The careful health screening of the 164 people from the Diamond Princess Cruise ship continues at the quarantine facility at the Manigurr-ma Village in Darwin.
Since arrival at Manigurr-Ma, a total of 17 people who have shown mild respiratory symptoms have now been tested after being isolated at the facility.
Four additional people have now tested positive, bringing the total number of people returning from the Diamond Princess to test positive to coronavirus to six.
Two of these people will return today to their home state of Queensland and two to their home state of Victoria for isolation and care. They are all stable and currently only have mild symptoms.
All other people tested so far at the facility have not been confirmed to have coronavirus.
All six people who have tested positive to coronavirus were screened and clinically well on the return flight from Japan. They were unlikely to be infectious during the flight and, as previously advised, stringent infection control practices were in place throughout the flight.
Given the continued evidence the infection was spreading on board the Diamond Princess in recent days, the development of these positive cases after returning to Australia was not unexpected, despite all of the health screening conducted before departure, during the flight and on arrival at the facility.
I again want to assure the Howard Springs community this development poses no risk to the broader community. We are well prepared and have responded as planned with strict public health measures in place.
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