The Northern Territory has detected five new COVID-19 infections as authorities ease testing requirements for interstate travellers.
A child from a Tennant Creek town camp and a teenage girl from Katherine are among the latest community cases.
A woman in her 50s from Walkabout Bore, 110km south of Alice Springs, also tested positive, Acting Chief Minister Nicole Manison told reporters on Wednesday.
It brings the current community outbreak to 126 cases, with more expected in Indigenous communities where vaccination rates remain low.
A lockdown in Tennant Creek and Ali Curung Indigenous community, 380km north of Alice Springs, has been extended by 24 hours to 5pm on Thursday.
People in Alice Springs have been ordered to wear masks in indoor public areas until 5pm on Christmas Eve as the mask mandate in the Barkly region is extended by 24 hours.
"We are very mindful it is Christmas and a lot of people have a lot of work to do to prepare," Ms Manison told reporters on Wednesday.
The outbreak started when an infected woman illegally entered the territory in late October.
The 21-year-old was fined for lying on her border entry form as the virus spread from Darwin to Katherine, 320km south of the territory capital, and multiple Aboriginal communities.
Meanwhile, two men on separate flights from Sydney have also been diagnosed with the virus after arriving in Darwin.
Authorities are currently working to identify close contacts from Jetstar flight JQ672 and Qantas flight QF1.
"As we open up more you are going to see more COVID cases ... It's only a matter of time before we see more of it in the Greater Darwin area," Ms Manison said.
It comes as the NT government eases testing requirements for interstate arrivals, who are now only required to take a self-administered rapid antigen test.
A health directive had required travellers have a PCR test within 72 hours of arriving in the territory and on the sixth day after arriving.
This will ease the workload on health staff processing tests and take pressure off national resources, the acting chief minister said.
Travellers will still have to show evidence of a negative PCR test 72 hours before arriving in the NT.
"We think it is important to keep in place that PCR test before arrival as a protection for the people of the NT," Ms Manison said.
A pilot program for infected but fully vaccinated people to quarantine at their homes in Darwin and Alice Springs has also been launched.
"We know it's coming. We know it's here. We know we're going to have more cases of COVID across the NT and they can be managed at home with the right medical care," she said.
