Next few days ‘crucial’ for NT

Mr Gunner announced on Thursday the number of cases linked to cluster two remained at 19.

Nine of those were fully vaccinated, two had one dose, five were unvaccinated and three were not eligible to be vaccinated.

“This is good news, but it’s not a day to get ahead of ourselves,” he said.

“We will not presume it means we have trapped the virus.

“We’re not out of the woods. The next day or two remain crucial.”

Mr Gunner said authorities are still waiting on “a lot” of test results back from the remote Aboriginal community at Robinson River, almost 800km from Katherine, which are expected to filter through on Thursday afternoon.

“There are close contacts yet to be tested or have their results returned. There are close contacts yet to be found and there will be more close contacts identified,” he said.

“There’s also a strong chance of close contacts who have tested negative returning a positive test in coming days. The next few days remain crucial.”

Another exposure site has emerged at a BP service station in Katherine on November 13, from 2.40pm to 4pm.

Anyone who attended the venue between those times is deemed a close contact.

“Please call the Covid hotline and identify yourself as a close contact. You will need to isolate and get tested and remain isolated even after a negative test,” Mr Gunner said.

Mr Gunner said while there was lots of testing and tracing to do, things were “looking more positive”.

There are now 384 close contacts identified for cluster two. Of these, 288 have been contacted and are isolating. Of these, 201 returned a negative test.

Investigations are ongoing surrounding MacFarlane Primary School in Katherine, with 10 adults and 28 children now identified as close contacts.

A full list of exposure sites can be found on the NT government website.

Originally published as NT records no new cases overnight, but Chief Minister Michael Gunner warns next two days are ‘crucial’