Health restrictions in Greater Darwin and Katherine have been lifted after no further COVID-19 cases linked to an infected US defence contractor were detected.

August 26, 2021

Northern Territory COVID-19 health restrictions in Greater Darwin and Katherine have been lifted as planned.

Gyms and markets are now able to reopen and face masks will no longer be required.

Patrons can stand at the bar in pubs and drink, and people can have more than 10 visitors to their homes.

The restrictions ended at midday on Thursday.

They followed a lockdown in the Top End after an infected US defence contractor travelled to Darwin on August 13.

The man in his 30s spent three days in the city before travelling to Katherine for work, where he was diagnosed with COVID-19.

No further virus cases have been detected and the NT government says the wastewater in Greater Darwin and Katherine remains virus-free.

All close contacts of the man are in quarantine and all of their COVID-19 tests have returned negative results.

Authorities still don’t know how and where the man contracted the virus.

The infection has been confirmed as a strain of the Delta variant, but it hasn’t yet been linked to any other cases in the country.

He previously returned a negative COVID-19 test on August 10 during his 14-day stay in a Sydney quarantine hotel.

Meanwhile, all NT children aged 12 to 15 are now eligible to get the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine.

Last week, the NT government made the jab accessible to all children aged 12 to 15 outside Greater Darwin.

But only medically vulnerable and Indigenous children in Darwin were eligible until Thursday’s announcement.

The vaccine will be provided to students in middle schools and senior schools through the school immunisation program from early September.

Year 11 and 12 students will be prioritised to ensure there is no disruption to their studies and final exams.

More than 200,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the NT.

More than 61 per cent of eligible Territorians have had their first dose and more than 41 per cent are fully vaccinated.

In remote areas, 51 per cent of the eligible population have had one dose and 32 per cent are fully vaccinated.