15 ‘unaccounted’ contacts found following urgent contact tracing

UPDATE - 7.26pm: All 15 previously “unaccounted for” contacts of an NT Covid case have been located and are isolating, authorities have confirmed.

UPDATE - 7.26pm:

All 15 previously “unaccounted for” contacts of an NT Covid case have been located and are isolating, authorities have confirmed.

EARLIER:

AUTHORITIES are desperately trying to track down 15 contacts related to the Tanami mine case to prevent the potential spread of the virus.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner announced a 48-hour lockdown from 1pm Sunday as the search for the unaccounted for contacts from Newmont Corporation Granites Gold Mine in the Tanami Desert.

Mr Gunner said 15 people in the Territory, related to the mine, were not accounted for with authorities rushing to identify them.

“We are taking extreme action right now to stop or slow the spread, before the coronavirus is let loose in the Territory, and that means we need a lockdown effective from 1pm today,” he said.

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“The Darwin, Palmerston and Darwin rural areas will enter a full lockdown for 48 hours. That means local government areas of the city Darwin, the city of Palmerston and Litchfield.”

The lockdown comes after chief health officer Hugh Heggie said the NT was at risk of Covid exposure on Saturday.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said he had been in touch with the health Minister and also briefed the Prime Minister.

“They have implemented immediately, with strong actions early, to ensure that their territory and their Indigenous as well as non-Indigenous communities are protected – regards to the Northern Territory,” he said.

“We think these are timely actions. The Commonwealth is responding with 10 principal actions. Firstly we have set up a national incident management team to support the Northern Territory response and that is hosted in the National Incident Centre and includes representatives from the national Indigenous Australians agency.”