Robinson River, the small Aboriginal community at the heart of the NT's worst COVID outbreak to date, is likely to reach a first-dose vaccination rate of 100 per cent today.
On Thursday morning, Chief Minister Michael Gunner said only 15 eligible residents in the community were yet to get their first dose of the vaccine, but all were planning to roll up their sleeves by the afternoon.
But even prior to the outbreak, Robinson River had a high vaccination rate: with 77 per cent of residents double dosed and 87 per cent of people partially protected.
Mungoorbada Aboriginal Corporation chief executive Kevin Liddy described the community as "one big family".
"It's not a big community, it's a small community, it's a tight community," he said.
"It's a pleasant, lovely little place."
Robinson River recorded its first case of coronavirus on Monday, after a 30-year-old Aboriginal woman tested positive to the virus.
It was the first case recorded in a remote Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory.
'We need to wait until we get the final results'
After two days of sharply climbing case numbers, this morning's press conference brought good news: the NT recorded no new COVID-19 cases overnight.
The Katherine and Robinson River cluster still stands at 19 cases.
But Mr Liddy isn't celebrating yet.
"We need to wait until we get the final results, being such a small community, casual contact is huge so we just need to wait and see," he said.
"Take today and then go again tomorrow and see what happens tomorrow.
Robinson River is home to about 350 people, and authorities say everyone has now been tested for COVID-19.
The median age in the community is 23, meaning many people are not eligible to be vaccinated.
Some close contacts will need to be re-tested to ensure the virus hasn't spread and not everyone has their results back yet.
Altogether, 49 people have been transferred from Robinson River to a quarantine centre in Howard Springs.
"I think the community has done a fantastic job," Mr Liddy said.
"They're a wonderful mob of people to live amongst, they're a wonderful mob of people to be associated with."
Robinson River has had chronic issues with overcrowding and it's common for a dozen people to share the one house.
Mr Liddy said it was a difficult time of year to be stuck indoors, describing the temperature as "stinking hot", although a breeze this afternoon was providing some welcomed relief.
Despite the challenges, Mr Liddy said the community was holding up well.
By road, the trip to Robinson River takes about 10 hours from Katherine, including a 150-kilometre stretch of dirt through Borroloola.
Many residents from Robinson River frequently travel to Katherine or Borroloola to visit family or stock up on essential supplies such as medicine and groceries.
Earlier this week, Labor Senator Malarndirri McCarthy confirmed the 30-year-old woman who first tested positive to COVID-19 in Robinson River was her sister.
At least 10 of the confirmed cases linked to the cluster are her family members.
On Thursday, Senator McCarthy told Sky News her sister was doing "better".
"Certainly my sister, when I spoke to her for the first time yesterday, which was so good to hear her voice, she's slowly recovering," Senator McCarthy said.
"It was just one day at a time at the moment."
She also said her cousins, who had been taken to the quarantine centre in Howard Springs were "sounding a lot better".
Just one person linked to this cluster, a 65-year-old woman, has been hospitalised.
She's at Royal Darwin Hospital and needs oxygen, but isn't in the ICU.
