The Northern Territory's Chief Minister says the indoor mask mandate could be lifted within days, following a drop in the number of COVID patients in Territory hospitals from 101 on Sunday to 96 today.
But the CLP Opposition has called on the government to commit to a timeline for changing mask and QR code rules.
On Monday, Chief Minister Michael Gunner said the Northern Territory's indoor mask mandate could end in a matter of days.
"We don't have a date but it's definitely sooner rather than later — like very soon," he told Mix 104.9.
"The caseload is trending down. You can see the hospitalisation rate is trending down. The Chief Health Officer has to be confident that we're not going to suddenly spike again.
"Obviously we believe [mandates] help contribute to the downward trend, and if we were to pull the mask mandate off … I don't think we could put it back on in a couple of days' time.
Mr Gunner said the government was still planning on scaling back the use of QR codes.
Under the flagged changes, he said, people would only be required to check in at sites requiring a vaccination pass.
Call for clarity on COVID roadmap
The CLP Opposition on Monday criticised Mr Gunner for not outlining a clear plan to lift the mandate and change check-in rules.
"Territorians have been crying out for certainty and all Michael Gunner can offer up is vague 'sooner rather than later' or 'days not weeks' comments when quizzed about the roadmap out of COVID restrictions," shadow health spokesman Bill Yan said.
"Territorians deserve know what advice the Chief Health Officer is giving the Gunner Labor Government and how that advice is being implemented."
Mr Yan said the government was "drag[ging] out its COVID announcements for as long as possible purely for political point-scoring".
Earlier this month the CLP said it was drafting legislation that would require the Chief Health Officer to publicly release health advice in quarterly reports.
Seventeen COVID patients in the NT currently require oxygen and four people are in intensive care, according to the government.
There were 392 new cases of COVID recorded in the NT in the 24 hours to 8pm on Sunday.
Of those, 354 were detected from rapid antigen tests.
There were 270 cases recorded in the Top End region, 64 in Central Australia, 15 in East Arnhem, 11 in the Big Rivers region and four in the Barkly region. Twenty-eight are under investigation.
