NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner has announced that the snap lockdown is likely to be lifted after no new positive COVID cases have been recorded in the Top End.
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Approximately 2,128 COVID-19 tests were conducted on August 17 across the Territory and all revealed a negative result.
"At this stage, we are fairly confident we can lift the lockdown tomorrow at noon and transition it to being open again but with restrictions," Mr Gunner.
"Confident, but not completely certain at this stage. I can't give a guarantee, I'm hoping to do that in the morning but in preparation for that probability, we will be working on what restrictions will look like once the lockdown lifts.
"At a minimum, it will likely involve wearing masks for another week."
Of the close contacts to the index case, 81 are in the NT and at this stage, 65 returned negative results while 15 are pending.
Of the 504 casual contacts, 411 of those are from the Katherine exposure sites, 280 of whom have been tested.
"A handful have already received their negative result, it will take a few days to get through everyone but that's ok because the important thing is that they're isolating," Mr Gunner said.
Waste water results from Katherine are expected to arrive on August 19.
"Don't be alarmed if the results are positive, we actually expect that it will be. We are more interested in the trend of the infection," Mr Gunner said.
"The most important thing is the results from the close and casual contacts."
Mr Gunner also announced that New Zealand has been declared a hotspot for purposes of travel to the NT.
NT Chief Health Officer Dr Hugh Heggie said initial serology results from the original case, a 30-year-old man who tested positive in Katherine, indicated he had the Delta varient of COVID-19.
"The genomic result has to be released from New South Wales because they have the original Delta gene," Dr Heggie said.
NT Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker said a number of people had been fined over $5000 by police over the last 24 hours, including three people in the Howard Springs quarantine facility.
"We issued five infringement notices to five patrons of a accommodation facility along Mitchell Street yesterday, who were sitting around the pool enjoying some beverages," he said.
Equally, unfortunately within the (Howard Springs facility)...we issued three infringement notices to individuals. They are reflecting on the fact that we are very clear about the point you cannot leave your balcony, and you certainly cannot move around without wearing a mask."
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