Thanks for coming in everyone, and sorry for the tight turnaround, but we had to wait for more results and wastewater tests this morning.
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We have two separate decisions on the lockdown status.
The lockdown for the Darwin, Palmerston and Darwin rural areas will end at noon today, as scheduled.
The lockdown for Katherine is being extended for a further 24 hours - and is on track to end at noon tomorrow.
We had 2,403 tests processed yesterday - all negative.
We now have 87 close contacts - there was an increase due to reclassifying some of the casual contacts at the Katherine Woollies.
All 87 close contacts have now returned a negative result.
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But they will all stay in isolation for the 14-day period - to guard against any late incubation of the virus.
The casual contact pool is now 626 people - the vast majority from the Katherine Woollies.
Of the 626 casual contacts, 272 have returned a negative result and have ended their isolation.
And we have another 232 negative results that we are now matching back to the casual contact list - so once they are notified, they will leave their isolation.
So that means we still have about 20 per cent of our casual contacts with results pending.
And we have 12 people from Katherine Woollies that we are still trying to locate.
I thank all of our close and casual contacts for their cooperation and their patience this week. People have been truly terrific - they have come forward, they have given us the details that we need, and they have followed the health directions.
In particular, the people of Katherine and surrounding communities - where most of our contact tracing has occurred - thank you so much.
I am sorry you have to do this for another 24 hours. This is the recommendation of our health experts.
We need Katherine to hang tight for another day - given that we know the man was more infectious while in the community, given the high-traffic exposure site in Katherine, given the movement between Katherine and remote communities, and given the number of tests that we are doing there.
We got the wastewater results in for Katherine just a few minutes ago.
The wastewater shows show a weak positive result in the Darwin CBD, and a positive result for Katherine.
We will keep testing these areas to be sure that it is disappearing.
OTHER NEWS
So lockdown lifts today for Greater Darwin, and hopefully tomorrow for Katherine.
But like last time, we will keep some rules and restrictions in place for the next seven days - to give us an extra layer of protection as we step out of lockdown and get back to normal.
That takes us through to one full replication cycle from when we got the first positive case.
And these are the exact same rules that will apply to Katherine from tomorrow if we lift.
From noon today for Darwin and tomorrow for Katherine, there will be no restrictions on reasons to leave your home, and travel restrictions in and out of lockdown areas will cease.
But, until noon, Thursday the 26th of August - a number of rules will apply.
First - masks must be worn in Greater Darwin and Katherine when you are in public and cannot maintain a physical distance of 1.5 metres and at work where physical distancing from others is not possible.
You do not need to wear a mask when at home, when you are at work but can be physically distanced from people, and other times when you can maintain a physical distance.
If you are from Greater Darwin or Katherine and you travel to another part of the Territory during this period - a mask must be worn. You take these rules with you, when you travel.
These are the exact same rules as last time.
If you are going to the supermarket or into a shop - chuck on your mask.
If you are heading out for dinner or a drink, wear a mask, but you can remove it while you are seated for eating and drinking.
If you are queuing for a coffee or takeaway, with people around you, wear your mask.
At work, you don't have to wear a mask where you can stay away from others - like in some offices, or working outdoors - but you do if you can't distance from others, like in most retail and hospitality settings.
Face masks are also required on public transport, taxis and ride shares.
In addition to the mask-wearing rules - we are also keeping the other rules we had last time:
. For the next seven days, for our hospitality venues, patrons will need to be seated for anything that isn't takeaway.
. Indoor exercise venues - like gyms - as well as markets will need to remain closed for another seven days.
. For other sport - close-contact sports won't be possible for the next week as they cannot maintain physical distancing. This only applies to close-contact sports.
. Finally, gatherings at private residences will be limited to 10 visitors, not including household members. Again, just for another week.
For major events - like the Darwin Festival Park - there are no additional requirements but they must adhere to these rules.
It is an outdoor restaurant and will be treated as such.
So people must be seated for eating and drinking, and masks must be worn when gathering around others.
And of course - our QR code check-in system has never been more important - so check in, always.
For our schools.
Schools will open as normal for face-to-face learning from tomorrow.
They continue to operate today for the children of essential workers.
However, if you are required to head to work this arvo, once the lockdown is lifted, and you don't have alternate care arrangements available, you can drop your kids at school so you can go to work.
Our mask direction applies to people aged 12 and over - so it does apply to middle schools and senior schools, but primary school students who are 12 will not have to wear a mask while at school.
Those are the rules for the next week.
We have tried to keep it as simple as possible, and as close as possible to the same rules we had last time.
I know that some people won't like them. But they are just for a week - to get us to the end of the replication cycle - because the alternative is another week of lockdown, and nobody wants that.
For businesses in Darwin who will no doubt be rushing to get ready to open today - I am sorry for the short notice.
But that's a reality when we have lockdowns as short as ours.
Other jurisdictions, with lockdowns that last for weeks or months, have the time to give people more of a heads up.
I know it's been tough for a lot of businesses and their employees - you have lost money this week, I know that. But the reason we lockdown hard and fast is so that it only has to last three or four days, not three or four months.
We are in the fortunate position that our lockdowns, so far, have been lightning quick. We shut down fast, we open up fast.
I know it's been tough for a lot of businesses and their employees - you have lost money this week, I know that.
But the reason we lockdown hard and fast is so that it only has to last three or four days, not three or four months.
But lockdowns, no matter how short, still hurt. And I want to thank the Prime Minister and the Treasurer for recognising that with the COVID-19 Disaster Payments that will now be available for workers who lost hours and wages during the week.
I now want to talk about the source of the infection, and the lessons that have been learned this week.
Dr Heggie and his team of experts have been studying the genomics, and they have been consulting with the colleagues around the country.
And, right now, the source of this infection remains a mystery.
It is probably one of the most unusual cases we have seen in Australia.
We know it is the Delta strain. But we cannot yet link the specific, particular strain to any other case, anywhere else in Australia.
So it will take a few more weeks, and a lot more work from experts around the country, to solve this mystery.
And once that mystery is solved, it could have policy implications for the rest of the country, and what we know about the virus.
Right now, for the Territory, because we don't know where he got it and the very real risk that he picked it up in transit, we have decided to take the most precautionary approach.
For this reason we are declaring Sydney Airport and Canberra Airport as hot spot areas for the purposes of travel to the Northern Territory from 5.00pm today.
That means if you transit through these airports from this time, you have been in a hot spot.
Usually, airports are automatically exempt from hot spot declarations.
But, because of this concerning case, we need to assume that these two airports are too risky for transit, until we know more about them.
All other airports remain the same - they are not hot spots, and they are available for transit.
This is about plugging any holes in our armour.
We are also making a change to the "day three" testing rule, for people who arrive in the Territory following hotel quarantine.
From now on, we will direct that people who arrive in the Territory and need a "day three" test will be required to be in supervised quarantine from the time of their arrival until their negative result is returned.
We added the "day three" rule as an extra layer of protection for the Territory. Now we are strengthening that rule, to strengthen our defence against COVID-19.
So, that's where we are at.
You don't need me to run through all the incredible people who helped make this lockdown work - they are well known to Territorians now.
To the public service, to everyone in the EOC, to every contact tracer - I know you have never stopped working. When lockdowns come, they simply mean more work and longer hours. And I thank you for all the work you have done to make this lockdown as short as possible.
And you don't need me to say why we do this... but I will anyway.
We do it because one case is better than 100.
We do it because locking down for three or four days is much better for business than locking down for three or four months.
We do it because we value our fellow Territorians, our friends and neighbours, our Territory way of life - and we want to hold onto it.
We do it because we have the oldest continuous culture on the planet to protect. And we take that responsibility very, very seriously.
I reckon Territorians have earned another badge this week.
Territorians are the lockdown legends. We go hard, we do it fast and we do it right.
And because of that - with still a few more weeks of the dry season left - we can now get back to enjoying the best of the Territory: Australia's comeback capital.
Michael Gunner is the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory