Health advice for remote areas

Remote communities and other designated biosecurity areas are now closed to non-essential travel.

You can't enter a designated area unless you:

are an approved remote essential worker (AREW) and hold an AREW ID card
have an exemption from an authorised person and can provide evidence of this exemption
are a resident within the designated area and can provide evidence to prove you have completed 14 days quarantine.

Read more about the requirements for remote travel.

Quarantine requirements

Residents of remote communities who leave their designated area must self-quarantine for 14 days before returning to their community.

Community residents are strongly urged to stay in their community to prevent having to quarantine.

To discuss your circumstances, call the Public Health Unit on 08 8922 8044 or contact your local health clinic.

You need to be alert and take appropriate precautions if you live or work in a remote community and:

have returned to the Territory from overseas or interstate
have been in close contact with a confirmed case of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the last 14 days.

Find out more about quarantine requirements.

If you are well and are in a remote community:

you do not need to self-quarantine
you should practice physical distancing and good hand hygiene
you should monitor yourself for symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) and report any sickness to your local health clinic.

If you become sick while in a remote community, call ahead to your local health clinic if you have symptoms consistent with COVID-19 disease.

You will be managed as a suspect case if you:

Have returned from interstate or overseas in the past 14 days and you develop respiratory illness with or without fever.
Have been in close contact with a confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) case in the past 14 days and you develop respiratory illness with or without fever.
Have severe community-acquired pneumonia and there is no clear cause.
Are a healthcare worker who works directly with patients and you have a respiratory illness or a fever.
Are a frontline worker and have a respiratory illness or a fever. Frontline workers include:
- police
- emergency workers
- correctional officers
- educators
- childcare
- aged care
- disability workers
- retail pharmacists and pharmacy assistants.

If the health clinic determines that you may have COVID-19, you will be transferred to a regional centre for testing.

If your test returns a negative result, you will be returned to your community (unless you require further medical attention).

If your test returns a positive result, you will remain in a supervised isolation facility for treatment.