As much of the nation begins to look beyond a summer of rising COVID-19 infection rates and hospitalisations, the pandemic has just arrived at the doorstep of many remote Aboriginal communities.
In the Northern Territory, the Omicron variant has taken hold and the federal government has used biosecurity laws to restrict people from leaving or entering remote communities for the next two weeks.
For Ronika Adams, from the remote community Palumpa in the Northern Territory, the Omicron variant is "worrying".
After testing positive last week, Ronika has had to isolate in a two-bedroom house with 11 other people — and the women and children in the house have one mattress between them.
"We've got lots of kids here too, it's been hard," she told the ABC.
Dozens of people in the tiny community have tested positive and Ronika said many people "want to run away".
Ronika said at times she and her family have been hungry waiting for food deliveries and supplies.
This is the stark reality that Aboriginal health organisations warned of two years ago when the pandemic was declared: many small communities don't have the resources to tackle widespread outbreaks.
With severe overcrowding an issue in most remote communities across the country, Aboriginal people sick with COVID are unable to properly isolate.
In Palumpa, some residents have been flown to Darwin for monitoring and isolation.
Residents have told the ABC they are concerned that if more COVID-positive patients aren't airlifted to quarantine the virus will continue to spread through the tiny community.
Ronika is starting to feel better now — she suffered a splitting headache when she tested positive — but she said the supply of rapid tests was also running low.
That meant many people were unsure if they were still infectious, she said.
'They knew what was going to happen to us'
In Yuendumu, the largest remote community in Central Australia, there have been more than 100 cases in recent weeks.
Senior community leader Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves said he was deeply troubled by the response from both the federal and Northern Territory governments.
"The Health Department, the federal government, the NT government, they knew this was coming," he said.
"They knew what was going to happen to us."
He said the community asked for COVID-positive community members be airlifted to quarantine in the Top End, but he said that didn't happen fast enough, meaning the virus spread quickly.
"The NT government needs to say sorry to us for acting so late [they] never listened."
The Northern Territory government has rejected calls from Aboriginal health and legal organisations and land councils to implement a lockdown of all of Central Australia.
The NT Health Minister has said unless infections are severe, First Nations people are being asked to isolate at home.
But Mr Hargraves said people were isolating in homes that were in a state of disrepair.
"They were put into quarantine with plumbing problems, air-conditioning problems and no supply of food."
'We're on our own'
For the Indigenous community of Ampilatwatja, 350 kilometres north-east of Alice Springs, it's not unusual for its 400 residents to be isolated from the rest of Australia during the wet season.
But the rains and recent flooding have amplified the additional stress and uncertainty as COVID spreads, with at least 19 confirmed cases in the community.
Steve Walker and his wife run the only store in Ampilatwatja, supplying food and other services to residents.
They have been stockpiling supplies since November.
"We were prepared for being isolated due to the weather ... but COVID has really complicated it all," Mr Walker said.
The community is in the midst of a lock-in, and Mr Walker is concerned that the rising number of COVID cases could close down his store, leaving residents without food.
"The community is worried that my workers or myself will get COVID and the store will be closed for 10 days," he said.
"People [need] to come shopping... you've got 15 to 20 people living in a house... and some don't have refrigerators to store food."
Bad weather has disconnected the town's communication network, and for almost 10 days, phone lines and text messages have been patchy, or non-existent.
"People have to go door-to-door in order to communicate or to get help," he said.
"They just can't jump on the phone and ring their family,."
As COVID-19 has seeped into Ampilatwatja, the community is desperate to access more rapid antigen tests.
"We've got about 100 RATs for 400 people, which is inadequate," Mr Walker said.
"The clinic have been trying to contact the Chief Health Officer. They were promised more RAT tests but only 50 turned up."
The Department of Territory Families, Housing and Communities has supplied funds for hampers for locked-in families, but Mr Walker said the community had not seen anyone on the ground.
"We have no support from anyone outside the community."
In a statement to the ABC, Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt said the government had been keeping Indigenous Australians top of mind since the start of the pandemic, including in the management of increasing cases in remote communities.
"I have been in Alice Springs [on Thursday] and hearing from people directly about their experiences and will take any concerns to the relevant authorities," Mr Wyatt said.
The NT Department of Health has been contacted for comment.
'We're on stand-by'
Across the border, Western Australian Aboriginal health services are anxiously preparing for borders to open, desperate to prevent similar crises from unfolding in the state's remote communities.
Medical director at the Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services, Lorraine Anderson, has been monitoring outbreaks across the rest of Australia.
"We're taking on board all of their advice [to] make sure the staff are wearing PPE and make sure the patients are vaccinated," Dr Anderson said.
Only 62 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 16 and over in WA have received two doses of the vaccine.
In the Kimberley, Aboriginal health workers are bracing for an influx of requests for vaccination once the border opens and the virus inevitably creeps into communities.
With hospital beds, ventilators and medical staff in low supply in remote Australia, Dr Anderson hopes the unvaccinated won't wait until it's too late.
"If people are quite sick, they need oxygen or extra medication they absolutely can't be cared for in remote communities, we don't have the facilities and we don't have the staff," she said.
"We really need to drive home to people how important it is to get these vaccines [before] we get COVID in the Kimberley."
