Health authorities could today learn whether the coronavirus outbreak in a remote Northern Territory community has spread into a larger Indigenous township, after resisting calls to lock the bigger town down for two days.
The NT government is closely watching Borroloola, a community of about 800 people near the Gulf of Carpentaria, because it is a service hub for Robinson River, the remote community where six Aboriginal people have so far tested positive amid a cluster that now stands at 19 cases.
Some people are concerned about the four-day window between a 30-year-old woman flying into Robinson River last Thursday and the community entering lockdown after she tested positive on Monday.
Borroloola and Robinson River are about 150 kilometres apart, but family groups travel frequently between the two areas.
Country Liberal Party senator Sam McMahon said she was concerned that people might have come into contact with the 30-year-old woman over the weekend before travelling elsewhere.
"It's quite likely some of those people have [then] gone to and from Borroloola," she said.
"It's their main service centre and most of them have got family there."
The government has so far withstood several calls to tighten health measures in Borroloola because there have been no cases despite a testing blitz, and the rough road linking the communities limits travel at this time of year.
But Garrawa elder Jack Green, who has immediate family in Robinson River, is among those calling on the government to restrict travel in and out of Borroloola.
"It should be closed down for people coming in from outside," he said.
"They shouldn't be opening up the road that goes into Borroloola, because that's where the majority of people live.
"We've got more Aboriginal [people], a lot of local people that live here too."
Wastewater testing from catchments in Alice Springs, Darwin, Katherine and Borroloola due back tonight will give the government an indication of whether any infections have spread.
"This will be an early but not guaranteed test for potential seeding. It will be informative but not determinative," Chief Minister Michael Gunner said on Wednesday.
The Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance NT has also called for the government to consider locking Borroloola down because of how quickly the virus can spread.
And on Tuesday, NT Labor senator Malarndirri McCarthy said she had spoken to federal Health Minister Greg Hunt about taking that step because of potential travel out of Robinson River before it was locked down.
Minister Hunt declared Robinson River a biosecurity zone — which prevents people from going in or coming out — on Wednesday at the request of the NT government and key Indigenous groups.
The NT government declared an extension of the lockdown in Robinson River to 6pm next Monday.
Senator McMahon, who sits with the Nationals, said she'd since written to both the NT government and Minister Hunt to extend that biosecurity declaration to Borroloola and "go on the side of caution".
"It only requires a few days until we're certain that there are no cases in Borroloola," she said.
"Obviously Robinson River's a small, fairly isolated community but Borroloola's a pretty big one, and people travel in and out of Borroloola all around the place.
"If we get a COVID outbreak in there, it's going to be a whole lot worse."
She said Minister Hunt said he would be happy to extend the declaration at the request of the NT government and the Indigenous groups.
The NT government has said Borroloola has a first-dose vaccination rate of more than 80 per cent.
