‘Livid’ Covid source case speaks out after ‘interrogation’

The woman at the centre of the NT lockdown said she was ‘livid’ over sex worker rumours shared by top officials.

The 21-year-old Cairns woman, who asked not to be named, said she was ‘livid’ at public comments made by the Chief Minister accusing her of being a sex worker. Picture: Danielle Chloe

THE young woman at the centre of the Darwin cluster says her mental health is suffering after being interrogated and labelled a sex worker by top officials.

In an exclusive interview with the NT News, the 21-year-old Cairns woman, who asked not to be named, said she was “livid” at a post made by the Chief Minister on social media, stating her occupation was a sex worker.

Michael Gunner announced on Sunday the 21-year-old flew from Cairns to Adelaide before driving to Melbourne on October 21.

She spent four days in Victoria before driving back to Adelaide on October 25, flew back to Cairns and flew to Darwin on October 29.

The young woman said she went to Victoria to see her father who had been diagnosed with cancer.

She admitted she did not tell border officials of her journey to Victoria, which has been declared a hotspot.

The Cairns woman said she was in Darwin for a holiday, and exposure sites include several tourist spots and late-night venues.

She said she produced a weak positive result on Friday, November 5 after being identified as a close contact to another Covid case.

The Cairns woman said she did not show any symptoms of an infection.

The young woman said she was then grilled by NT Police after her Covid infection was confirmed.

“The NT Police interrogate(d) me asking if I was a sex worker 100 times over – which I’m not,” she said.

She said she was horrified when this accusation was repeated by Chief Minister Michael Gunner on Facebook on Monday at 5pm.

In a now deleted post, Mr Gunner’s page wrote to his 40,000 followers “she is a sex worker, she should not be judged for this”.

“I am so f — king livid at the moment,” she said.

A spokesman for the Chief Minister said while information given on Monday’s press conference was correct, the statement published to Facebook was not.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner speaks at a press conference to update the situation on the Covid-19 outbreak in the Top End. Picture Julianne Osborne

“There was a process failure which later led to information which was factually incorrect and had not been approved by the Chief Minister being published to the Chief Minister’s Facebook page,” he said.

“As soon as we were aware of the error, this was rectified immediately and the incorrect information was removed.’

“The Chief Minister and his office unreservedly apologise for the publication of this incorrect information and any hurt or distress that this caused.”

The owner of the Noonamah Tavern, which was identified as an exposure site, said he was frustrated at failures to stop the latest outbreak.

“This woman managed to get from Melbourne to Adelaide to Cairns and Darwin while being infectious and no one picked it up, so you know their systems aren’t exactly foolproof either,” Tony Innes said.

Mr Innes questioned why more scrutiny wasn’t being placed on the source case.

“This girl has caused chaos across four states... She’s the cause of all of this,” he said.

The 21-year-old Cairns woman is currently in the Howard Springs quarantine facility facing hefty fines for the border breach.

“(It’s) not good for my mental health being in here,” she said.