NT Covid: Nine cases in Don Dale

Children as young as 14-years-old have tested positive to Covid while detained in the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre.

UPDATE JAN 8: CHILDREN as young as 14-years-old have tested positive to Covid while detained in the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre.

A Secure NT spokeswoman confirmed nine children, aged between 14 and 17 years old, had tested positive to the virus on Monday.

“The majority of prisoners who have tested positive to Covid-19 are reporting zero to mild symptoms.”

She said the Covid-Safe protocols meant the positive children would be medically separated from the others in Don Dale.

“(The) Covid-safe plan which includes establishment of two red zones to medically separate the Covid-positive young people from the general population,” she said.

“The red zone cohorts are able to interact with each other, and safely isolate together away from the main population.”

She said all of the children would be cared for by the on-site medical service, Danila Dilba Health Service.

She said the ‘red zone’ positive children would still have access to recreation and education programs.

Danila Dilba Health Service (DDHS), who run the Don Dale clinic, has worked with stakeholders to vaccinate the young people in detention, as the main protection from the potential of a Covid outbreak.

This has achieved good outcomes with a significant majority of the young people in detention having received at least two Covid vaccinations.

Danila Dilba chief executive Rob McPhee said it was highly likely Covid would emerge in Don Dale given the current wider Omicron outbreak.

“DDHS is working with Territory Families and the Department of Health to ensure that all affected young people receive the appropriate monitoring and care, consistent with evidence-based guidelines,” he said.

“It is normal practice for our team to review every young person in Don Dale every day to check on their health and welfare, and this practice remains in place with proper use of PPE for any young person infected with COVID.”

Mr McPhee said for any young people with higher care needs, DDHS will work with the centre to facilitate a transfer to the Royal Darwin Hospital.

Danila Dilba Health Service has provided a primary health care service to the young people at Don Dale Youth Detention Centre (Don Dale) under contract with the Department of Health and in conjunction with Territory Families, since 2020, following the Royal Commission into Young People in Detention.

The government Covid release, Secure NT, said no children had tested positive at the Alice Springs Youth Justice Centre.

It comes as an outbreak in the adult Alice Springs prison infected more than half of all prisoners in a matter of days, with 302 of the 626 inmates testing positive last week.

Secure NT said on Monday there were 327 positive cases across the correctional system.

It said there were 268 cases in the Alice Springs Correctional Centre, 42 per cent of the inmate population, 35 cases in Darwin Correctional Centre, 3 per cent of the population, and 24 at the Barkly Work Camp, 40 per cent of inmates.

UPDATE, JAN 7: Nine children have contracted Covid in Don Dale Youth Detention Centre. The outbreak was announced on Monday by Deputy Chief Minister Nicole Manison.

The outbreak represents nearly a quarter of the children currently in the facility.

“We are working very closely with Danila Dilba to ensure those young people get the best possible care,” she said.

Mrs Manison said the children will continue to be held at Don Dale in order “to minimise” the impact or spread.

“Just reiterate there will be close supervision of and updates for those young people in that facility.”

The NT News is awaiting an update from Aboriginal Health provider Danila Dilba who operate the medical clinic inside Don Dale.

More to come.

EARLIER: LAJAMANU and surrounding homelands have entered a seven-day lock-in due to increased Covid cases.

The lock-in began on 5pm Monday. Twenty-four cases of Covid have been recorded in Lajamanu in the current outbreak.

A lock-in is also in place in Ampilatwatja, Milikapiti, Galiwin’ku, Milingimbi, Palumpa until 2pm on Sunday, February 6.

A person must not leave a lock-in area unless the they are:

– An authorised officer or essential worker

– Infected with COVID-19 and required to isolate outside of the area

– Suspected of being infected with COVID-19 and requires testing or assessment for infection outside the area

– Required to exit the area under another law exiting to leave the Territory.

Prison cases grow

A Covid outbreak inside the Alice Springs Prison has spread rapidly to almost half the prison population in a matter of days.

There are now 302 prisoners that have tested positive at the facility out of a total of 626 inmates. The facility has the capacity to accommodate 650 prisoners.

The latest figures, provided by Corrections on Monday morning, represents a massive spike on the total number of 154 cases recorded Friday afternoon.

“The rise is due to a recent exercise to test all prisoners through PCR swab and laboratory analysis rather than relying on self-RAT (rapid antigen test) testing,” Acting NT Correctional Services Commissioner David Thompson said.

A/Commissioner Thompson said health support services at the facility had been reporting either zero or mild symptoms only among prisoners who have tested positive.

Earlier, a Department of Health spokesman said all Territory prisons had “comprehensive Covid infection control and response plans in place”.

“(The plans) include all new arrivals being isolated, monitored and tested prior to joining the general population,” the spokesman said.

“All appropriate measures have been implemented to reduce the risk of spreading the infection at the Alice Springs facility.”

As of January 11, 90 per cent of prisoners at the facility were double vaccinated and 97 per cent had received at least one dose.

A/Commissioner Thompson said there were processes in place so prisoners could still access justice services, including the use of RATs prior to court appearances and video or audio conferencing.

“However, at times there may be some delays if a prisoner has tested positive and is in medically supervised isolation,” he said.

It comes as a further 760 cases of Covid were recorded in the 24 hours to 8pm.

Saturday’s case number was also revised from 828 to 901.

Of the new cases, 599 positive results came from rapid antigen tests.

There are 114 patients in hospital, with nine of these requiring oxygen.

The number of ICU patients have jumped to five, with three of these fully vaccinated and two unvaccinated.

528 of these cases were recorded in the Top End, 86 in Central Australia, 45 in the East Arnhem Region, 16 in the Big Rivers Region and 13 in the Barkly.

Ampilatwatja, Milikapiti, Galiwin’ku, Milingimbi and Palumpa remain under lock-in settings, meaning residents may only leave for essential reasons.

There were 27 new cases in Galiwin’ku, 3 in Millingimbi and one new case in Palumpa.

The total active cases has also climbed to 5550.

It comes as school returns today, with plenty of contingencies in place, but a mixed reaction to having kids back in person.

Originally published as NT Covid: Nine cases in Don Dale