Unvaccinated woman in 70s passes away at RDH after two-week Covid battle
The family of the woman who passed from Covid-19 had the chance to Facetime with her.
Northern Territory
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UPDATED 11.30AM FRIDAY: The family of the woman who passed from Covid-19 had the chance to Facetime with her.
Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker said teams on the ground ensured her family, who stretch from Binjari to Bulla and Pine Creek, had the chance to speak to her over Facetime just before she passed.
“It was incredible work by everyone on the ground,” he said.
Mr Chalker said the funeral for the woman would be held in the Binjari community but would not say whether restrictions would be eased for sorry business to occur.
Meanwhile Chief Minister Michael Gunner has extended his condolences to the Binjari community after a woman passed from Covid-19.
In a press conference, Mr Gunner said the woman, in her 70s, passed about 11.30pm Thursday.
She was in the Royal Darwin Hospital and on oxygen before her passing.
“This is the news we never wanted to give,” Mr Gunner said.
“But it is very unlikely to be the last time we have to deliver such news.
“I wish we could have delayed this another day, another week, another month.
“We know its going to become endemic.”
Mr Gunner said everyone was thinking of community members.
“They are a tight community who care for each other and care about each other,” he said.
Deputy chief health officer Charles Pain said the woman’s condition deteriorated “somewhat suddenly”.
He said while the Territory was aiming for a higher target for vaccination, more deaths were likely.
EARLIER 11AM FRIDAY: THE Northern Territory has recorded its first Covid-related death since the pandemic began.
The NT News understands a woman in her 70s from the Binjari community near Katherine passed at the Royal Darwin Hospital on Thursday night.
The Indigenous woman had been in the RDH for the last couple of weeks.
She was unvaccinated.
It is the first Covid-related death in the Territory since the pandemic began, and the first death associated with the Darwin-Katherine-Robinson River cluster.
The outbreak has become the Territory’s largest, with 60 confirmed cases as of Thursday.
Chief Minister Michael Gunner is expected to update the public on the situation at 11.30am Friday.
Mr Gunner took to social media to express his sympathies to the Binjari community.
“The staff of RDH did all they could to care for her, and I know they are also feeling it right now,” he said.
“I extend my thanks and sympathy to them as well.
“Unfortunately her condition deteriorated rapidly yesterday.”
Mr Gunner said the tragic passing was a reminder of the severity of Covid-19 and urged Territorians to get vaccinated against the virus.
More to come.
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Originally published as Unvaccinated woman in 70s passes away at RDH after two-week Covid battle
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