The Northern Territory has declared Greater Melbourne a COVID-19 hotspot as a virus cluster linked to the quarantine hotel grows to 13.

February 12, 2021

The Northern Territory has declared Greater Melbourne a COVID-19 hotspot as a virus cluster linked to the quarantine hotel continues to grow.

The outbreak, connected to the Holiday Inn at Melbourne Airport, has grown to 13 cases, with Victoria to go into lockdown from 11.59pm on Friday.

The new cases include a female assistant manager and four close contacts of people who earlier tested positive for the virus.

The hotspot declaration includes Melbourne Airport, where the Brunetti cafe in Terminal 4 was listed as an exposure site early Friday morning.

NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner said the snap decision following a meeting with health officials reflected the seriousness of the situation unfolding in Melbourne.

“The briefing was, frankly, extremely concerning,” he told reporters on Friday.

“All the cases we are seeing in Melbourne right now are the high infectious UK strain of the virus.

“If Victoria are so worried about the strain that they can’t leave their homes, then we cannot let them freely come to the Territory.

“We now know there were infected people working inside Melbourne Airport in recent days.”

Mr Gunner said infected travellers could have bordered planes carrying the virus bound for the NT.

“This is one of the most serious moments we’ve had since the crisis started,” he said.

People who arrive in the NT from 10.45am on Friday are required to go into supervised quarantine at the Howard Springs facility.

About 1000 people who arrived in the NT from Melbourne Airport or Tullamarine Airport from February 7 to 10.45am on Friday have been directed to get tested for the virus and self-quarantine until a negative test result is returned.

Acting NT Chief Health Officer Charles Pain said the decision to expand the hotspots followed news that a household contact of an infected person linked to the Holiday Inn had worked a full shift at an airport cafe on February 9.

He said a cleaner had also had links to the hotel had also worked at the airport on February 7 and 8.

“The steps we’ve taken are in response to that,” he said.

The Holiday Inn has been closed until further notice for cleaning as contact tracing continues.

More than 135 hotel staff were stood down and told to isolate for 14 days, while 48 guests were moved to the Pullman Melbourne to complete their quarantine period.

The NT has recorded 103 COVID-19 cases. All have been quarantine facilities