases were detected on Tuesday evening, sending four communities into a lockout.
Health Minister Natasha Fyles had earlier on Tuesday said authorities were investigating three “presumptive positive” locally acquired cases in Kalkarindji and Timber Creek.
Testing overnight confirmed two of the three cases were positive for Covid-19. Results for the third case are expected in coming hours.
As a result of the detections, Kalkarindji, Timber Creek, Daguragu and Gilwi entered lockout on Thursday night.
Fully vaccinated residents are able to go about their business within their communities as normal, however must wear a mask and cannot leave their townships.
Under a lockout, unvaccinated or partially-vaccinated residents must stay home and are only able to leave their home for one of the five essential reasons.
UPDATED 2.30PM: THE government will overhaul rules for interstate arrivals after backlash from various industry groups over the past week.
The NT reported one confirmed new case of Covid-19, and three suspected cases, on Tuesday. See further details below.
Tourism operators were outraged over changes which would effectively lock interstate tourists within Darwin, Alice Springs and Katherine for the first fortnight of arriving in the Territory.
Parents were also left angry after the rules meant returning boarding students wouldn’t be able to spend Christmas with family in their rural properties.
On Tuesday, Health Minister Natasha Fyles flagged changes would be announced in coming days following the outcry.
Under the rules announced last week by Chief Minister Michael Gunner, all interstate arrivals into the Territory from December 20 onward would have to spend their first 14 days in ‘high vaccination’ zones, namely Darwin, Alice Springs and Katherine.
Ms Fyles said consultation was being held with various stakeholders over the debacle.
“I’m very confident that in coming days, we will make some changes that will help not only bring families together, allow Territorians to travel, but also reflect upon some of the concerns that the tourism industry has raised with us,” she said.
Ms Fyles denied the government had failed to consult with leading industry groups, Aboriginal organisations and health bodies about the proposed changes before Mr Gunner’s announcement.
“There is no roadmap for us, there is no instruction manual,” she said.
“What can seem as a very forward state at the time can quickly become redundant.”
The December 20 date for quarantine-free travel has been criticised by Aboriginal organisations, who fear the changes will leave Indigenous communities exposed to Covid-19 too soon.
Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory chief executive John Paterson said mid-January would be a “reasonable time” to reopen.
“We’re wanting to seriously consider the broader border opening around that mid-January, and we’ve put 17 January as a date, he told ABC.
Northern Land Council chairman Samuel Bush-Blanasi said he wanted Territorians to consider carefully interstate travel over Christmas.
“Don’t be the one to bring it back to the NT,” he said.
UPDATED: ONE local case of Covid-19 was recorded overnight, with mask mandates across the Territory being extended.
Health Minister Natasha Fyles said the case was a Katherine close contact who was in the Centre for National Resilience.
Ms Fyles added there were three unconfirmed cases of Covid, two from Timber Creek and one in Kalkarindji, with a high likelihood they would turn a firm positive.
As a result, Ms Fyles said Timber Creek and Kalkarindji would implement a mask mandate until Friday 2pm.
Beswick’s lockout will end on Tuesday but the area’s mask mandate is extended until Friday 2pm.
Barunga and Tennant Creek will also maintain mask mandates until Friday 2pm.
Ms Fyles said a repatriated Australian who flew in from Johannesburg tested positive overnight. She added an individual who travelled from Nigeria to Darwin via Sydney, who tested positive last week, was confirmed as having the Omicron variant.
Further testing of a repatriated Australian who travelled from Singapore has revealed they do not have Covid-19, after being announced as positive on Monday.
EARLIER: HEALTH Minister Natasha Fyles will provide a Covid-19 update with deputy chief health officer Dr Charles Pain on Tuesday morning.
It follows the Territory’s single biggest daily rise in Covid cases on Monday.
There were 16 locally-acquired cases reported on Monday, and one case in quarantine from a repatriation flight.
The local cases were detected as part of a testing blitz of four streets in Katherine East.
Authorities warned they were bracing for more positive cases.
There had also been Covid fragments detected in the wastewater of a number of remote communities, leading to fears the virus has been seeded more widely than initially believed.
More to come.
EARLIER: THE Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory has called for a delay to the Territory’s planned quarantine-free border reopening on December 20 amid a frightening spike of Covid-19 cases.
There were 17 cases detected on Monday in the Territory, 16 of which were locally-acquired.
There have also been wastewater detections in the town of Tennant Creek, as well as the remote communities of Beswick, Bulla, Daguragu, Pigeonhole, Kalkarindji and Lajamanu.
Speaking to ABC Radio on Tuesday morning, AMSANT chief executive John Paterson said the situation was “very alarming”.
“We have been consistently saying, very early in the piece … was that mid January would be a reasonably good time when we get hopefully around 95 per cent (vaccinated),” Mr Paterson said.
“We’re wanting to seriously consider the broader border opening around that mid-January, and we’ve put 17 January as a date.”
Quarantine-free travel to Darwin, Katherine and Alice Springs from interstate is scheduled to commence on December 20.
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Originally published as Community in the Barkly enters snap lockdown as new case emerges
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