People in Darwin and its surrounding area have been told to pre-book for COVID-19 tests to avoid waiting for hours in long queues of cars.

June 30, 2021

People locked down in Darwin and its surrounding area have been told to pre-book for COVID-19 tests to avoid hours of waiting in long queues.

The Top End is hunkering down for its third full day in isolation following an outbreak of the Delta variant at a central Australian mine, that’s grown to 11 cases.

The most recent cases are the wife and daughter of an infected worker who left Newmont’s Granites Mine, about 540km northwest of Alice Springs, on Friday.

Northern Territory Health opened a drive-through COVID testing facility that took more than 2000 swabs on Tuesday.

But many people waited for hours in hot cars before being turned away by police.

It’s led to staunch criticism from the community who accuse the health service of being underprepared.

Health Minister Natasha Fyles took to the airwaves on Wednesday to defuse the situation, saying there were more than 70 staff on site.

“We need to acknowledge that we had thousands of people that came out to get tested,” she told ABC radio on Wednesday.

She told people who don’t have a booking not to come to the facility, with 1700 tests already booked in.

Concerns were also raised that many people who hadn’t been to an exposure site were fronting up for tests.

“We need genuine contacts … Not just that COVID is here and I feel like a test,” she said.

Darwin and its surrounding areas have been in lockdown since Sunday after a young Victorian man, who travelled to the mine on June 18 via a Brisbane quarantine hotel, tested positive for the virus on Saturday.

There are now 11 cases linked to the mine but only ten have been recognised by the NT government.

An infected close contact of one of two mineworkers diagnosed in Queensland hasn’t been included in the Tanami Desert cluster.

Two other infected miners were also located at the site and evacuated to the Howard Springs facility.

Another mineworker, who’d travelled to NSW, was tested and found to be positive for the virus, as were two co-workers who’d travelled to Queensland, along with a close contact of one of them.

A Darwin man in his 50s, who left the mine on Friday, was also found to be positive for the virus.

He travelled to multiple venues, including the Buff Club for more than four hours, before being ordered into quarantine.

The most recent cases are the family of a mine worker who tested positive for the virus while in quarantine at the Howard Springs facility.

They live in Palmerston, 20km south of Darwin, where a Zumba class was added to the high-risk close contact exposure site list.

People who attended the venue between 9am and 9:30am on Saturday and their household contacts have been ordered to isolate at home for 14 days.

Other public exposure sites include the Darwin International Airport departure lounge, Bunnings Darwin, the Chungwua Terrace public toilet, the Commonwealth Bank on Smith St in the CBD and Gateway Shopping Centre in Palmerston.

Darwin, Palmerston and Litchfield local government areas, and Wagait and Belyuen Shires, remain in lockdown until Friday, with anyone leaving their home required to wear a face mask.

Residents are only permitted to leave home for medical treatment, to obtain essential goods and services, for work considered essential, one hour of exercise a day or to provide care.