SA looks at NT border after virus case
South Australia is "very likely" to change COVID-19 border arrangements with the Northern Territory after Darwin and Katherine were plunged into a three-day lockdown.
Premier Steven Marshall says officials will meet on Monday afternoon to discuss the situation in the Territory, where a new case has been recorded in a US traveller who arrived last week after quarantining in Sydney.
In response, the NT government has announced a lockdown for Darwin and Katherine until Thursday.
Mr Marshall said the NT situation highlighted and vindicated South Australia's decision to require anyone coming into the state from NSW to quarantine for an additional 14 days on top of any isolation period served in Sydney.
"We've been on high alert for some time now. We've come into criticism for our tight border with NSW," he said.
"But it reinforces the reason why we have that 14 days additional quarantine for people coming from NSW."
The premier said it was hard to say precisely what border changes would be introduced with the NT.
"We will continue to get information and that will frame our response," he said.
"We really want to understand when this person was infectious, how much in the community they were and where those exposure sites are.
"It's very likely there could be some changes."
People can currently travel freely between SA and the NT.
However, people from NSW, Victoria, Queensland and the ACT cannot enter the state.
Also on Monday, South Australia started taking vaccine bookings for all people aged 16 to 39, with more than 83,000 snapping up slots in the first few hours.
Mr Marshall described the rush as an "absolute stampede" that demonstrated how keen young people were to get vaccinated.
He also confirmed SA would get 47,000 Pfizer doses from the extra supplies Australia had secured from Poland.
He said it was yet to be decided if they would be made generally available or used to target specific groups.
Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said Australia was currently in a "very volatile situation" and urged more people to get tested for COVID-19.
She said testing rates across SA had dropped significantly since the recent cluster of local cases was brought under control.
SA reported no new virus infections on Monday and has two active cases.
