Chief Minister Michael Gunner flags the NT could reopen borders to Melbourne residents soon

THE NT is ‘pretty close’ to finally making a decision to reopen its borders to Melbourne residents after the once-troubled city recorded zero new cases for 11 days in a row, says Chief Minister Michael Gunner

• The NT surpasses Victoria’s number of active COVID-19 cases
• Man, 29, tests positive for COVID-19 after Sunday’s repatriation flight from London, becoming seventh active case in the NT

THE NT is “pretty close” to finally making a decision to reopen its borders to Melbourne residents after the once-troubled city recorded zero new cases for 11 days in a row, says Chief Minister Michael Gunner.

Mr Gunner said Melbourne was doing an “incredible job” with the city’s 14-day average case number sitting at 0.4 today.

“They have crushed corona which means we should be able to welcome them back to the Territory soon,” he said.

“We are monitoring their progress as they step out of their restrictions, including lifting the ring of steel, before we make a final decision, but I’d say we are pretty close to that.”

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The Chief Minister previously said the NT was on track to remove Melbourne’s hotspot status before Christmas.

There are now just four active cases of coronavirus in Victoria, compared to seven active cases in the Territory.

The seven cases — which were all acquired overseas — include a baby under the age of one, two three-year-old children, a 29-year-old man, a 31-year-old man, a 82-year-old woman and a 31-year-old woman, who are currently all in the Howard Springs quarantine facility.

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