Foreign military COVID-19 cases in NT not linked to mutant strains, baby tests positive in quarantine at Howard Springs
Two foreign military officials who tested positive while in quarantine in a Darwin CBD hotel did not have mutant strains of coronavirus, including the UK-strain.
Politics
Don't miss out on the headlines from Politics. Followed categories will be added to My News.
TWO foreign military officials who tested positive while in quarantine in a Darwin CBD hotel did not have mutant strains of coronavirus, including the UK-strain.
It comes as NT authorities confirm two people, including a 16-month-old baby, have tested positive for coronavirus in the jurisdiction.
Both cases are repatriated Australians currently in quarantine at Howard Springs.
About 300 foreign military officials and their families have been put into quarantine at Darwin TraveLodge on Cavenagh St, with at least 83 of them having already completed the mandatory 14 day stay.
MORE:
Foreign military personnel leave Darwin CBD hotel quarantine, as more arrive at TraveLodge
Coronavirus: Prime Minister Scott Morrison addresses travel caps
How the experts prevent COVID-19 from leaking out of Darwin’s international quarantine facility
Two people out of the first military cohort tested positive for coronavirus while in quarantine and were moved to the Royal Darwin Hospital while their close contacts were relocated to the Howard Springs facility.
NT authorities revealed on Friday that genomic testing found neither case had the UK-strain of COVID-19 or “any other more transmissible strains of the virus”.
Meanwhile, a 30-year-old woman who arrived in Darwin on the repatriation flight from London on January 16 has tested positive for COVID-19.
A 16-month-old baby girl who arrived in Darwin on the repatriation flight from India on January 19 has also tested positive for COVID-19.
Both patients are asymptomatic according to authorities and remain under the care of the AUSMAT team at the international wing of the quarantine facility, known as the NT Centre for National Resilience.
Since repatriation flights to the NT began on October 23, 3054 repatriated Australians have undertaken quarantine at Howard Springs and 61 people have tested positive for COVID-19.
In total, the NT has recorded 99 cases of COVID-19, all within international or interstate arrivals in quarantine.
Concerns over police wanding at Territory schools
The NT government’s plan to give police greater stop and search powers, including the authority to enter schools to wand children for knives, is ‘a worrying sign of policy without evidence’, advocates warn.
Less bail, more police wanding: Details of Declan’s Law revealed
Presumption against bail will be expanded to all serious violent crimes under new laws expected to pass next week, despite no plan locked in for where the extra prisoners will be kept.