FREEDOM AT LAST: Lockdowns lifted after Territory’s dance with Delta brought under control
Territorians can head back to the pub, have a picnic or go for a hike again after a close shave with the Delta variant was brought under control.
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LOCKDOWNS across the Northern Territory were lifted at 1pm today after a week-long scramble to prevent a dangerous variant of Covid-19 from catching hold in the community.
During an at-times emotional press conference, Chief Minister Michael Gunner and Chief Health Officer Dr Hugh Heggie announced stay-at-home requirements would be lifted.
Some restrictions, such as mask-wearing in certain settings, will stay in place until Friday, July 9.
The announcement was greeted with relief from businesses, particularly in hospitality and tourism, which had been forced to close or operate as takeaway only.
The five-day lockdown in the Top End began after a man infected with Covid-19 at the Granites gold mine travelled to Darwin, where he visited several locations including the Buff Club in Stuart Park.
Dr Heggie said the Territory was “extremely lucky” to have avoided a wider outbreak.
“(The Delta) variant is much more infective,” he said.
“We have dodged a bullet, because I think the person had a low viral load, and that isn’t always the case.”
Dr Heggie became emotional as he talked about his fears of what Covid-19 could have done to remote Aboriginal communities.
“I’ve lived and worked with Aboriginal people a long time, 20 years.”
“We’ve done a lot more preparation – our testing capability, our contact tracing.”
Dr Heggie couldn’t promise another lockdown wouldn’t happen, but said he had “confidence” in the Territory’s contact tracing system.
Mr Gunner said contact tracing had responded rapidly after an infected man allegedly visited a corner store in Stuart Park on Sunday.
“The response to our public health and police teams was sensational – if anybody saw SWAT teams driving through Stuart Park, (on Thursday night), that was them,” he said.
“The thing that really sealed the deal for us in the Top End was a new round of wastewater testing for Darwin, which has come back negative.”
Mr Gunner said close contacts from an infected miner at Alice Springs Airport would remain in isolation for the full 14-day period.
“But because we’ve quickly found the close contacts, we are confident that if they do become infectious in the coming days, the virus will stay trapped.”
“Based on our conversations with the health experts in South Australia, we now have a very high degree of confidence that the man who spent seven hours at Alice Springs Airport had low or no infectivity during that period.”
Alice Springs had initially been expected to be locked down between 1pm on Wednesday and Saturday, but authorities decided to end its restrictions early.
Optimism that Greater Darwin would come out of lockdown was hindered by the late news on Thursday that a man who later tested positive for Covid-19 visited a Stuart Park Corner Store to buy cigarettes.
He visited the store between 12.18 and 12.35pm on Sunday, on his way to Howard Springs before later testing positive for Covid-19.
On Thursday, Chief Minister Michael Gunner said the man had “broke the law, and lied about it” to contact tracers.
The miner however told Mix 10.49’s Katie Woolf he had been honest with authorities about his movements on Sunday.
Mr Gunner however on Friday reiterated that the man had breached his isolation order.
“I understand he is now putting out a story, that story is being tested by the police,” he said.
NT Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker said an investigation has been launched and detectives had talked to the man.
“They’re doing further work to now ascertain other lines of inquiry, and they will go down the path to form an opinion,” he said.
Mr Chalker defended the decision to allow a close contact to transport themselves to Howard Springs.
“In fact, it could be argued that you could suggest that an individual travelling by themselves in a private car to Howard Springs appropriately poses very, very little risk,” he said.
Mr Chalker said the investigation into the incident would be “broad” and would look into the decision to allow the man to transport himself.
Mr Gunner made the announcement following a meeting of national cabinet, where he and other state and territory leaders agreed to only use lockdowns as a last resort to control Covid-19 outbreaks.
Mr Gunner said the decision to lock down both Greater Darwin and Alice Springs was appropriate to get on top of the Granites gold mine situation.
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