A man in his 60s has died with COVID-19 in Royal Darwin Hospital, as the number of reported cases has today dropped to 235.
It is the Northern Territory's 29th coronavirus-related death to date.
In a statement, the NT government said the man had "underlying health conditions" and died on February 23.
There are now 47 patients with COVID-19 in hospital, a slight drop from the 54 on Sunday, with 14 people requiring oxygen and three in intensive care.
It comes as a Territory-wide indoor mask mandate lifts today, in all areas except the Big Rivers region, which includes the town of Katherine.
NT Health Minster Natasha Fyles said "hopefully" in the next few weeks, the mandate would be removed there as well, but authorities wanted to watch the case numbers closely before a final decision was made.
Ms Fyles said people could still choose to wear masks, and encouraged people to keep one handy.
Masks are still mandatory in high-risk settings including hospitals, GP clinics, remote health clinics, corrections facilities and disability facilities.
235 new COVID cases NT-wide
Ms Fyles said the lifting of the mask mandate was a "symbol" the NT was moving through COVID-19, but it was possible to see more reported cases now the public health measure had been removed.
"We're not expecting that to increase significantly but we do see the peaks and troughs in those numbers," Ms Fyles said.
The Health Minster said the NT was averaging around 430 cases a day in the past week, with reported numbers continuing to drop.
But Ms Fyles did not "rule out" introducing another mask mandate if required.
"We don't know what’s around the corner," she said.
The NT reported 235 new cases of COVID-19, 202 of which were from positive rapid antigen tests (RATs).
Of those, 141 cases were recorded in the Top End region, 36 in Central Australia, 10 in East Arnhem, 32 in the Big Rivers region, five in the Barkly and 11 were under investigation.
There are now 3,161 active cases of COVID-19 Territory-wide.
NT kids eligible for second dose
Territory kids 11 and younger are rolling up their sleeves for their second COVID-19 vaccine, eight weeks after NT children first became eligible for dose one.
Bhavini Patel, lead for the NT COVID vaccine rollout, described it as an "important milestone", but urged parents not to be complacent.
The NT government said more than 13,500 paediatric vaccinations had been delivered, meaning 55 per cent of children between the ages of five and 11 are now partially vaccinated.
"I'm really urging parents to think about the best thing to do for their 5- to 11-year-olds, and that's to get them vaccinated, that'll protect them against severe [COVID-19] disease," Dr Patel said.
According to government figures, 88 per cent of Territorians aged 12 to 15 years old have received their first dose, and 76 per cent have had their second.
Dr Patel also said having a "fully vaccinated family" would help protect older or more vulnerable people as well as kids.
"COVID has arrived in the territory, it continues to be a very serious disease," she said.
Dr Patel said the advice for people who had COVID-19 and were eligible for their second shot had now changed.
She said now people who had recovered could book in for their next vaccine as long as they had no symptoms and were feeling well.
