Territory to roll out welcome mat for Sydneysiders

Sydneysiders will soon be able to visit the Northern Territory without enduring mandatory quarantine.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner, Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro and Territory Alliance leader Terry Mills play volleyball along Darwin's Waterfront. Picture: Che Chorley

Sydneysiders will soon be able to visit the Northern Territory without enduring mandatory quarantine, provided the city’s daily coronavirus case numbers do not increase.

Some easing of restrictions is also on the cards for Victorians, although the government in Darwin is yet to decide which parts of that state will be given Territory access first.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner, who has so far resisted specifying the definition of a hotspot, on Friday praised Sydney’s single-digit daily infections and the state government’s “superb” contract tracing and testing systems.

“For these reasons, the Northern Territory will plan to remove the hotspot status declaration for Greater Sydney in 28 days,” he said. “From Friday, October 9, a­rrivals from Greater Sydney will not need to undertake 14 days of supervised quarantine.”

Mr Gunner said the Territory’s quarantine system was working but added there were “some issues” with people using the NT as a “backdoor to other states like Queensland”.

Chief Health Officer Hugh Heggie said while Victoria would remain a declared hotspot for now, plans could soon emerge to downgrade regional areas.