The Northern Territory has extended its lockdown to Alice Springs after a central Australian miner infected four family members with COVID-19.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Concerns have been raised for the town's Aboriginal community, many of whom sleep rough in and around the town.
The worker left Newmont's Granites Mine on Friday and spent seven hours at Alice Springs airport before flying to South Australia, Chief Minister Michael Gunner said.
He and four family members were diagnosed with the virus in Adelaide on Wednesday.
"Like all our other decisions we will not take a punt on this," Mr Gunner told reporters.
"We will operate on the assumption he was infectious while in the territory."
More than 25,000 people in Alice Springs will be in lockdown for 72 hours from 1pm local time on Wednesday.
"We are still in a dangerous period. The territory is still under threat," Mr Gunner said.
The lockdown direction applies to everyone inside the Alice Springs town council boundary, including hundreds of Indigenous Australians living in camps.
"Rough sleepers are among the most vulnerable," Mr Gunner said.
Chief Health Officer Hugh Heggie spoke in the Aboriginal Arrernte language of the Indigenous Alice Springs people.
He said to stay put, and food, face masks and blankets would be provided.
"We're working closely with the (Central Australian Aboriginal Congress) and the council to make sure you're safe," he said.
It comes as no new COVID-19 cases were found in the Top End overnight.
The crisis started on Saturday when a young Victorian man, who travelled to the mine on June 18 via a Brisbane quarantine hotel, tested positive for the Delta variant of the virus.
About 250 fly-in, fly-out mine workers have since travelled to Western Australia, 170 to Queensland, 29 to South Australia, and six to Victoria.
Three workers headed for Tasmania and two miners went to New Zealand, with 259 remaining in the Top End.
There are understood to be 16 cases linked to the outbreak but the NT government has only recognised 10.
An infected close contact of one of two mineworkers diagnosed in Queensland hasn't been included in the Tanami Desert cluster.
The other five are the miner and his family in Adelaide.
Two more infected workers were also located at the mine and evacuated to The Centre for National Resilience in Howard Springs quarantine facility, near Darwin
Another mineworker, who had travelled to NSW, was found to be positive for the virus, as were two co-workers who travelled to Queensland, along with a close contact of one of them.
A Darwin man in his 50s, who left the mine on Friday, was also diagnosed with the virus.
He travelled to multiple venues, including Darwin's Buff Club, for more than four hours, before being ordered to quarantine.
The wife and daughter of a mine worker tested positive after he'd travelled to Palmerston, 20km south of Darwin.
All were in quarantine at the Howard Springs facility when they tested positive.
Darwin and its surrounding areas have been in lockdown since Sunday with hopes it will end on Friday after wastewater testing didn't find evidence of COVID in the community.
Meanwhile, NT police have asked the Australian Defence Force for help to maintain border checkpoints after the government declared hotspots in Western Australia and Queensland, in addition to those already in place for NSW.
Australian Associated Press
