Northern Territory authorities say a cattle ship crewman who arrived in Australia from Indonesia has tested positive for COVID-19.
The 25-year-old crew member on the Diamantina cattle export vessel arrived in Darwin from Indonesia.
The man was tested onboard when the ship arrived at the East Arm wharf on Sunday night.
He has since been admitted to the Royal Darwin Hospital, where he is in isolation.
The majority of other crew members have been transported to a separate section of the Howard Springs quarantine facility, where they will complete 14 days of mandatory supervised isolation.
Some crew members are required to remain onboard the Diamantina to comply with international maritime law.
Testing will be undertaken and they are required to stay on board in self-isolation.
The man’s case takes the total number of coronavirus infections diagnosed in the Northern Territory is 75.
All have been related to international or interstate travel, with no cases of community transmission.
This comes as Australia’s Immigration Minister Alex Hawke threatened to deport some attendees of a large Christmas Day party at Bronte Beach in Sydney.
Some of the partygoers are believed to be backpackers who remained in Australia during the pandemic or expatriates mostly from the UK.
“Under the Migration Act, if someone is threatening public safety or health their visa can be cancelled and revoked,” Hawke said. “The federal government is looking at that issue.”
The minister added that he had instructed the Department of Home Affairs to work with New South Wales state authorities in the lead up to New Year’s Eve “to make sure everyone is doing the right thing.”
