A child from tribal community is the latest case of Covid in the northern region as he tests positive at the same quarantine facility from where the three teenagers had fled
- A tribal child tested positive for covid and is being tested for omicron
- Baby is a resident of Binjari and three teenagers were absconding in the same facility
- Town now 81 percent double vaccinated, pointing to more cases of wastewater
The Northern Territory has detected a new COVID-19 Infection after an infant from a tribal community was diagnosed with the virus.
Two flight crews quarantined at the Center for National Resilience in Howard Springs after arriving at one Qantas flight from London Have also tested positive.
Genomic sequencing is underway to determine whether they have omicron Virus type.
A child in Binjari has tested positive for Covid, bringing the current outbreak (pictured) to 59 cases
Binjari’s infant, 330 km south of Darwin, is also in a Howard Springs quarantine facility.
The case brings the current tally of cases to 59, as wastewater tests reveal traces of more virus in Katherine, 320km south of Darwin.
The city’s double-dose vaccination rate reached 81 percent on Wednesday, but Chief Minister Michael Gunner said the current lockdown would continue while positive results were tested.
The child was in the same quarantine center, three teenagers escaped on Wednesday
The lockdown at Robinson River, 1000 km southeast of Darwin, will end at 6 p.m. local time, after several rounds of testing showed negative results.
Tests in the remote tribal community of Lajmanu, 900 km south of Darwin, have given negative results and the current lockdown will be eased at noon local time.
Meanwhile, three teenagers who were allegedly absconding from the Howard Springs quarantine facility near Darwin have been found and arrested.
Mr Gunner said all three were linked to the outbreak of the Binjari tribal community and were aged 15, 16 and 17.
Three teenagers who ran away from the quarantine facility have been arrested and found
He said, ‘We are dealing with a very complex group … with complex requirements.’
‘They are not positive for COVID-19 and all of them did their latest tests yesterday and all gave negative results.
‘The health risk to the community was very low.’
Police say the group jumped off the fence around 4.30 a.m. on Wednesday.
81 percent of the city’s population has double vaccination as wastewater testing points to more cases in the area
They were found about six hours later near Palmerston, 20 km south of Darwin, and taken into custody.
They are likely to be charged.
The National Resilience Center in Howard Springs, south of Darwin, is a large, open-air former mining camp that has been able to house about 2000 people.
NT police said it would increase surveillance at the 165-acre site and implement a program to reduce the loneliness felt by some people there.
The feature is currently used to link Australians returning from overseas, some domestic arrivals, and locals to the COVID-19 outbreak, which spread across the NT last month.
A spokeswoman for NT Health was unable to confirm how many people are currently quarantined at the facility.
Earlier this week, a fully vaccinated man in his 30s in Howard Springs was diagnosed with the new Omicron variant.
He had arrived in Darwin last week on a repatriation flight from South Africa and his positive result was confirmed on Friday.
The incident comes days after a 20-year-old fled the facility over the weekend before jumping into a waiting car and driving into Darwin’s nightlife area.
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