After two years of border restrictions, vaccinated travellers can fly into the Territory without undergoing mandatory quarantine for 14 days.
But that's cold comfort for the three thousand residents of Tennant Creek, where a snap three-day lockdown, due to lift today, has been extended until 5PM on Wednesday.
Three new cases have been confirmed in the NT, a child, and a man and woman in their thirties from Barrow Creek, south of Tennant Creek.
The trio were in quarantine when they contracted the virus, and all have links to the Tennant Creek cluster, bringing the number of cases from this latest outbreak to 112.
CEO of the Anyinginyi Aboriginal Health Corporation Tony Miles says the latest lockdown is necessary to curb the potential spread of the virus.
“There’s a lot of widespread family connection so everyone is worried about their families... and how far it’s spread."
Extra health and welfare resources have been sent to the region, helping with testing clinics, contact tracing and vaccinations.
Residents are anxious to prevent the spread in Tennant Creek, where strong family ties have the potential to create super-spreading. Source: Lachlan Dunemann
The community of Ali Curung, where one case has already been confirmed, has also had its lockdown extended.
The community has some of the lowest vaccination rates in the Territory.
“Because of the low vaccination levels... across the entire region, lock downs probably make us feel a bit safer as far as slowing down the spread," said Mr Miles.
"We have very strong community networks and it can move very fast through those networks, much faster than people expect.”
Police roadblocks will stay up, preventing Tennant Creek residents from leaving town, and a mask mandate also remains in place for the Barkly region.
Luckily no new COVID cases have been confirmed in the town itself but the prospect of Christmas in lockdown looms over the entire region.
A police roadblock on the Stuart Highway, on the out skirts of Tennant Creek Source: Lachlan Dunemann
Tony Miles says Christmas plans for many have already been thrown into disarray.
“Tennant Creek is a long way from major retail outlets…so we usually travel the five hundred kilometres to Alice Springs or Mt Isa, or a thousand kilometres to Darwin for our Christmas presents.
"That has been cut off from the community and it impacts a lot of the communities and families in a lot of different ways.”
There was relief for the Katherine region, once the epicentre of the outbreak, where mask mandates have been lifted.
While visitors are enjoying the Territory’s first day of relaxed border restrictions, the acting Chief Minister Nicole Manison urged people to abide by the new three-test conditions (testing for COVID on days three, seven and twelve) to prevent the Territory’s first COVID Christmas.
“We’ve done absolutely everything we can to make sure that we have planned for this day to open up the territory as safely as possible.”
