The Northern Territory Health Minister Natasha Fyles has warned a COVID-19 case spike could be "around the corner" after cases of the more infectious sub-variant of Omicron were confirmed in the territory.
As of last week there had been 12 cases of BA.2 recorded in the NT, with the first detected on January 11, according to NT Health.
However Ms Fyles said the full picture of BA.2 cases in the NT might not be clear yet, as most of the NT's COVID-19 cases were being detected using rapid antigen tests, which cannot determine sub-variants.
"We've got low numbers presently. But that's not to say it won't change," Ms Fyles told ABC Radio Darwin.
"We're certainly seeing that surge on the east coast ... it could be that [the case increase in the NT] is around the corner. Or it could be that the the virus is behaving differently.
"We are seeing a slow increase in case numbers. But they're pretty steady."
Ms Fyles's comments came before the NT government released its daily COVID data today, which showed the territory had recorded 408 new cases in the past day.
There were 279 new cases announced yesterday, and Ms Fyles said the seven-day case number average had been sitting at about 320 per day.
"We have been prepared for COVID-19 and for the twists and turns all the way along, so we're certainly watching that variant," she said.
"But people should, if they're not feeling well, reach out to get tested, isolate and make sure that they're keeping up to date with the health information."
Ms Fyles said the government was not planning on reintroducing a mask mandate but that public health measures would be used if deemed required by authorities.
"We do know that some of those measures, particularly in short, sharp scenarios are very effective as a public health tool," she said.
BA.2's impact on case numbers a matter of time, experts say
The advice from health experts on what the NT should expect over coming weeks supports the Health Minister's warning.
Deakin University chair of epidemiology Catherine Bennett said with its still-low numbers, the NT was so far doing well at keeping COVID-19 cases under control.
"[In] particularly the eastern states, that were open when Omicron hit and have remained open, they're seeing that resurgence happening now, and that's not yet visible in the NT," she said.
"If BA.2 is already in the NT, and the numbers are continuing to stay quite low, then the NT's tracking really well.
"All the benefits of not having such high density cities, [the] weather... to some degree, how much time people spend outdoors socialising versus indoors – all of those things might work in the NT's favour.
Program director of infectious diseases and immunology at Griffith University, Nigel McMillan, said the NT was about one month behind the eastern states when it came to COVID-19 trends.
"The outlook in the very short term is that this new Omicron sub-variant, BA.2, is going to come," he said.
"It's a little more infectious, so we're going to see this rise that we're seeing on the east coast occur in the NT and that's probably over the next month or so."
He said eventually those higher numbers would come down again, falling back to a level "like [you're] seeing now".
"The numbers will wax and wane. We'll see peaks … and then [the numbers] will go down again. And we're just going to be playing this game forever now, I'm sorry to say," he said.
Both health experts said the booster vaccine was the best protection people had against the sub-variant, and that other standard health precautions such as social distancing and wearing a mask in crowded places could also help.
