Another Central Australia community is being locked down, as COVID-19 hospitalisations and overall cases continue to climb in the Northern Territory.
There are now 105 COVID patients in hospital in the Territory, an increase of 10 on yesterday's figure.
Chief Minister Michael Gunner announced 1,061 new cases, including 121 cases added to the previous day's total.
He said there were 940 cases reported in the 24 hours to 8pm on Thursday night, with Thursday's tally revised up from 626 to 747.
This week, the NT government began revising up daily COVID case totals for the previous day's cases, adding hundreds of cases to both Wednesday and Thursday's figures.
Patients in hospital represent about 2.5 per cent of the NT's total active cases.
Fourteen patients require oxygen and three are receiving care in the intensive care unit.
There are now 4,200 active coronavirus cases in the NT, Chief Minister Michael Gunner said.
More than half are in Darwin and Palmerston.
As of 2pm, the community of Ampilatwatja in Central Australia is in a 48-hour lockdown after several cases were recorded there.
Mr Gunner said the community had a very low vaccination rate.
New mandate for vaccine booster shots
Mr Gunner announced two deadlines for Territory workers to receive their vaccine booster shots.
Workers in high-risk workplaces like hospitals, residential aged care facilities, disability homes, correctional and detention facilities and shelters are required to get their booster shot by March 11, or within four weeks of becoming eligible.
Remaining workers in public-facing roles must get their booster shot by April 22.
Those workers include people who come into contact with vulnerable people, staff whose workplaces pose a high risk of infection, and workers in essential infrastructure or logistics.
"Right now, only one-third of Territorians have received their booster jab," Mr Gunner said.
"That leaves a lot of Territorians more vulnerable to COVID than they have to be."
Acting Chief Health Officer Marco Briceno said the rate of patients requiring treatment in ICU remained "low at 0.07 per cent, and within our capacity to manage".
He urged Territorians to get their booster shots as soon as they were eligible, adding that people could get their booster three months after receiving their second dose.
"We know that [the booster] significantly reduces not only your chance of getting COVID but, more importantly, your chances of passing COVID to others and getting very sick with COVID, requiring hospitalisation," Dr Briceno said.
Territory check-in app to show more exposure site information
Mr Gunner said changes to the NT government's exposure site alert system would likely go live in the Territory check-in app this afternoon.
Once the changes go live, the app will display times and locations of exposure sites.
Under the current system, people are sent a text message to alert them if they have been at a location at the same time, within a half-hour window, as someone who has tested positive.
But these messages, which have been criticised, do not include any time or location data.
"Instead of receiving a general text message, [now] you can just go into the app on your phone and check whether or not you've been to an exposure site," Mr Gunner said.
"It will list the location and the time period."
Receiving an alert does not require you to isolate.
"I really want to stress this point: Getting an alert that you have been to an exposure site is not a cause for you to panic. It's not a direction to isolate," Mr Gunner said.
"[But] if you get an alert from the check-in app and you're feeling a bit unwell, that's a very, very good sign to take a test."
Mr Gunner said people who had notifications set up would also get an alert through the app.
Territorians urged to comply with mask mandate
NT Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker said he was disappointed some Territorians were not wearing face masks at indoor public settings as required.
"That particularly saddens me to say that," he said.
"In our remote communities, we really do need you to put the mask on when you're out and about in those public places and minimise the likelihood of you being able to be exposed to somebody.
"It's a community effort that we're asking for, and we need that to take place."
Chalker says supply chain issues to improve next week
Commissioner Chalker said authorities were working with supermarket chains to improve the NT's supply of critical goods following flooding in South Australia.
He said road and rail access from Adelaide to Darwin was going to be impacted for the "foreseeable future".
He said trucks were currently transporting goods to the NT via New South Wales and Queensland, where heavy rainfall had prompted flood warnings in the northern part of the state.
"If we're literally cut off from both South Australia and Queensland near major transport routes then we've got to look at an alternative option, and that will certainly escalate into an emergency response," Commissioner Chalker said.
He said authorities expected that supermarket shelves would start to be replenished early next week.
"There is ample supply for most critical goods, is the current advice we've got," he said.
"If that starts to be diminished … we will take additional steps."
