The NT's peak Aboriginal health groups have written a scathing letter to Chief Minister Michael Gunner, accusing the government of "significant failure" in managing the territory's current COVID-19 outbreak.
The letter calls for an immediate lockdown in Central Australia, a move it says will "stop the movement of people and flatten the curve of new infections and hospitalisations".
Lockouts, which restrict the movement of unvaccinated people, are currently in place in Alice Springs, Amoonguna, Yuendumu and Yuelamu until at least Sunday.
The letter lists a range of "failures" by the NT government, including the "late" introduction of a Territory-wide mask mandate which Aboriginal health groups had been calling for prior to the measure's introduction.
Since the territory re-opened its borders on December 20, the numbers of hospitalisations and caseloads across the NT have grown substantially.
Today, the NT reported a new record of 940 new coronavirus cases, with a record number of 105 COVID-19 patients in hospital.
Nine out of 10 of the COVID-19 patients currently in NT hospitals are Aboriginal people.
"There has been a significant failure by government agencies in Central Australia to put into practice the plans agreed with your government before the outbreak," the letter reads.
The letter is co-signed by Central Australian Aboriginal Congress acting CEO Josie Douglas, Central Land Council CEO Les Turner, Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance NT CEO John Paterson and Lhere Artep CEO Graeme Smith.
The authors say the call is "urgent" and write that "it is not too late to act" by introducing stronger restrictions.
"This is our last chance to flatten the curve of new infections and hospitalisations and save lives that will otherwise be lost," it reads.
NT Chief Minister 'understood' call for lockdown, but disagreed
Mr Gunner said although he "understood" why Congress and the other Aboriginal bodies were calling for stronger restrictions, a full lockdown in Central Australia would be challenging to enforce.
"What can you actually permit and enforce and is it workable?" Mr Gunner questioned.
The Chief Minister said when the NT had biosecurity zones early on in the pandemic, which limited movement, they required "significant police resourcing" to man entry points and ensure compliance.
"We know from experience [that] security zones won't get the result that [the letter's authors are] looking for," Mr Gunner said.
"Local residents quickly learned how to drive around them and they proved to essentially not be effective for patrolling movement."
Mr Gunner said the government needed to "concentrate our resources into those communities that have actual COVID and need actual care".
"It's important we don't put resources into things that won't get an outcome and put resources and things that we know will get an outcome," he said.
Mr Gunner said the current public health measures in place across the Northern Territory were adequate and proportionate.
