The Northern Territory has four new COVID-19 cases as an outbreak spreads to remote Timber Creek near the West Australian border.

December 14, 2021

The Northern Territory has detected four new COVID-19 cases in the community as an outbreak spreads towards the West Australian border.

One of the infections is linked to a cluster in the town of Katherine, 320km south of Darwin.

The other three cases are unconfirmed, but Health Minister Natasha Fyles said they are very likely to be genuine infections due to the close contacts.

Two of those are in remote Timber Creek near the WA border, 225km east of Kununurra, and the other one is in Kalkarindji, 550km south of Darwin.

“Today’s case numbers are nowhere near as high as yesterday but we do expect more cases in the coming days,” Ms Fyles told reporters on Tuesday.

It brings the current outbreak to 88 cases but that is expected to rise to 91 later in the day once the three infections are confirmed.

Meanwhile, the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory has called for Katherine and its surrounding area to be locked down to slow the spread.

It said vaccination rates are not high enough to be fully protective and more health workers were urgently needed in the area.

The Northern Land Council backed the call.

It comes as Ms Fyles hinted the NT’s border and travel rules may be tweaked following an outcry from the tourism industry and parents of boarding school students.

The eased restrictions which come in effect on Monday limit travellers from leaving high-vaccination areas, such as Darwin and Alice Springs, for 14 days.

The outbreak started when an infected woman illegally entered the NT in late October.

The 21-year-old was fined for lying on her border entry form as the virus spread from Darwin to Katherine and numerous Aboriginal communities.

Police have since launched a fresh investigation into the border breach after an Aboriginal woman died from COVID-19 in early December.

People in Timber Creek have been ordered to wear a face mask in most public places until 2pm on Friday as a rapid response team prepares to travel to the town.

It comes after an infected man from Binjari Aboriginal community, near Katherine, visited the town before testing positive to the virus on Monday.

Kalkarindji already has a mask mandate in place, which finishes at the same time.

“We are less concerned about the Kalkarindji case. The individual is a woman that we are advised is double vaccinated and her infectivity is low,” Ms Fyles said.

A lockout in the Aboriginal community of Beswick, 425km southeast of Darwin, will end at 2pm Tuesday but masks will need to be worn until the same time on Friday.

The mask order is also in place in nearby Barunga Aboriginal community, Katherine and the town of Tennant Creek, 990km south of Darwin.

One new case was detected at The Centre of National Resilience quarantine facility at Howard Springs, south of Darwin, after a traveller returned to Australia from South Africa.

Authorities have also confirmed that another traveller who flew from Nigeria to Darwin via Sydney is infected with Omicron.