ADF employee tests positive to virus

Authorities were alerted to the positive test on Wednesday after the man arrived into the Territory on Monday and stayed at the Bladin Village quarantine facility.

NT Health Minister Natasha Fyles said there was a “low risk” to the community, as the worker had been in isolation.

She said the new case was not linked to the Darwin-Katherine cluster.

While there were no new infection connected to the most recent outbreak, wastewater results in Katherine detected viral fragments in two catchments.

As a result, all 12 close contacts from the town will be retested for coronavirus.

Authorities are “concerned” about the positive traces found in the Bicentennial Rd catchment and urge all Katherine residents to get tested if even the mildest of symptoms present.

“There is no need to be alarmed, they (Katherine residents) should be aware of this information and really monitor their personal health,” Ms Fyles said.

“We’re not planning any further restrictions in the Katherine region, so people don’t need to panic.

“It’s just letting the community know that we had no presence of Covid and now we have traces of it, so we need to be cautious and ask the community to be responsive.”

There were no viral fragments detected in Darwin’s wastewater.

Snap lockdowns and lockouts were implemented in Katherine and Darwin after a 21-year old woman who arrived in Darwin from Cairns on October 29 tested positive.

It was later established that she flew from Cairns to Adelaide and then drove to Melbourne on October 21, spending four days in Victoria before flying to Darwin on October 29.

She was fined $5000 and needed to pay for her time quarantining at Howard Springs.

A furious Chief Minister Michael Gunner claimed she lied on her border entry form by not disclosing that she came from a hotspot.

Originally published as Covid-19 NT: Positive case recorded in ADF employee