The Northern Territory has recorded its 10th COVID-related death — a woman in her 50s from the Tiwi Islands.
The woman had underlying health conditions and died on Friday at Royal Darwin Hospital, a statement from the NT government said.
There are 164 patients with COVID-19 in NT hospitals, down from 170 on Saturday.
Twenty-one patients are requiring oxygen and one patient is in intensive care.
The Northern Territory government announced 757 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, and revised Saturday’s case tally down by 167 following “data cleansing”.
Of the new cases, 643 were detected by rapid antigen tests.
There were 436 cases recorded in the Top End region, 171 in Central Australia, 28 in East Arnhem, 31 in the Big Rivers region, and 15 in the Barkly region. There are 76 under investigation.
The number of active cases in the NT is about 7,332.
The death on the Tiwi Islands follows the Commonwealth’s recent introduction of biosecurity zones in remote communities, including the Tiwis, to curtail growing COVID-19 outbreaks.
Last month, the Tiwi Land Council wrote to the federal Health Minister requesting the islands be declared a biosecurity zone for three months.
The current biosecurity zones are due to expire this Thursday.
As of early February the Tiwi Islands had recorded more than 200 cases of coronavirus, with two of the biggest communities, Wurrumiyanga and Milikapiti, the hardest hit.
While vaccination rates are high on the Tiwis, Andrew Tipungwuti, the Tiwi Land Council chief executive, has expressed concern about high rates of underlying disease, a lack of rapid antigen tests and issues enforcing isolation among positive cases on the islands.
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