Genomic testing confirms two Katherine Covid-19 outbreaks linked

Genomic testing has confirmed the first Katherine outbreak triggered by a 21-year-old woman is linked to the further cases of Covid-19 there and in Robinson River.

UPDATED: GENOMIC sequencing has traced the current Covid-19 outbreak in Katherine and Robinson River to an earlier cluster brought into the NT by a 21-year-old woman.

There are 19 active cases of the virus associated with the second cluster, which has spread to the remote Robinson River community.

NT Health has posted on social media confirming the genomic sequence of the virus between the two clusters was “linked” and the two situations were now being treated as a single outbreak.

The finding means there was Covid-19 spreading in the community between November 4 and November 13.

The virus was brought into the Territory by a 21-year-old woman who flew into Darwin on October 29. The cluster grew to four cases.

Combined with the second cluster, which has spread within Indigenous Territorian populations in Katherine and Robinson River, the total number of cases now stands at 23.

Coronavirus testing laboratories at the Centre for Disease Control, Royal Darwin Hospital. Picture: Che Chorley

EARLIER: GENOMIC testing due back on Thursday will confirm whether the first Katherine outbreak triggered by a 21-year-old woman who lied to authorities is linked to the further cases there and in Robinson River, the Australian has reported.

Health authorities are racing to find a potential link between the female traveller from Cairns and the new cluster, which has ballooned to 19 cases.

Of concern, the latest outbreak is the first in a remote Aboriginal community in the Territory – Robinson River, about 800km southeast of Katherine.

“We don’t know how those two outbreaks are linked, and so there is a concern for seeding,” Chief Minister Michael Gunner said on Wednesday.

It comes as Darwin ramps up its testing capacity, with the Marrara Covid-19 testing clinic reopened from 8am Thursday.

The 21-year-old female, who illegally travelled to Victoria before arriving in the Top End, told the NT News last week she was “livid” at a post made by the Chief Minister on social media, stating her occupation was a sex worker.

The Howard Springs Covid-19 testing clinic. Picture: Che Chorley

Among the latest infections was a three-week-old baby girl. Five of the new infections on Wednesday were in Robinson River and three were in Katherine.

The Katherine Hospital’s emergency department has emerged as a concern, with five close contact exposure listings on the NT government website spanning four days.

Reacting to the growing cluster, health authorities are now requiring anyone who has been in Robinson River since November 11 or in Katherine since November 7 to get tested and self-isolate.

Contact tracers had identified 234 close contacts but had only managed to contact and isolate 107 people.