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NT remote COVID clusters grow, 459 cases

Aaron BunchAAP
More than 450 new cases were reported in the NT, where 86pct of people over four are double-dosed.
Camera IconMore than 450 new cases were reported in the NT, where 86pct of people over four are double-dosed. Credit: AAP

The Northern Territory has reported 459 new COVID-19 cases as infections continue to rise among the Indigenous population and remote communities.

It brings the total number of active cases in the NT to about 3970 with 54 patients in hospital. Five are on oxygen and one is in intensive care, NT Health said on Thursday.

Among the newly infected are 15 people in Galiwin'ku, 515km east of Darwin in East Arnhem, bringing the cluster on Elcho Island to 49.

There were also 10 cases detected in Umbakumba on Groote Eylandt in the Gulf of Carpentaria and another 10 among Darwin's rough sleepers in hostels and sobering-up shelters.

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The virus also continued to spread through central Australia with a dozen cases diagnosed in an Alice Springs aged care home, the local prison and the Santa Teresa community, about 80km southeast of the city.

The outbreak at Yuendumu in the Tanami Desert has grown to 94 infections after another 14 residents tested positive.

There were also 10 cases in the community of Ntaria, also known as Hermannsburg, which was a Lutheran Aboriginal mission in 1877.

It is one of dozens of communities from Arnhem Land south to the border with South Australia where infections have continued to rise throughout January.

Meanwhile, a three-day lockdown has been lifted from Yirrkala in East Arnhem despite the community recording four new cases.

Lockouts in Alice Springs, Yuendumu, Yuelamu and Amoonguna will run until Sunday and a lockdown in Galiwin'ku will remain until Monday.

About 30 per cent of the territory's 246,500-strong population are Indigenous.

Across the NT, 92 per cent of residents aged five and over have had one vaccination, and 86 per cent are double-dosed.

In remote communities serviced by NT Health, 77 per cent of residents aged five and over have had one jab, and 69 per cent are double-dosed.

The NT detected 418 cases on Wednesday, 625 on Tuesday, 284 on Monday, 327 on Sunday, 412 on Saturday and 546 on Friday.

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